How To Price Your Mobile DJ Services?

Out of all the things that seems to be up to personal interpretation in the DJ industry, price, is likely the biggest white elephant of them all. Why the biggest?  There is no industry standard which lets each DJ make their own opinion of what they should get paid.

What’s The Magic Number?

Well, I’m here to help give you some insight on both what the industry is saying, and some tools I use to research my local market. I would like to note that this is based on pricing in the USA, other global markets may vary.

For those not interested in reading through a whole article to get a ballpark pricing, DJ pricing goes from well below $400 to $2,000 or more. That isn’t very helpful, but companies like Wedding Wire and The Knot have been doing annual data collection from real world clients to base the average pricing across the US, which is, $1,000 for a DJ for a wedding or private event.

Now I don’t think just going out into the world with that bit of knowledge is enough. Really understanding your overhead, and confidently explaining everything to a client during sales calls or meetings will really help you land more bookings in a sustainable price range for that full-time DJ lifestyle.

Why Should We Charge So Much?

This is the biggest question of them all and it’s very simple. We offer a professional trade skill that takes either ample training from another seasoned pro, years of experience to master, or a little bit of both. Sure, there are many horrible DJs out there who have been working in the biz for decades, but our industry is no more immune to mediocrity than say, car mechanics, lawyers, contractors, plumbers, etc.

Remember this super random example: If a plumber put in the same number of hours that a DJ does to prep, travel to, setup, DJ, breakdown a event, it would be in the thousands as the national average fee for plumbers is $80 – $120 or more per hour. The other biggest thing I like the push to my DJ colleagues is, if you charge substantially less than what the market average is, you’re just hurting everyone by devaluing our given trade profession.

Can I Charge Less if DJing is just my Side Gig Outside my Day Job?

You can if you’re a jerk! If you tout your mobile DJ business and services as a professional to the public, as in, you manage a professional looking website, have accompanied social media accounts, list your business on Google Places, WeDJ, Wedding Wire, etc.., then charge what the full-time DJ charges. Again, don’t devalue the market average just because you already make $40,000 + a year at your 9 to 5. There are full-time DJs trying to make a living and undercutting the market price inconsiderate and uncool.

Mobile DJ Overhead

Most of us will operate our company, either single operators or even small multi-units, out of our house. This does not mean we’re out of the woods with overhead, it just means our overhead is different and having a office space. Here is just a list of the overhead that cost cold hard cash. These are the expenses we face annually outside of our larger initial professional gear investments or upgrades that we make to even being offering such services.

• Business Licence/Permit fees
• Business Liability Insurance
• Equipment Replacement Insurance
• Local, State and Federal Taxes
• Business Property Tax
• Fuel
• Vehicle Maintenance
• Company Cargo Trailer or Van + maintenance and annual costs
• Domain and email hosting fees
• Website hosting fees
• Web design and management (either a pro or services like Squarespace)
• Marketing Costs (e.i. business cards, Online and print ads, trade shows, social media marketing)
• Equipment maintenance and replacement
• Laptops and backups
• Work Clothing (ei, work suits, shoes, company shirts, etc.)
• Music Pool Subscriptions
• Music Purchases not available in Music Pools
• Internet, Work Phone, and Office Supplies

The Ultimate All-In-One A/V Professional

When I first started working as a mobile DJ, I saw myself as this bargen deal to clients, getting several services at a discounted rate. As I’ve grown my business, that opinion has now completely changed. Again, we don’t want to short change ourselves but also understand that if a client hired us to only DJ and MC and only provide our backline (DJ kit), they’d still be on the hook for getting a sound and lighting company to give us proper staging to do out job. We provide the following services, in most cases, just one person doing them all.

• DJ
• Sound Rental, Delivery, Installation, and Sound Technician
• Lighting Rental, Delivery, Installation, and Technician
• Event MC, Host, Entertainer

It’s important to tell yourself, if a client hired all of these services separately, they’d be paying double, if not, triple what we’re changing then as a Mobile DJ company. Sometimes, you can politely use that to help land a gig, but don’t push it too hard. We offer clients a sort of built in discount by hiring us for all of these things and avoiding paying multiple people labor and travel.

Understanding What Your Rate Includes – From the Client’s Perspective

You’ll want to figure out how to explain why you charge what you charge. What I explain to clients is, beyond my DJ expertise and experience, their quoted price also includes all of the prep time, pre-event communication email/phone/in person meetings, any venue walk throughs, travel to and from the event, setup and breakdown time, and equipment needed to do the job.

Actual event time that we provide may only be 4 or 5 hours, but most events has roughly 30 – 35 hour put into it in total, sometimes upward of 40+ hours for very large events. That is a very big tool to help clients feel confident with their booking decisions since I can almost guarantee they have spoke to another DJ who is charging half of what you do.

How to Research Your Local Market For Pricing

Now you have some background of where the cost of mobile DJs really comes into play, how do find out exactly what other mobile DJs are charging in your area? After all, the $1,000 per gig average is pretty much on par for my part of the country, but in larger markets like DC, NYC, LA, those prices are probably lowball fees.  

1. Just ask other DJs! Yeah, it’s super taboo for some reason, but I’m a big believe in community over competition. Find other working Mobile DJs in your area and just flat out tell them, Hey! I’m trying to set my pricing for the area, wanted to see what others are charging so I don’t change too little or too much for weddings/private events.
2. Ask friends who recently got married what they paid for their DJ. They might have a price sheet they can share, but mostly they will just tell you what they booked, how long their even was, and what they paid. Very helpful intel to have.
   
3. Google your competition! My company works in about 3 markets that all have varied pricing, so we don’t list our prices publicly on our website. However, many DJ companies do, making research easier for you.
4. The Fake email. This one is my favorite tool and most useful for many reasons. Yes, I’ve had a fake email for nearly 8 years now, and “Brittany” has been engaged about 6 times now. This is just a simple way to ask other DJs directly what their prices are because you’re asking as a potential client! I usually ask very direct questions for a event on a set day, at a certain venue so I can get a firm quote. Another great benefit from this is you can see how quickly, or painfully slow other companies are to respond and how professional they are with their corresponding with potential clients. You might even see some great canned email examples you can use for your own inquiry emails.