Your DJ – Your Money by neil smith - dandy dj

When it comes to hiring a DJ or any other service provider for that matter, it helps to know what is reasonable when it comes to deposits and balance payments, methods of payment, how much you should be paying overall and actually getting what you have paid for! I’ll take each of these points one at a time. Come along!

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DEPOSIT - The deposit is very important because in theory its purpose is to take the DJ you have chosen out of the marketplace for the date and time you have hired them for and secures them for your purposes. Most often, deposits are 50% and non-refundable. This is reasonable because if you have the DJ secured, they are not (supposed to be) bidding on other jobs and are foregoing other opportunities they could otherwise be pursuing.

I can’t write this enough – You should be thoroughly reviewing your DJ before making any sort of agreement and especially before placing a deposit. Make sure they have a strong track record, great and verifiable client reviews and indicators that they operate on a higher level (Does their website look professional? Does their marketing and correspondence contain correct grammar and spelling instead of slang? Can they accept credit cards? Do they belong to any professional organizations such as the American Disc Jockey Association or a Chamber of Commerce? Are they insured? A fly-by-night DJ will rarely pay the membership dues required to belong to such organizations or get themselves insured.)

These are great indicators that can help you feel more confident when placing your deposit. If the DJ you are choosing is a service provider with Gigmasters.com and you hire them through the Gigmasters system, Gigmasters will guarantee your deposit in case anything should happen to your DJ (DANDY DJ is a 5-star service provider with Gigmasters and was recently awarded an accolade from them for retaining a 5 star rating for the entire year of 2011!).

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BALANCE PAYMENTS – Ok, you put skin in the game with your deposit. It is not unreasonable to desire your DJ to put a bit of skin in the game and collect their balance payment on the actual date of the event. With that stated, please be prepared to pay your balance before the event begins as most DJs will not begin until the balance has been paid. This is for a very good reason because you are there to celebrate and have a great time and celebratory environments are filled with distractions. It would be very easy for a client to inadvertently exit the party at some point and forget to pay the DJ, especially if alcohol is involved which is usually the case at most events which include a DJ. Some DJs require the balance payment to be completed 2 weeks before the event to give them an opportunity to replace the booking should the hiring party need to cancel. Be sure to have the agreement clear and in writing.

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METHODS OF PAYMENT – Your DJ should be able to accept a variety of payment methods, but a great litmus test of their professionalism is if they are set up to accept online payments and credit cards. They should also not have a problem with a personal check, money order and certainly not cash! If you pay cash, be sure to only do it in person and get a receipt.

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HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU PAY? – This is a tough one as every provider and every situation is different, but two old sayings ring so very true here:

#1 You get what you pay for.

#2 If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Keep in mind that a professional DJ will be rolling in with about $10,000 worth of sensitive electronic equipment and possibly more. Factor in their marketing, vehicle and fuel, insurance, association dues, upkeep of equipment, upgrading of equipment and their time and trouble of doing all of this and you will quickly see that there is something very wrong with someone quoting you only a couple hundred dollars for an event unless you are a charity organization which has touched their heart.

There are DJs who do sell themselves for a couple hundred dollars and even less and they will almost certainly ruin your party and make it worse than having no DJ at all. They will often have shoddy equipment with no backup, no insurance, no music library, no experience and will often show up and ask you for a table to set up on and possibly sound equipment! My suggestion is to run quickly from this type of provider.

On the other end of the spectrum - there are DJs who charge in the thousands and are at the very top of their profession. These DJs usually come with a lot of extras such as a huge sound system, a big light show, decor lighting (uplighting), a sitdown meeting with the client, a walkthrough of the venue and helpers to assist them with all setup and teardown.

Then there are the providers in the middle who charge a fair rate for a solid service with lower overhead while still giving a great value and a professional product (this is the range of DANDY DJ).

Think of your DJ like a hotel and all the boxes on their calendar as rooms they have to fill in order to make their living. Pricing will depend on factors such as how far in advance you are booking (the farther in advance, the more you will likely pay because the DJ is not desperate to sell, so they hold out for top dollar. Likewise, the sooner your event is coming up the better deal you will likely land because if the DJ has not yet sold the date, they will be more likely to cut a deal to ensure they will be making a paycheck on that date ), how far they will need to travel from their home area, the day or night of the week you are booking them (weekends will cost more than weekdays or nights due to demand) and also if your event is during peak or off season and also if it falls on a major holiday.

The bottom line with pricing is that it all boils down to supply and demand as well as the amount of service time you are purchasing along with how many extras.

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GETTING WHAT YOU PAID FOR - Make sure you get everything in writing as far as exactly what the DJ is to provide, the type of equipment and how much the pay rate is. Once again I reiterate that it is so important to research your DJ and make sure they have a solid track record and a verifiable history of pleasing clients. Another reason to check for membership in professional organizations is that they can be kicked out of their professional groups if it becomes known that they have engaged in any dishonest practices.

Beware of a prevalent scam in the DJ industry where the DJ takes your deposit and books with you and then continues to market themselves for the date you hired them trying to get more money. Once they land a higher-paying event, they return your deposit and cancel on you. Then they continue to seek an even higher-paying event so they can cancel on the next client and right up the chain. This type of dishonest practice is very prevalent with fly-by-night providers, but is almost unheard of when hiring a DJ who operates on a higher level with the above-mentioned indicators you should be looking for.

At the end of the day, everything boils down to getting someone you can trust who takes your needs seriously and truly cares about you and your guests having the time of their lives. A true professional will always be passionate about serving you with all their heart.