rate increases for semi-corporate work

[Coaster]

not really a live sound question, but i've been at my old rate for a couple years now working for public schools recording concerts.

 

at my job (another public entity), we have around a 3% rate increase per year on fees across the board.

 

how often do you guys increase your rate, and at what % do you increase it? get any flak over it?

 

a 3% increase on a $150 bill would make a total of only $154.50, which seems like a modest increase. my season starts in a few days, do i just raise the rate or do i have to contact folks and let them know?

[TheDoctorMo]

If the product or service was worth it, I would not balk at paying a 5% increase. It would only be an extra $7.50 on $150. That is less than our tax rate in Indiana.

[TheDoctorMo]

If your customers are accustomed to rates, it would be a good idea to give them advanced warning, but also remind them how your service level justifies the increase.

 

In our salon, my wife places notices of price increases about a month or two before they take place. I don't know of any customers that have been turned off because of that. Also, our salon is usually one of the last salons, in the area, to increase the rates.

 

I would probably give schools a discounted rate, but charge corporate entities the full amount. Schools tend to run on financial fumes.

 

Corporations tend to have plenty of money to waste on non-essential crap. Why not have them throw some of that cash your way?

[Telecruiser]

I think the first question you need to ask is why are you increasing them. Is it just because or are you experiencing your costs both fixed and variable increasing? Has the market changed? Is everyone else increasing their rates? If you go over your costs and find that because they have increased then you need to increase your rates accordingly. But if you increase them too much you may price yourself out of the market. Cost increases should not be arbitrary but based on facts.

 

I was told this years ago -

 

What something cost to make and what it sells for have very little or nothing to do with each other.

[Craig Vecchione]

The question one must always ask before changing rates is; "what will the market bear?" If your competition isn't charging more than you, then you may lose business simply by charging $4.50 more.

[Coaster]

supplies are always going up; the stupid blank CD's and plastic boxes are getting worse in quality and going up in price, so i have to buy the highest quality ones i can find and i think they are still crummy.

 

my bills are always going up, my expenses are always going up, demands are always going up. i dont really know what the market will bear; i took over for a guy doing this HS gig and just used his price scale and now its been a couple years and i think $150 a concert is really low.

[Unalaska]

When you're price is too low (loosing money on gigs) then any price increase needs to be substantial enough to cover actual expenses etc, and it will be like 50% or 100%. That isn't an "adjustment" that's a new price point. So many people at that rate most likely won't pay the new price point.

 

It's hard to tell a band rates are going up by 3%, WTF? can you break a 20?

[Telecruiser]

 

supplies are always going up; the stupid blank CD's and plastic boxes are getting worse in quality and going up in price, so i have to buy the highest quality ones i can find and i think they are still crummy. my bills are always going up, my expenses are always going up, demands are always going up. i dont really know what the market will bear; i took over for a guy doing this HS gig and just used his price scale and now its been a couple years and i think $150 a concert is really low.

 

 

I think $150 is chump change for what you are talking about. Raise it to $250 and listen for any squawks.

[Axisplayer]

I did my first two years for the same price without an increase. Third year increase was 25%. Sounds like more than it is when you are talking bar gigs. In the end, you are worth what you are worth. Also, shows are worth doing or they aren't. I decided to make it worth my time to take a show, or I would just as soon be at home.

 

Not one word was said about it by anyone.

[scarecrowbob]

What kind of value do you put on a customer who would dump you over a 5% price increase?

 

What percentage of your good repeat customers hire you based on your price alone?

[Telecruiser]

What kind of value do you put on a customer who would dump you over a 5% price increase? What percentage of your good repeat customers hire you based on your price alone?

 

This

[Craig Vecchione]

 

What kind of value do you put on a customer who would dump you over a 5% price increase? What percentage of your good repeat customers hire you based on your price alone?

 

 

Again, what the market will bear is what you need to determine. If there's competition in your market, you need to know where they're pricing their service. That 5% may seem trivial, but for some it's important enough to switch. It really doesn't matter what value you place on the customer. What matters is what value they place on you.

[OverDriven]

You only charge $150 to record an entire concert?! Unless you are recording it with one mic and the quality is horrible, I would be charging at least $500 for something like that.

[gordonsound2]

Whats involved with what you do?

Is it just a stereo pair into a computer, during a 2 hour concert and you give them a cd @ the end or more involved. Most schools pretty much expect the same rate unless its going out to bid. Honestly i would just ask the advisor point blank. You might be suprised @ the answer. I have asked clients before and been pleasantly suprised a few times.

[Coaster]

i just found out that one school has had a huge budget problem and one teacher has decided to not record any concerts there. other teachers have had to not record one concert this year due to budget problems.

 

i did not raise my rate.

 

i actually wanted to take a cut to record all the concerts but my mind told me to shut up so i did. i'll lose the concerts instead, thats just bad business otherwise.

 

whats involved is a stereo pair into a computer, sometimes i will add solo mics and have gone up to 16 tracks for one show (not at $150 rate of course). the 2 track is eq'ed, compressed, and cut into a cd. for most of it i just do needle drops do i dont need to listen to the whole thing everytime, just bits and pieces to make sure its right. i do a lightscribe label in photoshop with the track titles. i usually leave a 2 week window but there are times when they need it in a day.

 

all in all it takes about 5 or 6 hours from tip to tail; they get a very high quality product and i get a lousy rate per hour. i'd rather do this than push a broom, and frankly i'd rather do this than be in a room full of drunks at 2 in the morning for more hours and similar lousy cash.

 

fargo is fairly repressed financially.

[Red Hawk]

fargo is fairly repressed financially.

 

Yep.

 

I put in 6 hours running the house PA in a bar in Fargo a few months ago. They paid me in cash, which was nice... except the cash was two $20s.

 

I've asked other various managers at different locations if they would ever think about having a jazz combo play. Most of them say "sure!". Then I ask them what they think a fair price would be to pay that jazz group to which they almost always reply: "you want me to PAY you?!"

 

I'm actually suprised you get paid at all doing that kind of work in a public school. If I was paying you for 5-6 hours of your time and expecting you to provide the blank media I'd be willing to pay closer to 300 bucks, depending on the quality of the product of course. Obviously the product you're providing is good enough to get you hired multiple times.

[Coaster]

if you say it was the windbreak i'm gonna be pissed.

[Unalaska]

There are a couple guys who record concerts for around 200 per show. 2 omni's (high end mics ~3K/pr), stereo preamp (same $), to CD and alesis masterlink. When I get hired bny them I make 125, they get the rest. 8K investment and $75 per gig return (no car/gas/insursance for them). Not so good...

 

When I do these gigs myself though I can't charge anymore since they have the price locked with all the classical groups in town. I bring some OK mics and borrow a great pre, but in the end the $ isn't great. The guys doing it are radio guys or fans of classical so they love the concerts. I've been known to take a nap.

[kevinnem]

 

Again, what the market will bear is what you need to determine. If there's competition in your market, you need to know where they're pricing their service. That 5% may seem trivial, but for some it's important enough to switch. It really doesn't matter what value you place on the customer. What matters is what value they place on you.

 

 

I don't know about this one...

 

I have lost a lot of money doing work at what the market bears.....

 

I would rather have 1 profitable gig, then 7 non profitable ones.

 

I like to set my price, and turn away some work, I think I Am doign about 1/2 the amout of work I did last year, but my profit hasn't changed at all, and I have more free time. I likely do larger event then the OP though.

[imnotded]

There are so many costs involved in doing business that people dont realize. I'm not in the SR field, but our insurance rates go up every year. Most of our material costs go up every year, some depend on current market values. Even in a bad economy the government still wants their cut whether it be in taxes or fee's for random things they require for us to do business. A 5% increase over 2-3 years is plenty reasonable.

 

The problem comes because there are so many people out of a full time job that they will do side "jobs" for dirt cheap to the point where a real business cant touch their prices. They can only do it for so long before they move on, but there is always someone else to come take their place. They artificially lower prices on services and do a really bad job as well. I see it in my business and I would assume its prevalent in this industry also.

[Unalaska]

 

There are so many costs involved in doing business that people dont realize. I'm not in the SR field, but our insurance rates go up every year. Most of our material costs go up every year, some depend on current market values. Even in a bad economy the government still wants their cut whether it be in taxes or fee's for random things they require for us to do business. A 5% increase over 2-3 years is plenty reasonable. The problem comes because there are so many people out of a full time job that they will do side "jobs" for dirt cheap to the point where a real business cant touch their prices. They can only do it for so long before they move on, but there is always someone else to come take their place. They artificially lower prices on services and do a really bad job as well. I see it in my business and I would assume its prevalent in this industry also.

 

 

I see it when boeing lays off a few thousand and the clubs are filled with ex-guitar players trying to get gigs again. I think the market price is artificially low because the barrier to access (buy a guitar and learn to play it) is relatively low. Sound on the other hand is tricky because if every band that owned a PA suddenly decided to freelance it would be similar to everyone who had a parked car trying to drive it at once. Insane traffic and no-one getting anywhere.