There are whole threads dedicated to the philosophy's of how to price shows. Lots of opinions, lots of things to think about. The problem is you have a professional industry that charges professional prices with professional equipment that's been slowly being eroded away by the steadily lowering cost of admission into this industry. Think about it... you're looking at trying to buy 2 - 3 watt projectors for $2400. Just a couple years ago, I spent nearly $9,000 to buy ONE. And going back further, a lasershow required a fragile, dangerous, temperamental hulking piece of "water and electricity gobbling" mystery that cost tens of thousands of dollars or more. The "art" has been watered down to where people are doing what they "call" a lasershow for $50, free beer and a slice of pizza. I'm guilty. You're guilty. A lot of others are guilty. Sometimes it's an issue of what the market will bear and then it becomes a hard decision of whether you want to do it or not. I know there are companies that wouldn't touch some of the things I have done for less than several thousand dollars but... if I were to have told the client that much, they would have said, well... it would be cool to have but... no thanks. I'm a bit of a unique case though in that I manage a venue and lasers/lighting are an simply an upsell to the sweet 16's, weddings, proms and such I'm already hosting. Someone spending $4000 on the food, facility, DJ, and decorations for their kids sweet 16, is not going to say yes to lasers for $6,000 for a few songs. But they may very well pay $700 if they want it bad enough and, for me, all the gear is right here and somewhat set up and ready to go all the time. I don't have to truck it to unfamiliar locations and pay a crew and so forth.
.
Sometimes you also have to do it for the learning experience. I periodically do lasers for a local Pink Floyd tribute band in my area. It's a 10 piece group and I've become friends with them. What should the charge be to supply a couple of say, 3 watt green lasers for a few songs throughout a set if the band is making $6,000 for the gig? There are companies out there that would say, "Oh, you have to charge at least $3,000." Well... that's not in their budget but... if I... as someone who is still interested in learning and growing about doing unique gigs, rather than just sweet 16's in my own venue, I may have to make a concession and charge what they can afford and I can live with, to gain the experience. To... "add it to the resume". I have a festival tomorrow at the beach with several tribute bands from 2-10pm and they are the headliner with a 90 minute set from 8:30-10. But I'll have to be there around 9 in the morning for rigging and since I'm also running their videos on a circle scrim since our regular guy is doing a show at Red Rocks this weekend. I should be charging them a lot more than I am but, I'm also going to get to spend the day - not a work - at the beach, looking at eye candy, listening to a bunch of bands, free food and beverage, expenses covered and and making a few hundred more than I would being at work at my regular job. It's also possible when I get there that I may deem lasers not possible because of wind conditions or lack of termination points and such but, they know safety is my call and I get paid regardless since I'm also running the video server. If I had told them $3,000 I'd never have gotten the learning experience to handling the challenges that may be thrown my way. I'm also getting some training on a GrandMA so there is value in that (to me) as well. But I realize all of this would horrify a pro company and look at it as helping to devalue the industry and yes, I understand and appreciate that and don't do it all the time.
.
So... what to charge can be a tough thing to negotiate. Read this thread: http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...ghlight=charge