80's Party Laser Show

[Doc]

I won't risk injuring my back lifting the gear into the car for £500<

Less than that, somebody else is welcome to do it.

[QUAZAR]

Someone with decent morals. Well done Sir.

[Eidetic]

yeah, i gotta agree with quazar. Sorry Andy. but $750 for 3 laser systems? that is nuts. for $750 i would bring *maybe* 3 par lights with a 3 channel color chaser. i am by no means putting you down but that just makes no sense to me.

i came up with a very simple base line for show charges and my bare minimum charges to do a show. (obviously there are extenuating circumstances. i "cut people breaks" if the need arises).

1- what is the most expensive thing to replace (*not* including a laser module) if something breaks at a show? Chances are, it is a set of scanners. Ok, so for an average set of scanners, you're looking at what, $500 approx.

2- What is your time (and chances are a tech with you also) worth? I would guesstimate a *very lowball* figure for labor of $20/ hour. So, between show set up, aiming, show performance, breakdown- the average show is 7 hours. For this example, we'll use a nightclub over here. Average clubs doors open at 9 pm. i have to show up at a MINIMUM of 8 pm to set up and aim. then im there from 9-2 am (5 hours) then another hour to breakdown. so, 7 total hours. $20X7 hours= $140 (and then if you have a tech= $280)

3- So, we are at $500+$140= $640

4- What is your expertise and show programming and performance worth? i would hope there is some charge in there. I would throw a bare minimum of $250 for a basic club gig.

5- Insurance costs?

6- Business costs?

7- Travel costs?

If you are running a business (which i am) and you do shows for $500-$750 you would go bankrupt in 6 months. How you manage to make profits and support a business doing $750 3 laser laser shows is mind boggling.

If you took that $750 charge and divided it out for the amount of time you put into the show and your expenses you probably are PAYING THEM to do the show! lol. Or you are making minimum wage (or barely above) and at that point i owuld rather just work at McDonalds flipping burgers or something. No liability in that!

When a product and/or service gets devalued, it is expected to become the norm. it is up to the product and service providers to NOT let that happen!

-Marc

You forgot to double what you just calculated to account for profit, and double it again to cover the extra time you'll spend beyond what's predicted and those who rip you off.

[buffo]

Hey Marc;

I've got a hunch that particular laser company was using Full Auto. Care to confirm that?

I agree that $750 for a setup that involved is financial suicide. The only way you can justify a price like that is for charity. Maybe the laserist was an alumni of the College?

Still, it looked pretty cool on the video. I'm sure the crowd loved it.

Adam