How to Price Photo Booths and DJ Gigs for Profit
CalcProfits Editorial Team · 6 min read
Most photo booth and DJ owners price by looking at what others charge. The trouble is that a rival's price tells you nothing about your fuel, crew, kit or hours. This guide shows a simpler way: write your figures down once, then price every booking from them.
Step 1: Set your figures once in the Pricing dashboard
Open the Pricing dashboard and enter the numbers that don't change from gig to gig. The figures below are a real operator's saved dashboard — one business's numbers, not industry averages, so swap in your own.
| Figure | Saved figure |
|---|---|
| Your hourly rate (what you want to earn) | £35 |
| Crew rate | £16 per hour |
| Cost per mile | £0.45 |
| Payment fee | 1.5% |
| Fixed costs (insurance, software, storage, marketing) | Not entered yet |
| Events per month | 6 |
| Main equipment | Not entered yet |
| Target margin | 25% |
The dashboard spreads fixed costs and equipment wear across every event you do in a year (here 72). These are the costs people forget when they quote from gut feel — and if you leave them blank, as here, every price below is lower than it should be. Add yours and the numbers rise.
Step 2: Count every hour, not just the party
A 3-hour booth hire is never 3 hours. Allow 1 hour of setup, 45 minutes of pack-down, 1.5 hours of prep, 1 hour of admin and 1.5 hours of driving. That's 8.75 hours of your time. At £35 an hour, that's £306.25 you need to earn before the booking is truly profitable.
DJs feel this even more. A 5-hour DJ set with longer setup and pack-down is 11.5 hours — £402.50 of your time.
Step 3: Know your three prices
- Break-even price — covers your cash costs (travel, crew, prints, fees, fixed costs, equipment) but pays you nothing.
- Formula price — pays your hourly rate and hits your target margin.
- Quoted price — what you actually send, ideally at or above the formula price.
| Worked example | Photo booth (3h wedding) | DJ (5h set) |
|---|---|---|
| Break-even price | £154 | £27 |
| Formula price | £623 | £584 |
| Profit at £450 | −£15 (a loss) | £14 |
| Profit at £695 | £226 (32.6% margin) | £255 (36.7% margin) |
| What you really earn per hour at £695 | £61 | £57 |
Booth: 1 crew member, 60 miles, £45 of prints and props. DJ: no crew or supplies, 60 miles. Profit here means after paying yourself £35 an hour.
Notice the £450 booth: it clears break-even easily, so it feels fine — but once your own time is counted it loses £15. That's how busy owners end up working for less than they think.
Step 4: Let AI Quote suggest the price
On AI Quote, enter the event — type, day, month, guests, hours and miles. When you're signed in, your dashboard figures fill in automatically. The app does the cost maths first, then the AI suggests a price starting from your formula price and never below break-even, with upsell ideas and a PDF you can send.
For a peak-season Saturday wedding, expect the suggestion to sit above the £623 formula price — at £695 that booking makes the £226 profit in the table above.
Step 5: Hold your price when a rival is cheaper
If a client says someone else is £450, don't just match it — you now know that's a loss. Use Competitor Quote to choose between matching, beating, adding value or walking away, with a reply ready to send.
Quick checklist
- Save your figures once in the Pricing dashboard.
- Count setup, pack-down, prep, admin and driving.
- Never quote below break-even; aim for the formula price or above.
- Charge more for peak Saturdays and add upsells rather than discounting.
All figures are a worked example for planning only, not industry benchmarks or financial advice.