Thread: non-city pricing

i'm just thinking about pricing, how it's usually lower outside of cities where the price of living is lower and people expect to pay less for everything, including entertainment.
but i realized, the cost of doing our business in a small town are actually higher than in a city. in GENERAL we have to travel farther for training and if we go into the city we sortta loose on the "exchange rate" between the lower pay in our day jobs and the higher cost of living there, order costumes from the interwebs and possibly loose money on things that don't work because there is no way to try things on from here, and things like that. there's usually no decent public transportation so we need to upkeep a car instead of being able to use the bus/train.....
of course charging what dancers in the cities do would price us out of the market and part of pricing is demand, im not advocating any specific pay scale or anything (other than: fair & not undercutting) but i thought it would be interesting to consider and mull.
Road Island is neither a road, nor an island, discuss! ..g.:

It seems to me the increased supply in cities often actually drives prices down. I wonder if that's an oddity of my area...

Depends on the city, I suppose. Louisville is in theory a metro area of over one million people. Public transport is a network of buses that become increasingly unreliable the further you get away from downtown - only losers don't have cars. The one place I know of that sells costumes sells airport specials... except they are not at an airport. Most dancers I know use the internet to get their costumes... with the attendant unpleasantnesses. There's a very large conservative Christian element that expects belly dancers to strip and start swing tassels mid-way through the set, which makes potential customers hesitate about hiring. The nearest sources for private lessons suitable for professional-level dancers are 100+ miles away in several directions. Any paid gigs are competed for fiercely, which often drives the remuneration down to food and tips. And teachers outside the city often have larger classes because there's not as much competition out there either.

I noticed the pay disparity when I lived in Georgia, but I will also say that I didn't really pay much attention to it. I looked at my business, the cost for providing the quality of show that I provide, and set my prices accordingly. They were not significantly lower than what someone would find in Atlanta, but it worked for me.

Sometimes I think we focus too much on going rates and decreasing our business expenses to fit what someone else says we should charge. If your local going rate is too low to comfortably cover your expenses (including paying yourself) then raise your rates and make sure your marketing and the show you deliver leave no question as to why you're worth the extra $$.

I do agree though that it seems silly to charge less outside of a city even if the cost of doing business is about the same (if not more).

Originally Posted by raqFariha

there's usually no decent public transportation so we need to upkeep a car instead of being able to use the bus/train.....

of course charging what dancers in the cities do would price us out of the market and part of pricing is demand

I live outside a fairly large city and cannot imagine traveling to a gig on public transportation. I do realize that is the norm for many performers, friends in NYC are a prime example, they manage quite well but I have not had to deal with that situation. I maintain an older vehicle as an affordable mode of transportation.

I know several dancers that own studios in small towns, their studio rent is comparable to similar size studios in large cities. Strange but often true.

This topic will lead to interesting interaction. Great topic. I look forward to reading thought-provoking posts.

How far away from big cities are you talking?
When in NY I'll use public transport for gigging, but home I have to use a car. Everything is too far away (I'm in CD/Baltimore metro region).
To be honest- if I'm traveling far outside the city region, I tack ON for mileage, so pricing could be rationalized both ways. In addition, in the city regions there are more gigs, but also many more dancers. One could rationalize that more dancers equals more competition for those gigs and therefore drive prices down.
So, I drive far for gigs- and have an affordable car (Smart Car) because of it. If someone wants me to dance "out in the sticks", chances are they're going to pay more because I have to drive farther.

Originally Posted by MaryRaks

Sometimes I think we focus too much on going rates and decreasing our business expenses to fit what someone else says we should charge. If your local going rate is too low to comfortably cover your expenses (including paying yourself) then raise your rates and make sure your marketing and the show you deliver leave no question as to why you're worth the extra $$.

THIS.

What really drove this point home for me was when I went on Gigmasters, pulled up some pricing info for comedians, Elvis impersonators, magicians, balloon twisters, and gorilla-grams, and saw how much money other variety entertainers are getting.

If the guy in the gorilla suit can make $400 for a 10-minute 'gram, then we're well within our right to price ourselves wherever we think we need to be

ETA: No disrespect toward gorilla impersonators!