$20!!!??? You got to be kidding! There's even an audition???

My god... There are people who does Magic for a living like yours truly, why would you want to perform at such low fees and hurt the industry? You are better off doing it for free, it would be less insulting. Waiting staff get paid higher.

Ever wonder why few Magicians ever get the same respect as other artists?

There are many ways to get experience performing and contribute to "our community", this is not one of them.

If I step on anyone's toes, I apologise but that's my honest opinion.

Respectfully,

Alex

we are doing charity work and its supose to be free.. they are just giving 20bucks as token of appreciation.. not like as if we're being employed and paid by them

no lah......i think d $20 is just a token of appreciation....for lunch & transport lah....

There are many ways to contribute to a charity event, providing 10 Magicians for free just doesn't cut it for me.

As a professional Magician, when approached for a show for a charity event, I would charge my full fee, usually paid by a sponsor and donate the entire sum to the appropriate charitable organisation.

In an event, the organisers would be paying for site rental, sound system, food & beverages and many other logistical requirements.

In an event like this, SOME but not all of these would be taken care by sponsors, usually rich profitable organisations whose donations are tax-detuctable and they have already set a side part of the profits for purposes like these.

Think about it. So if the sound system guys, service crew, cleaning crew and what have are paid, why then should Magicians be free?

Magicians devote time and money to become who we are, as artists who should have our worth, I would never be percieved as free. I would rather have someone who like to contribute pay for my services, while I donate my fee to the Charitable organisation.

It probably doesn't make any difference to you if you are not making a living in Magic or do not love Magic as much as I do.

It's ok to perform a few effects for friends free of charge but a big group of Magicians performing for the public for 5 hours...

You might think, why make it so complicated when it's only for a charity event? Then how can a Magician contribute, except to entertain people. Is it absolutely neccessary? NO! Can they do without that? YES! It's a luxury and like all luxurious things, it should come with a price.

Seriously, if you really want to contribute to the event, be ushers or help in cleaning-up would have made much more impact.


Respectfully,

Alex

Hi Alex,

Your opinions are duely noted. Bear with us as we are still trying to find our bearings on this. God knows there has been so many discussions among the organising members on this issue.
Me too have been uncomfortable with the fact that DJs and events companies are paid for a charitable event so no reason we shouldn't be too. Our services are in no way easier or cheaper than theirs. On the other hand, we do want to provide a platform for experience gaining and community service for our peers. It's a tricky situation that we are still exploring.
If you are coming to the 2nd of Apr meeting, i would honestly love to hear your opinions in this matter in detail and your advice and suggestions would be very much appriciated.

Incidentally, the $20 is just transportation allowance. It is not fees in any way.

Cheers

Hi Alex,

Hi this is Alan, I'm very impress with the way you handle charity event and gigs, will you be attending April 2nd meeting? I'll like to get some advice from you regarding charity shows, I too have the same thinking like you regarding the payment part and all, hope you can advice me with more information regarding handling of charity events...

-Alan-

I think the reason the sound systems, DJs etc are paid is because these are a necessity. Without them, the whole event won’t function properly. With magicians, they are just extras. Having magicians will add more fun to the event but not necessary more donations.

Having said these, I sort of agree with Alex. By getting $20, be it fees or allowance, it actually cheapens magic. Moreover, when you organize a charity event, you don’t ask for the number of magicians you need. You accept whatever the no. of magicians are provided. So what if they have 10 slots only?

Wouldn’t it be better if they can pay the magician’s full fee and the magicians donate it to the charity organization? Please don’t say they can’t afford the fees, if they can put a side $200 ($20 x 10 slots) for magicians, they can use this to engage a magician.

They’ll have to decide if they need magicians for the event or not. If they need it, they have to pay for it, just like the waiting staffs, the sound systems etc. We need to change the mindset of these organizers. I feel that in their mind, magicians are a bunch of people who are so eager to do charity and perform for free.

I have experienced organizers who don’t even say thank you after the performance; they don’t even acknowledge your presence. Not all organizations are like that, but some really are. Sad but true.

I am quite neutral on the audition part, but I just hope the organisers have communicated the correct idea of what they want to see from us to the "judges". There is no point if 10 magi are cleared to perform card tricks when the organisers were expecting someone dressed up as a clown doing balloon twisting.

The $20 issue is quite awkward. I agree with Alex in that it "cheapens" the market price. It makes no difference if we disguise it by saying "It's just transport allowance". Fact is, in simplified terms 10 Magicians were paid $20 per hour for an event.

This is similar to our friend in the Yahoo ad that most people on this forum were berating for charging 50 bucks.

Like Bernard said, if they are willing to fork out $200, then they're better off getting a 20 minute show from one magician.

If it was an in-house event where few or no professional services were catered (Lighting, PA system, music, etc), that's different, but if money is being spent and they should not expect to get magicians at 20 bucks.

Not being paid is better than having a token 20 thrown at us.

Just some thoughts.

- Raoul

actually, this sorts of cheapens magic.

they can use the $200 to hire A magician, but we "request" to add in a few strolling magicians to entertain the crowd but mainly to gain experience. (or this is what we tell them, though we'll split the cash)

so at least they know that professional magicians will not perform at that price.

this way, it prevents the cheapening of magic, and at the same time, make us sound generous.

Perhaps it was my mistake to ask for the $20 transport fees. My logic was this...
We had originally offered to perform for free but it was exactly because I considered that since many people are paid-for for the event, we shouldn't be too willing.
However, at the same time, we recognise that they are a VWO that relies on public funding to operate. Now while we cannot contribute to this funding financially, I thought we can "sponsor" them with our services.
Much like how some organisations may give them $2000 cash in donations, we are "donating" our products and services.
Unfortunately, it is easy for free things to be taken for granted. And it is possible that magic as a service may be perceived "cheap and easy" because of that, and it does bothers me. As I said, we are still trying to find our bearings on this.

It is maybe a little clumsy to discuss this online but I do appriciate all your opinions and comments.


Cheers

So are we still accepting the $20 and will there still be auditions?

So will that be paid events posted under Shows and Bookings or will it still be considered "charity work", posted here?


Some (more) thoughts on this whole issue:

There is a difference between doing a show for charity, and doing a paid performance that just *happens to be for a charitable organisation*.

If it's the latter, then it's a non-issue, auditions with the actual organiser is a necessity and payment should be discussed between the performer(s) and organiser. SMC is just a middleman for connecting the 2.

If it's the former, where as Aloysius said, instead of monetary contributions we offer our services as a "donation", then money is not involved, the performers are not necessarily pro, and there are no auditions to see who should go.

Rather, forum members volunteer their services on a first come first serve basis until the number is sufficient, then Jason/Aloysius/Whoever just has a run through of their performance to make sure it's not catastrophically useless.

As was mentioned in the original thread, if there is something in our routines that makes them uncomfortable, then we remove it and carry on with the rest of the good stuff.

This allows a wider range of people to participate, it can filter out the amateurs from the utter beginners, and it gives the amateurs and above chances to improve.

Just for the record, my definition of an utter beginner is someone who just received a DVD from Ellusionist today and wants to perform tomorrow. I am quite sure majority of the forum members have been in magic for at least a month and have 3 good effects that they've practiced dilligently. It is the utter beginners that can harm the name of SMC, not the rest.

- Raoul

I understand what you are driving at Raoul...I think for any shows under SMC, an audition must be held. This is to protect the name of SMC. We cannot have someone with inadequate skills performing in the public. There are plenty of ways to learn to brush up your skills, like going for SMC meetings or sessioning. Charity shows are for magicians who has the skills but lack performing experiences. We will not judge based on your experience but rather how prepared you are. You won't need a public show to prepare your material. They are meant for you to gain experience in interacting with the live audience you can never practise with at home.

Hope you guys will understand why we are doing this!

I've just re-read the previous posts on this topic. Now my question...

If we had not accepted anything at all instead of the $20 transport fees which is geniunely what it was supposed to be, would it have been better?
Would accepting the $20 really be worse than doing it for free?
How do we make sure that by doing it for free, magic performances are not perceived as easily available and cheap?

On the other suggestion of how we should go about doing this.....
Alex, do you tell them beforehand that you will donate the full amount back to them when you accept a gig for charity?
Do you donate back the full amount regardless of what kind of event it as, as long as it's a charitable organisation or VWO?
Pardon me for sounding stupid, but isn't that the same as doing it for free? The difference, perhaps, is that they know what's the market rate for the performance that you just did. Was that the purpose of which?

And all futher discussion and opinions on this welcomed.


Cheers

i think the $20 has nothing to do with it, afterall, its clear that its for "transportation" and not professional fees.

Guys...let's step back and think for a moment. What are we getting out of these shows? Some of the pro street performers are doing it to make a living. For some of us perhaps to make some extra pocket money or some (me included) do it to learn how to perform and gain experience.

I don't understand why an allowance fee of $20 will cheapen magic. If you're given $20 to perform for charity but you recieve $300 for a full paid pro show are you only worth $20?

For Raoul suggesting that SMC becoming a middleman for fully paid shows, that would be treating SMC like a free event company. SMC gets the deal, you take all the money.

For this event, they need two magicians per hour for 5 hours. That would be 2 magis doing one hour each. We came to the number of 10 performers instead of one is because:

1) we want as many performers to gain this experience as possible (keeping in mind this event is for those who wants to gain experience not make money - as this is not what SMC is about)

2) If they come out with $200 for just one performer, that performer has to perform for 5 hours straight. Will you do that? ;)

I think we should set our motives, why are we performing? For money? Experience? Let's here it from you so the Event Coordinators (Ning, myself and a little bit of Morphine :P ) can decide which direction SMC should head towards.

2) If they come out with $200 for just one performer, that performer has to perform for 5 hours straight. Will you do that? ;)

I will still do it and perform for 1 hour only, thats around the market price.

You can also subsitute it with a 30 mins stage show. At least everyone will get to see the magic show.

I know this is a tough thing to deal with. Not all methods are foolproof. Maybe if you want to gain experience, go to hospitals, old folks home etc and voluteer your performance. Do it for free, at least everyone who are there are volunteers who don't charge a fee. :)

When you accept $20 as allowance or anything for performing, you are only worth $20 for that gig, like it or not. I would love to see the same person who paid you $20 for that gig, pay you $300 for a similar gig.

When you perform for the public, you have the responsibilty to be professional in your performance. An audience who witnessed a less than professional Magician would not think that maybe he's not a pro and had only wanted to make some extra pocket money. Whatever you do or not do has effect on the way an audience sees and evaluates another Magician, pro or not. A Magician who makes his living in Magic will suffer more impact as by performing at a much lower fee or allowance, you have just set a "market price" if there was such a thing, for that person. It would be much worse if the Magician was less than professional.

It's not impossible to change that person's mindset, it would just be much more difficult. It would be easy for you to simply rub that off cause your next meal does not depend on it.

Just remember that for everything you do, it will either help or hurt the industry and there is no way around that.

You mentioned "our" motives...

I'm not sure what's yours. "The Magic Cafe" has been around much longer but I don't see them offering Magicians at offer prices. All other Magic organisations do not do that either.

If you enjoy being event coordinators, start a event company and offer your services on a commercial level. Maybe then you would better understand my considerations .

If the direction SMC is heading is decided by only a few individuals, I'm not sure if I would want to associate with it.

Having said all that, starting Magicians can gain experience at venues mentioned by Magicdow, the way most of us did. Why hurt the industry when you are not ready, and realise that there's not much left when you are?

Respectfully,

Alex

actually, i was thinking that SMC becomes a sort of an agent for paid shows. take 20% of the $, and this can go towards SMC funds.

this is a good suggestion that SMC might consider, maybe have them pay for a 30 min stage show, but we may provide extra strolling magicians as bonuses (but they must not think of "$200 for a package").

i see where you are coming from.....i agree it's bit grey in this area.....on one side, some of us want to do some volunteer work, but if we received a few bucks for transporation allowance...we can be seen undercutting the industry, spoiling d mkt.......but i defintely dun want to charge a hospital 300 bucks(my personal opinion).........very hard to define which is the best solution.....

If you are doing stage show, 300 for a hospital might be too little. Maybe 400 - 450 ? if you think you worth that much.

okie....i think this issue boils down who is looking at it.....a full-time magician will say no to this because this is hurting d mkt prices........meanwhile, others will just want to do some volunteer work, so money & prcing is not a top issue....so it's bit grey lah.....i'm sorry if i offended anyone by saying this


yujie

well, magicdow has suggested some alternative venues to gain experience, and multi-talent has said its a good place to start.

i think SMC can decide if an upcming event deserves a free show (hospitals, old folks home etc as suggested by magicdow), or it ought to be paid. so in response to jasons post:

"I think we should set our motives, why are we performing? For money? Experience? Let's here it from you so the Event Coordinators (Ning, myself and a little bit of Morphine tongue.gif ) can decide which direction SMC should head towards."

we can actually take a two-pronged approach at this, offering services for experience AND money depending on the event.

having said this, ive finally decided on a stand regarding this issue (after being confused for a while, and many of us will also find difficulties in such "grey" areas and such). but since ive already volunteered, i shall stay on, but i promise to be more careful next time...

Hi Alex,

Help me out a bit here. So do you think it would be better if we do it completely free? Will that leave a more positive impact on event organisers? I am asking a geniune question. And also, your opinion is that budding magicians shouldn't perform in public events?

See, for me, I personally volunteer with SCS which is also with NCSS, doing many things, most not magic related. I have a lot of contacts with VWOs who would love to have magicians at their events, be it homes or carnivals or celebration events. I have a full time job and I don't plan to go pro at all, but personally, i really like volunteering in these events (where time allows) as entertainment. Both because i can and I enjoy it, and also because I like contributing to a cause I believe in. At the same time, if what I do is hurting magic, i would like to know why and how I can do it differently.
Now, do you feel that someone of my demographics is spoiling the market for professional magicians? That with my (perhaps sub standard) performance, and my free services, I am depriving professional magicians of their rightful earnings and image? I really would like to know your opinion on that and what we can do to change that if it's true.

SMC is in the hands of all the people who are interested to have a hand in it by contribution. But like all organisational entities, we cannot, and will not attempt to, please everyone. I think you can emphathise with that. :)

I am really interested in your comments and opinions. Maybe you can throw me something here. How do you think we should do this? What do you think we should be doing? I will not promise that we will do things the way you want us to, but i promise i will consider your suggestions very seriously.

And the transport fees is maybe something I did not handle as well as I could have. It is really not supposed to be magicians on super offer. I will try to do it better the next time. But you gotta tell me how would it be better. How would you handle this if it's up to you?


Cheers

Hi, i agree with you, me too do so for bring a Smile to people and myself.

Alex, Sir just relax and count this as a good will to the needy, who know someone might be blessed just because of u.

M.A.D. B)

Hi guys, i have a suggestion...why not everytime we perform (charity) we charge at the full rates? and after the show we donate the total back to them? imagine this on newspaper: "SMC donated $____ to charity organisation..."

just my 2cts worth, but i think it might help in boosting up SMC reputation...when we have reputation more people will get us for shows and we can again repeat the same thing...

also should we need to "pay magician for transport etc..." we can draw out certain amount w/o the organisation knowledge, and of coz since they're paying the full rates it'll not cheapen magic...

-Alan-

If the charity could afford a budget for magicians, then they would have employed magicians. What's the point of doing charity work for recognition or money? wouldn't that defeat the point of charity? why charge the full amount only to return it to the same charity?

Money should not be an issue at all, methinks.

And there are some of us here who might think that $20 for transportation fees would cheapen magic as a whole, and at the same time undercut opportunities for other 'professional' magicians.

My stand is this: if you are good at what you do, no one can undercut you.

Hi guys:

It's not question of how charitable you are.

It's not a question of undercutting.

It's a question of demeaning the art, and potentially destroying the livelihood of pros who do this for a living.

Consider the repercussions:

* You get paid $20 for 5 hours of work. You're worth $4 per hour. Whether you justify it as a token, or transport allowance, this is what you telegraph. Perceived truth is more powerful than the truth.

* Seen one magician, seen them all. This hurts the industry big time.

Wanna contribute to charity?

* Give money, or render other services.

Don't demean, devalue the art or use it as a excuse to 'practice' or to hone your chops.

Practice at home, or when your mom's not looking.

Oh yes, Alex is my buddy, and I echo his opinion very strongly.

As a magician, you get to dictate how much this art is worth to you, and if $4 per hour cuts it, you get my left handed salute with a hot shot cut thrown in.

Sincerely,
Jo Han Mok

My question for you sir, is this:

1) Do you think it will be better if we accept no payment at all?

2) Do you think that if you are not doing it full time as a livelihood, you shouldn't perform at all? Doesn't that sound like saying that nobody should do magic as a hobby, but only as an occupation?

3) How then can a performer improve, regardless of whether the purpose is to go pro or not, if they do not expose themselves to real life performance situations? Practising in the bedroom can only do so much.

Geniune questions. Your honest response is much appriciated.


Cheers

Maybe what Alex and his friend were thinking is that

"Since SMC in the first place itself is known to be doing CHARITY work, then why collect $20 for the performing magicians instead, why not simply just reject the $20 for all performing magicians and just keep it the way as it will."

I think what Alex and his friend were thinking was the above.

Can we forget about the $20? Why is everyone STARING at the $20? This $20 is bigger than gu chia lian (bull cart wheels) i tell you......... <_<

In any case, we will not be accepting any kind of allowances in the future for charity except in cases where there are material costs (e.g. Balloons, expandables, etc)

I would like to hear from Mr Alex Tan and Mr Jo now. Thanks.

Would it be different if let's say you're a doctor who charges $50 per consultation and also work for some charity organization and give discounted medical services at $5?

I think the small allowance is not really an issue. We'll have to judge this on a case to case basis.

Charge proper market rate for shows but we can always be softer when it comes to charity issues.

Hey there Han Mok :)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and views with us... would you like to post an intro of yourself on our welcome thread? I hope you'd stay on this forum as a participating member of the magic community, and not just creating an account to just state your views on this sole particular issue. It'd be a waste really, it'd be great to have a magician with you who has so much more to share.

I noticed that you wrote in your post "It's a question of demeaning the art, and potentially destroying the livelihood of pros who do this for a living. Don't demean, devalue the art or use it as a excuse to 'practice' or to hone your chops."

...Han Mok, I can see where you're coming from- if I correctly assume you to be a fulltime performer. By doing charity work, SMC has no intention at all to demean, evalue or hurt the magic industry and art in any way.

Maybe I can use an example (inspired by Magicdow) to illustrated and explain in (hopefully) clearer detail ^_^ :

Right now, NKF goes around various offices, shopping centres and churches even, giving free health checks. Sometimes they charge a nominal $5 for certain folks, depending on the situations but yes, a full health check up for S$5.

What would the medical industry - individual clinics, poly clinics and hospitals think about this?

Some might be unhappy - $5 for a check up? When they themselves charge much more at their clinic?

But let's look on a more generous and wider scope...

NKF is not a professional medical unit. They may charge the nominal $5 (most of the time it is free for staff) for the 'full' check up but it's not 'complete' in the sense, it just hits bare minimum and it's done in a jiffy- there's no privacy, no comfort and sometimes you may doubt their efficiency or accuracy.

Unlike how NKF does their mass screenings in a public place, individual clinics have a comfortable patient-doctor relationship where these tests are done in the privacy of 4 walls and the doctor may take the time to share his expert professional advice and take. The patient feels more secure since hey, it's the pro talking. The amount of money spent was well worth it.

You get what you pay for.

...Professionals like you charge a professional fee and provide your clients with a truly professional magic show. Think of yourselves as the qualified medical professional that really went to the school and give people what they want, what they need, a real fullfilment!

NKF promotes health awareness, so people who realise they aren't very healthy, would then proceed to go to their own doctors for professional advice and all. They may even go for the professional complete check up at the clinic for a second opinon.

Same way, SMC is promoting magic - the love of it - to people at charity events. Once this forgotten art is revived in the minds of people, they'd most likely engage you professionals for their huge corporate D&Ds and important events.

Why can't both coexist peacefully at the same time? Magicians become magicians because they have a real audience to perform for, if you practise only- in your room when mom's not looking, would you be a true performer? I think not.

I hope we can all settle this in a peaceful manner. Hey, we can maybe even meet up for dinner and drinks to talk this out rationally instead of just words on the screen (which may get misunderstood, unfortuneately!).

Thanks for reading what I wanted to share...

My 2 cents worth ;)

Ning

Hi Ning/Morphine:

Yes, I'll be more than happy to contribute, time dependent, and I'll be posting a little intro.

And, just for the record, my name's Jo Han.

If you're gonna perform without accepting any gratuity, why do it over such an agonizing prolonged period of time?

I shudder at the thought of 2 hours, not to mention 5.

Here's the kind of value I attach to our art.

I got paid $150 for my first professional table hopping gig for half an hour together with Chan Ee Kang.

This was 12 years ago, when I was a 14 year old kid.

Obviously you guys are way ahead, and more talented, and if your intent is to popularize the art of magic, why limit yourselves to performing solely for charity.

Get my drift?

I'm not dogmatic, but if your aim is purely altrusitic and you have no need to 'profit' from the art so to speak, then give financially.

Your opportunity cost is certainly not the gain of any charitable organisation, and while that might be debatable, it certainly doesn't apply to magic.

And yes, I believe you should practice at home, and not even TRY to pull off anything in front of your friends unless you've really 'nailed' it.

Bottomline is: Do the old folk's home, orphanages where everyone gets nothing. Blah blah. But 5 hours, $20. Geez..I really don't know...

Thanks for all the feedback.

I think perhaps some of the forumers have not fully grasped what the $20 is about. It is not a fee. We did not ask for from the charity organisations. We will glady do without it and perform for free. Our efforts will then be our "donation" for the charity. So if we perform for free instead of recieving $20, will you guys do it? Are we undercutting the market even more? If not, what is charity then?

I honestly do not believe that by accepting this token sum of transport fee we are undercutting the market. Many of our members have almost no performing experiences. If we get paid a full pro price on our first gig, we will be demeaning, devalueing the art because we almost definately will not deserve that price.

The SMC coordinators strongly believe in giving performing opportunities to the inexperienced budding magicians. One safe way is to perform for charity as they are less demanding and it will also be a good way to give back to our society. We are not an event company providing performers for fully paid shows.

I noticed a few "pro magicians" are very unhappy about others charging a low price for their shows and hence undercutting their market. Think about it, why are they charging only $50 per show? It's precisely because they have no clients and they want to attract them. But after hiring them once, the client will understand why are they so cheap and will never call them again. If you have a decent show charged at $300 and you make sure it's worth that price, you won't have to be afraid of others undercutting you because your clients will know better.

One more thing I want to add. If we're going to charge full rates to hospitals and charity organisations, we'll greatly decrease the chance of them coming to us because many of them simply cannot afford it.

Personally I feel gratified towards them for giving us their "stage" for us to perform and hone our presentation skills. Why are we even upset when someone has given us a chance to perform?

Hi Jo Han,

Thank you for your feedback. :)

For now we are only doing charity because we are not marketting ourselves as a "magic performance provider" but as a community of magicians and hobbists. It is possible that when our members are growing enough we might go that direction, but it's not in the cards immediately.

To avoid erronous perception about the rates of magicians, I have decided that we will not accept transportation allowances for future event except for extreme cases (e.g. Performing at Pulau Ubin(?!), etc). But we will claim "material expenses" if any expandables are used for the performances (e.g. Flash paper, Bullet catching cards which are given away as souveniors, etc).

And where possible, we will definitely do purely charitable venues (e.g. children homes, hospitals, etc). But if it's a public event for a charitable cause (e.g. awareness day, carinvals, etc), we will request for creditation for our "sponsorship" and/or a fee where applicable.

Please understand that we are not trying to have a $1.99 budget shop of magicians, but just giving our members a platform to perform and encourage our members to do a little good with their skills.

Hope that clears up everything for everyone. And i am sincerely grateful for all the feedbacks.

If you are available, please do join us for the 2nd of April meeting. :) It would be great fun for all. B)


Cheers

yea, thats good. but i think as long as they do not have the wrong perception, even $20 can be accepted (as what magicdow said).

its all about perception, i dun think the $ is that impt an issue. so like what magicdow said, it should be on a case by case basis,

Actually I am in agreement with the charging concept, but just to make things clear, I think the general idea put forth for that is that we do not keep the $. It must be noted that the "fees" we collect go back to the organisation as a donation it may not even involve the actual exchange of money and can be purely an excercise in the accounts dept involving a debit, then a credit of the same value but it does give value (or "worth" if you prefer) to the performers.

and on a seperate topic... WOOHOO! Happy April Fool's

I believe that your value as the performer on the art of magic will definitely enhance the charity event thus I think it should be recognise and paid accordingly. As it is a charity event it is up to the charity to decide on the token of appreciation as they deem fit. The token/payment should be paid to the SMC as a collective effort. When I do charity event especially for stage show I still need to buy some of the props which need reload (e.g. mouth coil, balloon,griffitti's,rabbit etc) so normally the budget still exceed $100 including transportation. Whereas for normal chargeable event it can goes up to $300. I salute your heart of gold but really if you keep on doing these it may hurt the industry.Just my two cents.. B)