Every now and then the topic of pricing, undercutting, and the local Orlando belly dance community arises. This week I have to extend a HUGE thank you to my good friend Amartia Belly Dance of Maryland for a fabulous tip she gave me.

So it was Tuesday night, we were chatting away on the phone about Gigmasters and what we thought about the service and the topic of local undercutting came about. Many dancers will talk the talk and “say” they charge correct rates, but when push comes to shove, and a client is looking for bids on Gigmasters, many times I am left wondering “well who in fact got the gig and I wonder what they quoted?”.

Well, good news, now we can find out! I had no idea about this, but when you go onto gigmasters, in the listings of dancers in a particular area, one can click on the “price range” section of their listing and it will populate a list of what gigs the dancer bid on, and how much they charged for the requested amount of time (see pictures at end of this post).

Frankly I was a bit appalled. Both well respected, established dancers in Orlando and semi-pro alike were charging much less, and often dancing for 30-40+ a show for less than what they preached one should charge.

The same goes for so many other cities out there, where belly dancers are charging must less than what they “say” they are charging.

Goes to show you, you can talk the talk, but who REALLY is going to walk the walk. Come on dancers, be real. The truth always comes out. Well, that’s it. I am sure many dancers out there already knew about this, but I for one didn’t so I am sure others out there don’t either.

Happy dancing everyone, and as always, do your best to act professionally. Undercharging on gigmasters just to get the gig is very sad, and doesn’t make you look honest and respectable, when you do it to take gigs away from other more experienced dancers.

What are your thoughts belly dancers on gigmasters and pricing stints?