Pub gig payment methods.. online, boooo!

[Marky L]

Ok so, covers band world here. Playing the usual mix of pubs and clubs and have always gone home with cash in my pocket for the night. 

 

But now it really seems to have swung to online payment. I can understand that many of the establishments take payments for booze etc via card and phone so there's less cash on the premises, but for and old skool oldie like me, it sucks.

 

As an example, we played a pub last Saturday (which I think is Greene King) and they informed us that we'd be payed online via whatever app it is that we are signed up to already. What bugs me is they quote payment for ten days after the event.. which is an arse pain BUT.. if you don't want to wait you can forego 2.5% of your fee for immediate payment.. even ruder! We play a few of this chain's pubs so it's becoming more of a regular occurrence for us.

 

So do you dump 2.5% (not much but it's the principle)? Also you either need a trustworthy designated banker (chortle) or a group bank account, the management of which is an arse pain too.

 

I don't like the way this modern world is going. Guess I'm very out of date now. 😔

 

Moan over. 😁

[Silvia Bluejay]

Well, think of it as freelance work with a company. With that you invoice your client and they pay either within 30 days of receipt or at the end of the month. (Obviously that doesn't apply to your plumber or decorator fixing stuff in your home - you usually have to pay immediately - but I bet it does apply when those same tradesmen work for a company.)

 

The alternative is to be paid cash for the gig but risk being stiffed for part of your fee with some stupid excuse (not enough people in the pub, etc.) or be asked to commit fraud by signing a receipt for a higher amount than agreed so the landlord can pocket the difference.

 

So there are two reasons why this is happening - accountability and, as you mention, the slow death of cash. You almost need a mortgage to buy a round these days, you have to use plastic...

 

As long as you keep track of the band's finances, the system should work. 👍

 

 

[Wombat]

Yes, there arn’t many compatible things where you get paid ‘after’ you’ve done whatever you’ve been paid to do. The band that played my lads wedding got paid before hand.

All the power is with the big brewers though. And with pubs closing at the rate they do round my way you’ve got a high chance it will be a different publican 10 days after a gig! 😂

[Len_derby]

Come up further north! There’s a pub I regularly play at that’s strictly cash-only.

To be fair, they have had free-of-charge ATM installed on the wall outside. So no one needs to die of thirst .

On a serious note, it does make it harder for pub managers to ‘skim’ the fee they claim they’ve paid for entertainment. That definitely happened in Ripley a few years ago and the perpetrator got the sack.

[tauzero]

Most of our gigs are play now, pay later - the drummer and I both act as "treasurers" in that some of the gigs he does the online thing and others I do invoices for and collect the money, then we just redistribute it as a straight 4-way split. Generally works OK although occasionally we have to chase up payments.

[Lozz196]

A benefit of this is not then spending your share straight back over the bar, so you end up with actual money, albeit at a later date. 

[Happy Jack]

The 2%-5% handling fee thing is easily dealt with. On the rare occasions I encounter it I just add the same percentage to the band's fee, I tell the booker about it in advance, and I tell them why I'm doing it.

 

I've never once had push-back on that. The people I'm dealing with routinely agree with me that it's fair, and of course it's not their money. If they've booked a band at £300 they're hardly going to switch you off because the fee is now £306.

[Marky L]

Thanks for the input folks. I guess I'm stuck in the "a bunch of notes in the hand" after the gig school, but I do like the idea of adding a percentage to the gig fee to cover their fees 😃