Hi All!
I’m a new host to Peerspace! I received my first booking. The guest is renting my space for a baby shower. He asked if he can come a couple hours ahead of time to set up, and of course I obliged. But for future bookings, do you normally charge for the time a guest needs to set up anything in the event space (i.e. setting up tables, chairs, etc.)?
I appreciate your help!
Thanks!
Lisette
Hi Lisette, welcome to Peerspace! Since guests are renting by the hour, generally you want to charge for all the time they have access to the space. We stress in our early communications that their booking period should include time needed to load in, set up and decorate, as well as time to break down, load out and clean up at the end. And we repeat this throughout our communications. We unlock at your start time, and need to lock up at your end time. And they need to communicate this to any vendors, helpers, guests etc.
The strictness is more about managing logistics. You want to avoid vendors and deliveries showing up randomly sometimes hours before your event, possibly during an earlier event you may have booked.
On the day we will open a little early (10-15 minutes) and let them get started. One thing you want to avoid is a guest who books your minimum time period then asks for free time.
Hi Brad,
Thank you so much, for your awesome details on this process! I really appreciate your help. I will now charge for set up time in any future bookings and communicate this accordingly, to the guests prior to an official booking.
Enjoy your day, Brad!
Best,
Lisette
You’ll learn quickly that everyone wants more for less. The question comes down to is much $$$ is your time worth ? I stopped giving freebies early on. As mentioned above, let them know that time includes set up/event time/ and breakdown.
I might give them maybe free 15-30 mins to setup, but otherwise I would charge them the base price per hour and allow up to like 5 people on property for setup. Or you can give them a flat rate. In this business, time is our inventory, because that time could’ve went to another booking.
We decide based on the nature of the booking, day of the week, how many hours they booked etc. If someone books a full day it’s not a problem letting them come an hour or two early to set up especially if its and event with 150+ guest that requires tables and chairs to be setup. . But if its a partial day then the most would be 30 minutes to an hour but they would have to be wrapped and out the door at the end of the booked time. We are located in NYC where theres a lot of competition so giving that extra hour could lead to a great referral as well as another 5-star rating. That said we are also open 24/7 so opening the door and letting someone in early doesn’t cost us anything.
I allow 30 mins of free time. Guest can use this however they like. Come in early, stay late, split the difference, etc.
Production companies get it and consider this more than fair. Events rarely get it and always want more.
If the event organizer comes to me BEFORE the end of their time asking for a little extra, I’m inclined to be flexible (extra 15-20 mins). If I have to go find them 10 mins after they were supposed to be out and confront them, I don’t budge.
Thanks so much, Eddie! Appreciate your input. Will start doing so.
Thanks so much, Geoffrey! Very good viewpoint of the type of guests I can expect and how to be fair in my pricing.
Thanks Lorenzo! Good points, especially being flexible to have great referrals and 5 star ratings.
So very true, Marcel! Thanks for giving me a glimpse of how you manage this!
We are about 30 min to 90 min outside of Los Angeles depending on the traffic. We have a notifying system in place that alerts us when they arrive. We open our gates whenever people get there and let them in. We don’t want them hanging around outside talking to the neighbors, peeing in the bushes, breaking his sprinklers etc…
If we have 30 cars coming, and we let them line up at our gate and down the street until we are ready we are the neighborhood nuisance. Because of all this I allow people to hang out in the backyard until the shoot starts, sometimes they start to set up.
I like the 30 min grace that everybody is talking about.
Regardless, how you approach the situation can really influence the “tone” of the whole event. I have movie or fashion productions mostly, sometimes with intense personalities. It is always good to say things well and not get people riled up. It can get a bit touchy if things start bad. You are in charge, but it matters how you state the facts. Another thing to consider, even if your rules are clearly stated most likely only one person read them, (the payer) if anybody at all. I hope that helps.
I’m a big fan of, if I have the time and capacity make the guest feel good. No matter how long they book and who they are. Especially if your a smaller operation. Your relationship with that client will have that person saying a good thing about you. Once you get busy it’s, sorry don’t have the capacity. But if you have the time I say do it
I let the customer know that should booking should include the time for set up and clean up. When the event comes, if we have the place set up early I sometimes let them know that they can come in early at no additional charge. Ultimately we want to make the customer happy and it’s nice for them to have more time setting up and not being rushed.