A friend of mine gigs with a harp. By accident, he got to see the invoice for what the agent booking an upscale hotel in Hershey, PA charged. It was $650 for the night... 3 sets maybe?!? When the agent secured the gig with the talent, he said the gig payed $200. That's $450 for the agent?!? Just to book the gig?!? Robery!!!!

In your case, guess it wasn't right for the client to put you into that situation. You did the right thing. But the agent should admit his wrong... he messed up. If the client only wants to pay $400, the agent should offer to book it and only charge a fair 10%... $40... for making a few calls. You can make your money back in tips!

I book all our own gigs. If my wife and I would want more gigs, we may go the way of a local booking agent. We do have a lot of repeat business and word of mouth booking.