Table & Bottle Service Minimum Spend Calculator
Enter your GA price, bar spend and table types to see the lowest minimum spend that matches the floor space as GA, a suggested minimum, the deposits you collect and the sell rate at which tables beat GA.
Your night and your GA space
Enter what a standing guest is worth to you on this night. The calculator uses it to value the floor space each table takes up.
Your tables
Add one line for each type of table, booth or cabana. Standing places used is how many GA guests could stand in the space a table and its guests take up. Sell rate is the share you expect to sell on a regular night.
Your table minimums
Minimums for each table type
| Table type | Lowest minimum that matches GA | Suggested minimum | Per guest | Tables booked | Expected table spend | Bottle margin | Same space as GA | Tables beat GA from |
|---|
Your night in total
Expected table spend assumes each booked table spends exactly its minimum. Your income from tables is the bottle margin, plus the service charge if you keep it. It leaves out staff wages, promoter commission, tax, card fees and anything guests spend above the minimum. Unsold tables are counted as empty space, and the GA comparison assumes the space would fill with GA guests.
Set a table minimum spend at no less than what the same floor space would earn as GA, then add a premium. With $25 GA tickets, $30 bar spend per guest and a 25% drink cost, each standing place is worth $47.50, so a table that takes up 8 places must carry at least a $507 minimum to match GA, or $760 with a 50% premium. At a 50% premium, tables beat GA once about two thirds of them sell.
How to set a table minimum spend
There are two ways to price a table, and you should use both.
The space value method
Every table, booth or cabana takes up floor space that could hold GA guests who pay for a ticket and buy drinks. This method makes sure a table never earns less than the crowd it replaces:
- Value one standing place. GA ticket price + average bar spend × (1 − drink cost %). With a $25 ticket, $30 bar spend and 25% drink cost: $25 + $22.50 = $47.50.
- Value the table's space. Multiply by the standing places the table and its guests take up. A table that uses 8 places displaces $380 of GA value.
- Turn that into a minimum spend. A minimum spend is paid at menu prices and the bottles cost you money, so divide by the share of spend you keep: $380 ÷ 0.75 = $506.67. That is the lowest minimum that matches GA. The calculator adds your premium and rounds up to the next 10.
The market method
The market method looks at what guests in your city pay for a similar table on a similar night, and at how fast your own tables sold last time. If tables sell out weeks ahead, your minimums are too low. Use the space value as your floor and the market as your ceiling.
Minimum spend, table fee or per-guest pricing
- Minimum spend. The group must spend at least this amount on bottles and drinks. It is the usual model in clubs and beach clubs.
- Table fee. A fixed charge for the table, with drinks bought separately. You are paid even if the group drinks little, but it can feel like paying for furniture.
- Per-guest pricing. A price per person, often including entry and a share of the bottles. It suits festivals and New Year's Eve packages, where guests compare the table with a VIP ticket. The calculator shows a per-guest figure for each table type.
On Ticket Fairy you can sell a table, booth or cabana as one booking with a minimum and maximum party size, base or minimum-spend pricing, a price for each extra guest and a deposit, with the amount still owed shown clearly. You can show the price for the whole table or per guest, and buyers can choose a table type or pick from a visual table map. See table booking software and nightclub ticketing.
What the break-even sell rate tells you
Unsold tables leave space empty that could have held GA guests. The break-even sell rate is the share of tables you must sell before tables earn more than the same space as GA. With minimums set by the space value method, it is close to 1 ÷ (1 + premium):
| Premium above space value | Tables beat GA once this share sells | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| 25% | 80% | Only when tables reliably sell out, such as a small lounge with a loyal group of regulars. |
| 50% | 67% | A regular weekend night where most tables sell in advance. |
| 100% | 50% | A big-name DJ or headliner night with strong table demand. |
| 150% | 40% | New Year's Eve, a holiday or a festival VIP deck with a firm deposit. |
A higher premium lowers the risk from unsold tables but makes each table harder to sell. Raise the premium and lower the sell rate together to test it.
A club on a regular weekend night with 18 tables
GA ticket $25, bar spend $30 per GA guest, drink cost 25%, a 20% service charge that goes to staff, a 50% deposit and a 50% premium. Tables: 10 standard tables (6 guests, 8 standing places, 70% sell rate), 6 premium booths (10 guests, 14 places, 60%) and 2 stage-side VIP tables (15 guests, 20 places, 50%).
- One standing place is worth $25 + $30 × 75% = $47.50.
- Standard table: 8 × $47.50 = $380, ÷ 0.75 = $507 lowest minimum. With the 50% premium: $760, or $127 per guest. 7 of 10 tables sell: $5,320 of spend and $3,990 bottle margin, against $3,800 for the same space as GA.
- Premium booth: $665 of GA space, $887 lowest minimum, $1,330 suggested, $133 per guest. 4 of 6 sell: $5,320 of spend, $3,990 margin, against $3,990 as GA.
- Stage-side VIP table: $950 of GA space, $1,267 lowest minimum, $1,900 suggested, $127 per guest. 1 of 2 sells: $1,900 of spend, $1,425 margin, against $1,900 as GA.
- For the night: 12 of 18 tables booked, $12,540 of table spend, $9,405 bottle margin and $2,508 of service charge for your staff. The same space as GA would earn $9,690, so GA comes out $285 ahead and the status is "Tables and GA earn about the same".
- Deposits collected upfront: 50% of $12,540 = $6,270. Tables beat GA once 67% of them sell.
Switch the same night to "Big-name DJ or headliner night" and the premium becomes 100% and each sell rate rises by 20%. Now tables beat GA once about half of them sell.
Deposits and no-shows
A table held without money may be a table you cannot sell again at 11 pm. Take a deposit when the table is booked and state whether it counts towards the minimum and what happens if the group does not arrive. A common starting point is 25–50% on a regular night and the full minimum for New Year's Eve. The calculator shows the money you collect before the night, which helps you pay for stock and staff early. To plan for groups who do not arrive, use the no-show rate estimator.
Service charge and your staff
A service charge or gratuity is usually added on top of the minimum spend. If it goes to your servers and bottle hosts, it is their pay, not your income, so the calculator leaves it out. If you keep it, it counts as income and the lowest minimum falls. Tell guests before they book whether the charge is added to the minimum, so the bill does not surprise them.
Big nights compared with regular nights
On a big-name DJ night or New Year's Eve, table demand often rises faster than GA demand, so you can charge a higher premium and still sell more tables. The calculator raises each sell rate by 20% for a headliner night and 40% for a holiday, capped at 100%, and sets a starting premium of 100% or 150%. These and the other benchmarks on this page are directional starting points; replace them with your own sales history. Update the GA ticket price too, because on a big night the GA space is worth more.
What is included, guest limits and extra guests
- What is included. State what the minimum covers: mixers, water, ice, sparklers or a bottle parade. Included mixers are part of your drink cost, so raise the cost % to match.
- Guest limits. Set a maximum party size. Extra guests take more space and can push the area past its safe capacity.
- Extra guests. Charge for each guest above the base party size rather than letting the group grow for free. On Ticket Fairy, after a paid booking the table host can invite or add guests up to the table limit at the original guest price and deposit percentage.
Promoter commission on tables
If promoters or table hosts bring in table bookings, their commission comes out of your income from tables. Work it out before you set the premium, or a table that looks ahead of GA may end up behind it. Use the promoter commission calculator to compare commission models. On Ticket Fairy, tracked promoter or referral links attribute completed ticket and table sales to the partner who produced them.
How the answer changes with the size of your venue
At a small lounge with 5 tables, one unsold table is 20% of your table income, so a firm deposit matters most. The calculator counts whole tables, so 5 tables at 60% is 3 booked. At a mega-club or a festival VIP deck with 150 tables, one table is under 1% of the total. The larger risk there is the space you give up: 150 tables at 12 standing places each remove 1,800 GA places from the floor.
Common table pricing mistakes
- Pricing tables below the space they take. A table for 6 that removes 10 standing places must earn more than 10 GA guests, not 6.
- Comparing the minimum spend with GA ticket income only. GA guests also buy drinks. Leave out the bar and your tables look better than they are.
- Using the same minimum for every night. A holiday night can carry a much higher premium than a regular Saturday.
- Holding tables without a deposit. An unpaid booking that does not arrive leaves the space empty and earns nothing.
Frequently asked questions
How do nightclubs set table minimum spends?
Start with what the floor space earns as GA. Value one standing place as the GA ticket price plus the bar spend after drink costs, multiply by the standing places the table takes up, then divide by the share of spend you keep after bottle costs. That is the lowest minimum that matches GA. Add a premium for the table experience and check it against what similar tables sell for nearby.
What is a good minimum spend for a VIP table?
It depends on your GA price, bar spend and how much space the table uses. With a $25 GA ticket, $30 of bar spend per guest and a 25% drink cost, a table that takes up 8 standing places needs at least a $507 minimum to match GA, or $760 with a 50% premium.
What is the difference between a minimum spend and a table fee?
A minimum spend is an amount the group must spend on bottles and drinks. A table fee is a fixed charge for the table itself, with drinks bought separately. Per-guest pricing sets a price per person, which suits festival and New Year's Eve packages.
How much deposit should I take for a VIP table?
A common starting point is 25 to 50% of the minimum spend on a regular night and the full minimum for New Year's Eve or a holiday. State whether the deposit counts towards the minimum and what happens if the group does not arrive.
Does the service charge on bottle service count as venue income?
Only if you keep it. If the service charge or gratuity goes to your servers and bottle hosts, it is their pay, so leave it out when you set minimums. The calculator lets you choose who keeps it.
How many tables do I need to sell for tables to beat GA?
When the minimum is set from the space value, tables beat GA once about 1 divided by (1 + premium) of them sell. With a 50% premium that is about 67% of tables, with a 100% premium about 50%, and with a 150% premium about 40%.
Reviewed and updated September 2026 by the Ticket Fairy events data team. Benchmarks in this tool are directional — for real-time analytics against your own event history, use Ticket Fairy Intelligence.