The ol' charging chestnut once again
I can't speak for the rest of the country but around the M25 area you have 2 choices: You can be cheap and do loads of gigs for sod-all money or you can be smart and do less work for far more money.
I probably receive less enquiries than many of you, yet there's usually only around 6 saturdays at most that I'm not booked throughout the whole year (I have a residency on fridays so am always booked on fridays).
On a saturday now I won't do a gig for less than £350 and usually receive £400 to 450. I'd rather stay at home or go out with my mates than do a gig for less than £300
If I reduced my prices I could well be working every single saturday but would earn less over-all so I'm quite happy the way things are