Honestly used equipment is almost always the best route. New DJ equipment is so expensive/over-priced a lot of time... I have a really hard time suggesting equipment for people because it's such an expensive hobby to get into, and it's hard to explain that starting out with like a $300 setup is only going to hold you back if you do it any longer than a few months... a lot of stuff that's cheap is just a money grab/made to exploit people who don't know any better.

Ideally a good starting setup is:

-2 used techics 1200s (if you keep an eye on local classifieds it's not unreasonable to find a pair for $500)
-a used 2 channel mixer, probably a Vestax 05, 06, or 07, Rane 54, 56, Stanton SA-5, Ecler 360... there are a lot of options for mixers. Most of these will run anywhere from $100-$500 used, the main thing is finding one in good condition. Technics 1200s can almost always be fixed for cheap if they're in bad shape (as long as nothing's physically smashed), but mixers can have a lot of internal issues, so you have to be careful.

I think $800 should get you a solid used setup easily. If you can't afford that, the best thing you can do is buy 1 technics 1200 to start and learn some scratching while you save up for the 2nd turntable. The other thing is just wait longer and shop around more. If you're looking to get a setup in a week you're not going to get as good of a deal as you'd get if you shopped around for 2 months. I recently bought a backup setup of a technics 1200 and Vestax 06 mixer (value probably $750 used on average) for $200.

Two big things to know are 1) Technics 1200s don't lose their resell value... at all. If you get one for $300, you'll be able to sell it for $300 and sometimes more, so if you're a bit apprehensive of investing too much money at least you know you won't lose anything if you decide to sell. 2) Most people don't know this. A lot of the deals you find are people who bought their 1200s for $800 5 years ago, and decide to sell, and figure that getting half their money is good, so they put them up for $400. They don't realize that they have actually gone up in value over the past 2 years because they were discontinued, lol. It actually wouldn't be a bad plan to make some side money by buying cheap 1200s and re-selling them if someone had the motivation, lol.

Also very soon the best choice for a mixer will easily be:

http://djworx.com/dj-techs-dif1s-scr...ofader-inside/

They say it's going to go for $200 new, and have the best crossfader you can get (which is the most important part of a mixer). When it's available, if it isn't already, this will easily be my suggestions to anyone starting.

Thanks, that's a big help!

Forbes posted an article today (don't quote me it could have been yesterday) where they listed the top earning electronic musicians (DJs). DJ Tiesto came in first with a whopping 22 million. Followed by Skrillex with 15 million. Definitely worth something pursuing now.

Yeaa, that's been posted a few times recently... the emphasis is on electronic musicians, not DJs... those guys are getting paid to play tracks they produced. There are plenty of straight DJs making low 7-figures per year still, but nearly everyone on those top paid lists are getting paid for their production even if they happen to be DJs/DJ at their shows. I remember reading ages ago, like 7-8 years ago, about Fatboy Slim getting like 100,000 pounds for an hour or something absurd. Electronic musicians BEEN gettin paid.

Just finished my routine for the online DMC world finals:

damn that part at 50 seconds is dope as hell