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Day rates. How do they work?
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You know, sometimes I scan threads just to read Bob’s response! Gotta love em!
moody glasgow
smoke/flame -
“that some here consider charging a day rate as dishonest or immoral is preposterous”
No need to be coy, it was me that said it 🙂
“We inform our clients up front”
That’s all you need to do.
In my business, I could not ethically charge a full day (5+) hours for something that took 1 hour to do, I just couldn’t, that’s why I have a half day and full day rate. If you don’t offer a half day and the client knows that and you can get paid for a full day then that is fine. I don’t have clients like that.
http://www.MediaCircus.TV
Media Production Services
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada -
Not my area at all so the interest is academic, but if you advertise as having a half-day rate, does that imply a start time of sometime in the morning and finishing mid-day-ish (or starting mid-day-ish and finishing afternoon-ish) or is it generally any block of up to 5 hours at any time of day?
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The danger with day rates is that if you’re fast, you’re going to be punished for it. This could lead to someone milking the clock and working slow just for the full day rate, which is lame. For that reason, we rarely do half-days to our freelancers. The exception being if they have a doctor’s appointment or something that actually prevents them from being available.
My theory is that if you rock it in 5 hours when somebody else would take 8 or 9, you get the whole day. You shouldn’t be punished for being fast and good.
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1/2 day rate = 5 hour block – could be anytime of the day.
Chris Tompkins
Video Atlanta LLC -
My take on this.
For post.
Day rate, which is based on 10 hours, or hourly if you have something quick and easy. Your choice. On a full day booking, you can either roll it over to a second day for the day rate, a second day for an hourly rate, or go for more hours on the first day at a bonus rate if your project has to get done now. Your choice based on what works best for you.For shooting, lighting etc.
Day rate only. No half days.
My day rate is reasonable enough that if your shoot ends early, you have still gotten your monies worth. It is almost impossible to do two half-day shoots on the same day. Doing a half-day means I can’t book a better paying full day on that day. The exception to this is if I shoot and post the project. I will usually work something out if I get the entire project, since the post is effectively the other ‘half’ of the day.The big difference here is it’s possible to do two post sessions on the same day since there is no travel, set-up/tear down.
And lets say you can book two half-day shoots on the same day, and number one runs long. What are you going to do bust down and leave unfinished? Part of what they are paying for is the ‘what if’ factor if the shoot takes longer.
If your post session runs out of time, and the next client arrives, it is relatively easy to stop where you’re at with client one, and pick up again at a later date.Half-day rates for field work is a bad, bad idea.
Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
Scott,
“I have a half-day and a full-day rate. If I quote a full day (5-10) but only work half (1-5) then I only bill for half, to do otherewise(sic) seems dishonest.”I have to object to the pejorative use of “seems dishonest”.
Are you implying that those of us that choose not to bow to the demand of low wages that are destroying this industry are dishonest?
How do you come to that conclusion?
Do what you want on your gigs, but please don’t throw out inflammatory remarks in a public forum about how others choose to set their rates. It seems like a blatant attempt to drive business to your company, rather than answer the question. If you quote a full day rate, and the client knows that, and accepts it there is nothing dishonest about that at all. What are you going to do with the unused half of your day to earn a living?
Go and try to rent a car for a half a day.Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.comI have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed… -
Hey, if it only took you an hour or three hours, you’re out a days’ work for someone else. And if the client thinks they can pick which five hours in a day constitute a half day, well, they’re yellin’ for a Zelin’.
How about this: if you feel guilt for being too efficient, you could always tell the client you’re crediting their NEXT job with you by x hours. This encourages them to give YOU the next gig at least, without giving up any of the money you got TODAY.
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Scott, now you’re accusing me of being coy? FYI, there was a second poster who also talked about this as a matter of morals. I would suggest that if you’re getting 1-hour gigs, that you may wish to take a long look at your business model.
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Half days set a bad precedence.. because the clients will begin to expect it. It didn’t take you a half day to acquire the skills that set you apart to obtain business from a client so why would anyone short change themselves. I always give the client an estimate and strive to maximize my time by finishing the project early and under budget. It’s called profit.
Chad Tingle
Producer/Editor
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