Industry Standards for prices

[Rory Brennan]

He’s asking you to act like a wholesaler. When you buy from a wholesaler, you then mark up the cost of the product before selling to the consumer. Are you a wholesaler of video services?

I do know of some large setups that have the flexibility to have an Industry rate then consumer rate. But know this… these companies make a profit of industry rate and a further profit of a consumer rate.

Do not cut your rate if you cannot afford to just so he can add his 20%. This is why some people talk about cutting out the middle man. So he looks good he expects you to make less.

RB

Rory Brennan
Editor
New York City

[Vickie Sceifers]

Thanks for the response. I’m a videographer; my friend is a graphic designer who has a client that wants vid testimonials on their website. It’s tough to price myself and know he’s going to up it and get $400 for basically nothing. Don’t mind some upcharge, but is 20% normal? I was thinking 10%. I am not a broker.

He wants a price for 7-10 shoots all over Cincinnati, 3 in Dayton; or secondly, they may have a party to get everyone together and shoot in the next room, so 1 trip to Dayton. 4 hrs incl 1 hr drive?

I was estimating:
1/2 hr to shoot (x10=5)
1 hr drive min. (x10) lower rate
4 hrs edit (just dl clip, convert to flv and upload)
or just estimate 2 hrs per interview plus editing.

Does that seem reasonable? I was going to give flat price but say based on 1/2 shoot; if client rambles or runs longer, will be addl $40 per 1/2 hr (and I’m reasonable; won’t charge 5-10 min over).

Hope all this makes sense; I’m quite anxious, but can’t lower my price too much to accommodate his upcharge.

[Mark Suszko]

Considering all the travel and setup/teardown time, I think your only choice is to bill a full day rate and do whatever it takes to get everything done, for as many days as it is going to take. Maybe you just fold the travel costs into the setting of the day rate, or show a lower day rate but break out the travel to make your rate look lower. Just don’t do it for free.

When I did wedding vids on weekends, the guy I worked for once sent me to a client that was not wanting to pay the full bill.

The mother of the bride had been quoted a fair hourly rate for the job,(say 100 an hour) but she insisted she was paying the hourly rate for the finished run time of the tape, i.e. the tape was 2 hours long, she was only paying $200 at 100 per hour.

The shoot took six hours and the edit took ten more, so her bill was $1,600. Your story about what they want to pay reminded me of that.:-P

[Vickie Sceifers]

It’s funny what some people think it takes to do video.

Well, I turned in the estimate as just numbers and that an actual quote would need more detail. I just don’t want to be tied down or held to my numbers and find out later it’s something bigger.

Thank you for your input.

[Steve Wargo]

Good move. AlwaysqQuote a day rate and overtime. You cannot predict how long it will take someone to perform.

We just did something very similar and there were times when we had to wait an hour for someone to “get ready’. Had we bid on $X per interview, we would have eaten the extra time.

Sometime they want you to lock in on price but they don’t want locked in on a time limit.

Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!

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