Am I charging enough?

roxics

roxics

Veteran
I always thought I was in an average range.
I charge $50/hr for editing and $75/hr for shooting, with a four hour shooting minimum.
That's for a one man/one camera setup. Prices can change if it's outside the metro area or anything special is needed including more crew.

I finished an edit for one of my clients and they come back to me saying that I could easily charge twice as much for this video.

Am I charging too little?
 
I find it largely depends on the client and what they are used to paying.

A small independent company can't afford what a large pharmaceutical or multinational company can.
 
Just my .02 from my "world"... I know editors charge by the hour, but I do not know any shooters that do, until overtime is hit. It's usually a flat 10 hour day rate, regardless if you work one hour or ten, then 1.5x/hour after ten, based on what your day rate breaks down to per hour(day rate/ten x 1.5 = OT rate).
 
On average my charge is around $125/hour and a little less for editing. But I try to avoid editing if I can. So I think there's room for an increase in your hourly rate. I also like to stay away from half day shooting as far as price. I can't squeeze in two jobs in one day so even a shorter job locks the whole day.
 
roxics said:
I always thought I was in an average range.
I charge $50/hr for editing and $75/hr for shooting, with a four hour shooting minimum.
That's for a one man/one camera setup. Prices can change if it's outside the metro area or anything special is needed including more crew.

I finished an edit for one of my clients and they come back to me saying that I could easily charge twice as much for this video.

Am I charging too little?
Click to expand...

If a client is telling you that, you are almost assuredly charging too little.


We here on the forum can only be of limited use to you as far as knowing the rates in your area, the rates for someone of your experience, and the rates for someone of your skill.

The rate for you and your camera is a function of what type of camera you have. One is obviously going to charge more for an Amira than for a 5D. Too many intangibles for any of us to say definitively what you should be charging.

You could always call some editors in your area or in nearby cities that are comparable to where you live and ask them their rates. They might even appreciate that you are wanting to avoid undercutting others in the industry.
 
Am I charging too little?
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The answer to that question, when asked by someone in our field, is always, "Yes!" :cheesy:



Back in 2000, Frank Capria, fresh off earning his MBA (after 20 years as an editor mostly for PBS/WGBH), wrote an article for DV magazine (which I edited at the time) and created a nice simple Excel spreadsheet calculator. Alas, I can't find the article online; bummer because it was good. But the calculator itself appears to be here:

Rate Card Calculator
It's based on cost plus, but it's a good start. ZIP/XLS
http://www.kingpininteractive.com/resources.php

Dig through that to get a rough sense of some of the things you need to consider (such as insurance, non-working hours/days, etc). So it's a place to start...
 
Run&Gun said:
Just my .02 from my "world"... I know editors charge by the hour, but I do not know any shooters that do, until overtime is hit. It's usually a flat 10 hour day rate, regardless if you work one hour or ten, then 1.5x/hour after ten, based on what your day rate breaks down to per hour(day rate/ten x 1.5 = OT rate).
Click to expand...
Is the 1.5x per hour for overtime based on your labor rate fee or your day rate with gear? In other words, if your labor rate is $500 and you're charging $1500 for gear, so $2000 for the day, is your overtime fee $75 per hour or $300 per hour?

When does double time start? 14 hours?
 
Part of this depends on where you live. San Fran city center will need to charge more than someone living in rural Montanna. So that IS a factor and you'll get variation on responses based on that.

But no matter where you live, you are charging too little. At a minimum, move to $75/hour editing & $100/hour shooting.

If your market and talent level will bear it, doubling your rates is completely reasonable...

Remember, your hourly rate factors in the following (and your rates SHOULD factor in the following, even if you have a "hook up" ie a spouse with great insurance or an inhereited home or a part time side job or whatever, you still need to make your rates based on the following):

- Health insurance cost as self employed or business owner
- Business expenses (web, media, advertising, LLC fees, accountant, etc).
- Gear acquisition and depreciation built into rates
- Remember your rates aren't that high because people are NOT paying you 40 hours a week. They are paying someone with overheard who may only work 20 hours a week paid, and you are putting in a lot of unpaid time into the business and business tasks or just being available. This needs to be factored in for you to survive long run
- ~7% higher tax rate as self employed

etc.

Your hourly rate includes your gear, your software, your storage space, your office space (even if it's your bedroom), your availability, your up to date knowledge and training, etc. etc.
 
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roxics said:
I finished an edit for one of my clients and they come back to me saying that I could easily charge twice as much for this video.

Am I charging too little?
Click to expand...

Picture yourself sitting at a restaurant and eating an amazing $4 sandwich and telling the owner, as a paying customer who could stand to benefit from not telling them, that they could charge twice as much for the sandwich.

This just happen. You are that person. I think this answers your question!

Realistically, you could probably charge 3x that much for the video. That doesn't mean your rate should be a full 3x higher but I am guessing you are also overlooking charging for other things and expenses (pre-production? Per diem? etc.)

It might seem like a lot, but add up your profit at end of year. If you could make more at an average 9-5 with benefits, as a business owner who is providing talented labor, there is a problem here.
 
Eric Coughlin said:
Is the 1.5x per hour for overtime based on your labor rate fee or your day rate with gear? In other words, if your labor rate is $500 and you're charging $1500 for gear, so $2000 for the day, is your overtime fee $75 per hour or $300 per hour?

When does double time start? 14 hours?
Click to expand...

You bring up a good point. It wasn't clear if the OP was stating that his rate was labor only or with gear.

In the broadcast/network world, it's generally 1.5x for labor over ten hours(some nets do an 8 hr day). Most do not pay OT on gear and most non-union do not pay double/triple/(and the coveted and ultra rare)Golden time. Although I do have a non-union network client who oddly enough raised their rates the other year and the OT rate could be looked at as including gear, because it's more than 30% over what we used to bill for OT just based on our labor(But of course now they watch the clock like a hawk and OT has become a rarity).

As far as double time, I have one guy that says they used to get it after 12 on commercial and film shoots. But as I don't have any regular clients that pay it, it's a moot point, at least for me. Double/triple/GT would have been awesome when they were a lot freer with the OT 'back in the day' and 16, 18+ hour days were common. I did have one "booker" flip his lid when I turned in an invoice for 22 hours before. He refused to submit it to the client, because "he had too good of a relationship with them and couldn't turn in an invoice like that to them". He didn't know I worked for the client too and I just submitted it directly.
 
rob norton said:
Please explain golden time ��
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There are probably some others on here that can explain it better than me and it can vary depending on contract/union agreements. But it has to do with working an excess amount of overtime and I think the amount of days/hours straight that causes the hourly rate get into the range of 4x or more the base rate per hour.

Just for something to chew on, I believe the SAG agreement for actors is after 16 hours they are in Golden Time, which for them is their daily rate per hour.
 
As others have said, most of us don't go by hourly. Many camera guys around here are $500 or $550 as their BASE rate. . .just their labor for a full day, gear on top of that can make the total $750, $850, $1000. . .sky's really the limit. Even as a lowly teleprompter operator, I charge $575/day including gear. So if you're doing shooting/producing and making less than a lowly prompter guy. . .
 
Not sure how smart your client is if they tell you that you could have charged them double what they paid. There are too many factors that determine a company's or person's rates. Everything from geographical to how well known you are. We charge rates that vary according to the job and the client. Our rates are negotiable to a degree. If a client has deep pockets and a large budget we will charge more. The answer to your question is to raise your rates and see if you can still get jobs.
 
Charge as much as you're comfortable living up to.

It's not the same clients at $75 that you find at $250. And the more you charge, the less important the money is the client, an the more important all the other stuff is—like delivering what you actually said, on the actual time you said it at the actual quality you promised.
 
Sadly, for me, prompter clients are more or less "yeah, cool, whatever. You're hired" on the rates while most of my shooting inquiries seem to be more concerned about the price.
 
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