How much to charge a client?

T

thabo

Well-known member
Ok, so this question is similar to "how long is a piece of string" so I apologize in advance for its subjectivity!!

I'm a web developer by trade but my passion lies with video and have shot a number of short 24 hour film festival pieces and some interviews in the past few years. But now I'm ramping up my effort to to get paying clients for my video production biz and was wondering what the hell I am going to charge them??

One particular client needs a 30 second spot for the front of their website - they have a piece of web 2.0 software they are developing. They have basic script for the video, it will involve people and I'm sure they don't have a huge budget. I have a decent older camera (DVX 100) - will be fine for web video, Final Cut Studio etc. so it's just my labor and perhaps some extras and my pal doing some sound (unless they need that helicopter shot - joke ..... ). I guess I should choose an hourly rare ($50 too low ??) and see how long each scene is gonna take. Perhaps I need to google some more. I am excited to put my old DVX to work finally - oh, yes I guess we have HD now but excited none the less.

You thoughts please.

I will meet with them on Monday......
 
Tell them what you normally would charge and find out if they think its to much. Then work with them on expenses to meet the price they want with out making you feel like you gave it away and them feeling like they over paid.

It is your first paying job and they should know that you are new so there wont be any expectations beyond what you have already shown them. Make sure they know how many hours you are willing to work and what it will be if things run over.

Honesty works wonders and it lets them know you are not working for free.
 
Personally, I think $50 per hour is a little low -- that is if you have some good camera, lighting, and post production skills, basically meaning that you can deliver a quality product. The thing is when you are doing your first few projects it is not unwise to charge a little less. I did when I was starting out.

But make no mistake, if you feel confident that you can deliver pro-level work, don't go too low. The thing you have to watch out for is to not set up the expectation that in the future all projects will be at the same rate -- thus avoiding the "well last time you charged me $50.00 per hour, how come it went up?" argument. Best to avoid that if possible. Another mistake, one that I've made, is that you may give the client a low price, but then you have post production problems or you end up needing to put in more hours than originally estimated to get done on schedule. Trust me, it sucks being in that position. Then you collect your check and feel underpaid.

Now for a 30-second spot, it shouldn't be too time consuming unless you're doing elaborate effects. I usually give a rough estimate first. This estimate is not an exact amount, but a range between 2 amounts. The reason I do this is so that once more details are locked down, I have some wiggle room to determine the estimate. Next I find out if they have a budget already approved for this particular project. This not only tells me what will be possible with their budget, but also if it is even worth doing. Although, since you are starting the video production side of your business, it is an opportunity to get some good demo material, so that may add some extra incentive for you.

As for what to charge hourly, I'd say try $75 per hour to start with. You can then always go back down to $50 per hour if you feel the need to. Once you have a few projects under your belt, I advise that you raise your rate to $100 per hour, or a bit more if you can manage. Of course it all depends on your area, equipment, skill, etc. From what I was taught, industry standard rates are between $1,000 and $2,000 per finished minute of video (commercial production, not weddings / events). So a 5 minute marketing video should theoretically be $5,000 to $10,000 depending on complexity, effects, crew size, camera, workflow, format, rentals, locations, talent, etc. I'm not saying you have to charge that much, but it is a yardstick to help you determine what to charge. Sometimes you might close the deal by going a bit under, other times a really complex project could cost even more. I mean some 30 - 60 second TV spots cost millions of dollars.

And shooting on the DVX is fine. I know a producer who shoots on one and consistently charges approx. $15,000 for very basic commercials and promotional vids that cost very little time and money to produce and edit.

I've only had one project where the client actually asked about HD. It's nice to have but not yet a necessity for most of us.
 
IMO I find day rates are best for shooting and hourly for pre/post production.

Get some money up front too.

As with Nektonic, a range of cost through an "estimate" can be a good way to give you some wiggle room in case things end up more/less than expected.

Be sure to account for equipment rentals costs, AS WELL AS pay for you and your skills as an operator, director, etc. On a high end shoot there are crew member in all positions getting paid - if you are doing them all your should be paid accordingly (but it's usually best to hire some grips to come in and do that so you can focus on one or two jobs not all of them)

Good luck! Have fun get paid make videos. :)
 
Get some money up front too.
Click to expand...

This is not even an option. You should always get money up front. Especially in your situation, were after you have shot and just got all your footage captured the client calls and says We decided we don't really need that video the website is all we need.
 
1% of what you want to make a year per 10 hour day. Equipment if your owner and operator, I would not charge anymore than 1% a day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top