Don't under-estimate the value of you and your work. People don't respect "cheap" prices. That is just the way the world is. And I would suggest, never do a fixed rate on a project unless you are in total control of it. Always bid with contingencies for revisions, etc. (i.e. it will cost this much and revisions from the client could add this much).

People don't respect "cheap" prices.

Just as well scream it out loud, "I am an amateur!"

But the first time you charge a professional rate and botch the job, you are through. Just as well sell magazines.

I calculated how much to charge by the hour. I would never undervalue myself. Also, knowing what the competition is charging, knowing your skill level, and how to use the software skillfully to complete the project are essentials. That is huge. I know what I can and can not do and am honest with the client. If I have to give part of the project to a 3rd party who would be specialized in that area I am not. I have to consider that also into the price.

And if their funds are limited, so is the project. If they want to bargain down the price, I've turned away work. Not worth the hassle that would surely be coming.

I also had contracts. If they weren't willing to sign, I wasn't going to do the work. The contract protected me and them. You can google for free examples of a video contract and tailor it for where you live.

I briefly looked at this LINK. There are many.

All the info above should all be taken in.

thx @Reyfox @mark-y and @DMT3 for your Reply's I will follow your Advise I do not give me self out as a "I am an amateur" where I advert my self on the net like on upwork and bark.com

@Reyfox I will have I look at the link that you share thx

BTW, the $75 that person had, I would tell them to go elsewhere. That's barely 1 hour of work, and there isn't much I can do in that hour besides drop their footage on the timeline and render it out.

@Reyfox Thanks Jip I did learn I big lesson With that and that process I did not even tell the whole Story. In the end when I was done with his video he let me know I took too long for his client (And I did keep him posted as I go forward ) He did not pay me he just thx me for my effort and let me know he is oversea now.

If I would ever send a client anything, it would be water marked right across the middle. People that are trying to get you to lower your already low price are ones I would never bother with. They are never happy and demand more and more. So, I have a contract that has to be signed that includes the payment schedule.

I will create I contract this week and keep you posted @Reyfox Thx for your help

@Theuns no problem. Just be aware of the local laws where you live. By the way, I lived in NYC, where editing competition was pretty intense. It was either "feast or famine", so I made sure I had a "real" job.

DTV (desktop video) was starting to take off in the late 80's early 90's. With the Amiga/Toaster, Amiga/Opalvision, Amiga/SuperGen, I was able to do really nice work. But eventually, Commodore went out of business (greed), and I was forced to the "dark side", the world of PC's. I've built every desktop since the the mid 90's myself for video editing using many different editing software along the way. Then, when I asked about doing a wedding, I gave my price, and was told that they had an "uncle" that would do it, I decided to consider moving over to networking/infrastructure/servers/clients. More money, easier work, less stress. I would still do corporate work, or the odd event work as a favor.

@Theuns

Hi,

My sister hired someone on the cheap, (300$ Cdn), just starting out, I think, to film her wedding (in her old age). The result was all footage was dumped on the timeline, songs added over most of the audio and the songs were clipping. A second video of just photos, all photos, about 2 hours long, was added to the DVD, with random transitions. About 10% of the photos were upside down. They didn't even look at what was on the timeline. Again, songs added that were clipping.

If I had the original footage, I could do something with it - like just have the original audio where wanted, cleaned (noise removal, etc.), songs, not clipping, where warranted, with audio at a consistent volume. This takes time.

I look at it this way. How much time does it take to produce per minute of final product with a reasonable quality? One hour of your time per minute of final product? More? Less? You need to record this so that you know what to expect depending on the nature of the project.

If the client gives you 5 hours of raw material and wants a 30 minute video, how long does it take you to just review the material? Is the material even usable? Does the client give you guidance as to what is wanted? Do you ask and guide the client. Does the client want titles, transitions, effects, stabilization, sound cleaning, editing, mixing, etc? Output to what? DVD, BR (time involved), MP4. Watch and review output. Revise, watch and review. Show the client. Revise. rinse and repeat.

Have you made templates of various components that you can quickly use or adapt to save time? Do you have a bank of royalty free music of different styles that you can use? Sound effects?

Think of all of the steps that one could do. They all take time. Make a list. Discuss the details with the client.

I just do home videos, mostly my home videos but some for family members, so I have time (time is running out) to play around with the material, intro, outro, music, editing, adding material, research, narration, effects, and the entire process. I spend probably 3 hours per minute of final product, depending on the amount of material to be reviewed.

I am in the process of doing up a video of a presentation (with songs) that my wife did recently. I used 3 cameras. Duration 1h20m. Import the material, align, play back in multicam, select/switch cameras. Edit/fine-tune the cut points, remove long pauses. Remove unwanted stuff, like the exit sign that shows in one camera view. Clean up the audio. Someone's cell phone rang - try to reduce it. Someone coughed - try to remove it. Get the Powerpoint presentation, export to a video or save images. Add these into the video to follow along with the narration. Add title (with appropriate intro screen or image), credits. And more. Think of how many times I'll just watch parts of the 1h20m. It all adds up. It won't be 1 hour per minute, but the time I will spend on it will be substantial, probably about 25-35 hours.

Good luck,

John CB

Hi @john-brown Thx for your input and advice I will Look at that also customers don't understand what goes into Video Editing they think a 5 min video will take you 2 min to fix or do LOL 🙈

Hi @Reyfox Thx My friend for all your help and input, I am from South Africa O my word and most of the people here think everything is for free Grrr.

On the Bark.com Website I also get clients but you do not have to option to pick different countries to get Clients from so I am stuck with S.A Clients on bark.com.

I am on Upwork also and did apply for Jobs that people ask help for but did not get someone that accept my proposal for work why? I don't know.

Can I give you my proposal to have a look at to see if I can a proof on it?

Here's a pricing discussion from more than 20 years ago. I found the figures and breakdown from @vicmilt (now @vicmilt1?) very useful. Opened my eyes to professional pricing.

https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/project-time-charge-estimation--9683/#ca35385