Comments

p@mast3rs wrote on 9/15/2005, 3:37 PM
I totally agree with the article however, as a college student, we all have to eat. Sadly enough, it takes us some time to figure out just what we are worth. I think the problem with todays generations (yours truly included), is that we get into our line of work with the hopes of striking that big picture deal or visions of money rolling in. When we apply our trade in the real world and we see that the million pictures arent coming in, we panic and take whatever we can whether it be for experience, pocket cash, or a meal.

While undercutting others in your chosen field hurts the field as a whole, it does help some maintain a living until they get their big break. With NLE and editing becoming so popular these days, the field gets more competivie and the law of supply and demand take over. We all know you get what you pay for and clients usually find out after the fact.

It reminds me when I first started doing web design for a living. Rent was due and I hadnt eaten for a couple days and I had a client call and say he needed a site done by that Friday and all he had was $100. I agreed to do it and even offered to throw in a little bit of maitence for a couple months after design. For a $100, this guy called me twice a week and had me editing several pages and then a month later wanted me to rework his entire site design. When I balked, he claimed about how he paid me and expected a job to done. Then he made a smart ass remark about how he wouldnt have had half the problems if he would have went with the company that wanted $1k for the entire project with NO maitnence. I learned a hard lesson especially after this dip stick gave my number to his colleagues and they ALL expected the same price for the same amount of work.

I think we have all been there before once or twice. Theres a guy in my area that has been undercutting local wedding videographers and in fairness provides a quality product that a few guys cant afford to compete for that price. Other videographers have nothing to do with the guy anymore and refuses to help out when he ends up double booked.

The article could have also showed the student who sets his price to high as that is just as a big of a problem as undercutting as well.
Michael L wrote on 9/15/2005, 4:25 PM
I once thought about going indy and doing tax returns on the side (I was with a major accounting firm at the time and my billing rate was a bit higher than I thought clients should pay).

Secured two clients. The first was a not for profit organization. Worked for $30 per hour, id about 40 hours worth of work and got stiffed - sorry no money. The second client had some unique ideas about the tax code. 10 hours into the job I decided I had had enough and finished his return the way he wanted. How much do I owe you?, he asked. I took nothing (and did not sign the return as preparer) but learned a valuable lesson - the billing rate at the day job was well deserved.

Now my video work is intentionally voluntary.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 9/15/2005, 6:27 PM
I just do this stuff (video) because I love it. Price is normaly secondary to me. I'm no "pro" however & I don't charge that much & I say that flat out before I take a job. I've even refused one or two because I didn't feel it would be worth it for me (or I didn't want to go though the headache).

not many people are willing to take hours out of their week to do something for relatively little pay but I do.
filmy wrote on 9/15/2005, 8:54 PM
>>>I learned a hard lesson especially after this dip stick gave my number to his colleagues and they ALL expected the same price for the same amount of work.<<<

Bingo!

And i know thi sis a huge part of the problem anymore with all the DIY software such as Vegas+DVD out there now. The threads, such as the recent one about editor rates, shows this as well. An Editor who edits might be getting one amount but someone else will come in and do "everything" for the same amount. Go one step beyond that and you have the people who will do "everything" for "35 bucks and a 6 pack". Once you do it and word gets out it makes it harder to raise your rate. ..you do and you get a lot of "Hey last time you did it for less money. I want the same price as before or I am going to take my business elsewhere."

EDIT - after I typed this I thought of something along the same lines. When I was in college one of the instructors made a comment that has always stuck with me. Most people will relate to this I think - there will always be those who sort of just make it through, and they don't have ot be very good at that they do. And the instructor told everyone to look around because these classmates were going to be out there at some point looking for work and they might even be up for the same work you are looking for. And the comment was "Your hope is that the person who gets the job is not one of those who 'just made it through' because the next time it might be you and they will already expect you will be as bad as the other person was" It stuck with me more so after I got work with a director and on about my 4th feature with him someone asked me somehting like "So did you go to UCLA or USC?" and I said "No, why would you think that?" Seems the producers and the director would go through all the resumes and look for "UCLA" or "USC" first and toss out all the rest. So I said to the person that "I was hired because I knew what I was doing, not because of where I went to school." Which is a nice feeling when you can get it.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 9/16/2005, 5:49 AM
Excellent story! Thanks for sharing that.

Anyone who insists on underbiding to the point of doing anything to get the job is only cutting his own throat, like Filmy said. That's whole point of the article. You're not doing yourself or the business any good by such practices.