So I'm starting to get some attention locally with my Mini 3 Pro footage, and I may finally get to take on some clients for my small startup.  The problem is, I haven't got a clue what to charge clients.  I'm assuming that at least some of you on this forum do footage on at least a "semi" pro level (note that I'm not posting this on the Mavic 3 forum), and am hoping that I may be able to get some ideas as what to charge, without chasing people away or selling myself short.

Would really appreciate some feedback on this.  Videos on youtube from the usual cast of DJI characters (I'm not going to post names, but it's likely that everyone reading this knows the channels I'm talking about) seem to vary pretty widely on what to expect to charge clients.  In this case, I'm talking specifically about real estate photos and videos.

Hello there Darkpaw. Good day and thank you for reaching out. I hope that our fellow DJI Co Pilots can give out the best information with regards to this matter. Thank you and have a nice day.

Would it depend on effort?  I.e. do you need atc permission where you need to film in a frz for instance.   Do you need to provide the raw footage or edit it?  How much planning you going to undertake?

I'm in the throws of setting up a drone business and haven't decided on pricing model.

chillibadger Posted at 9-21 21:42
Would it depend on effort?  I.e. do you need atc permission where you need to film in a frz for instance.   Do you need to provide the raw footage or edit it?  How much planning you going to undertake?

I'm in the throws of setting up a drone business and haven't decided on pricing model.

All good questions.  I have my RPAS/UAV license (this is in Canada, technically not required for the Mini 3 Pro, but I have larger DJI drones, too), so I can shoot in any location except NFZ (and Class-F, of course).  

All images and video given to clients would be final products only, with me doing all editing and photo enhancement.  I would never give out raw photos or D-Log video.

chillibadger Posted at 9-21 21:42
Would it depend on effort?  I.e. do you need atc permission where you need to film in a frz for instance.   Do you need to provide the raw footage or edit it?  How much planning you going to undertake?

I'm in the throws of setting up a drone business and haven't decided on pricing model.

I wouldn't specifically factor in the cost of Non-Standard Flight requests into a charge, they take about 10 minutes to do, if done correctly. Just price your work to cover the preplanning you have to do before every job.

If there's one piece of advice I'd give is that pre-production calls, meetings and site recces can add up a lot of time and that is what you need to charge for.

I think that if you enter the drone videography world you should make an effort to build a cost model that truly incorporates all of your costs.  I found that when I had started I was not really capturing everything and that leads ultimately to taking a loss and trying to make it up in quantity.  (yep, I know that does not add up.)

So, I built a margin calculator.  I associated a value to hours of flight time, video creation editing hours, batteries used (cycle count incorporating total cycles I could expect from battery and cost), video file upload and storage, milage, insurance, battery charging costs.  I arrived at a way to be profitable, make enough to keep me creatively happy, and understand what discounts I can provide (when needed) and still have margin I can live with.

TonyPHX Posted at 9-22 06:32
I think that if you enter the drone videography world you should make an effort to build a cost model that truly incorporates all of your costs.  I found that when I had started I was not really capturing everything and that leads ultimately to taking a loss and trying to make it up in quantity.  (yep, I know that does not add up.)

So, I built a margin calculator.  I associated a value to hours of flight time, video creation editing hours, batteries used (cycle count incorporating total cycles I could expect from battery and cost), video file upload and storage, milage, insurance, battery charging costs.  I arrived at a way to be profitable, make enough to keep me creatively happy, and understand what discounts I can provide (when needed) and still have margin I can live with.

Sounds like you nailed it and good ideas there.  I thought that i would charge first hour at a standard price which would include any planning and risk analysis but obviously need to factor in commute and diesel etc.  Away i go with a spreadsheet see what i get.  Do you have a website / advertising?

chillibadger Posted at 9-22 08:50
Sounds like you nailed it and good ideas there.  I thought that i would charge first hour at a standard price which would include any planning and risk analysis but obviously need to factor in commute and diesel etc.  Away i go with a spreadsheet see what i get.  Do you have a website / advertising?

Hourly rate, half day, full day. That's pretty much all you need and aligns with how others in the industry quote for work.

1-2 hour job is an hourly rate. 3-6 is a half day and 6+ hours is a full day.

Now something which will give split opinions here; but do not charge a deposit for a job, it sounds cheap and money grabbing. Jobs do fall through, but I'll bet you that a client will come back to you if you didn't charge them.

chillibadger Posted at 9-22 08:50
Sounds like you nailed it and good ideas there.  I thought that i would charge first hour at a standard price which would include any planning and risk analysis but obviously need to factor in commute and diesel etc.  Away i go with a spreadsheet see what i get.  Do you have a website / advertising?

Yes, created a LLC, website, and do run some local ads, yes.  Mostly now my ad spend is reduced because I have a base of repeat customers that keep me as busy as I want to be.

CloudVisual Posted at 9-22 09:32
Hourly rate, half day, full day. That's pretty much all you need and aligns with how others in the industry quote for work.

1-2 hour job is an hourly rate. 3-6 is a half day and 6+ hours is a full day.

These are good pieces of advise.  Just realize some jobs fall through due to weather, customer changes mind, found a cheaper drone pilot, etc.  I err on the side of just let it ride and don't penalize them.

I try to have good luck by being easy to work with.

This is all great advice.  I guess the next obvious question would be....what would be considered a "standard" hourly rate in North America?  The key here is that I'm certainly not "famous" like some of the videographers you see online, so I don't want to overcharge....but at the same time, I don't want to sell myself short.

Another thing worth noting is that this isn't, nor will be, my full time job.  This is a side job that I do because I just like doing it, and will mostly use payments from clients to continue to upgrade equipment.

Darkpaw Posted at 9-22 17:20
This is all great advice.  I guess the next obvious question would be....what would be considered a "standard" hourly rate in North America?  The key here is that I'm certainly not "famous" like some of the videographers you see online, so I don't want to overcharge....but at the same time, I don't want to sell myself short.

Another thing worth noting is that this isn't, nor will be, my full time job.  This is a side job that I do because I just like doing it, and will mostly use payments from clients to continue to upgrade equipment.

You have to price yourself based on your experience and equipment you're bringing to the table.. Hate to say it, but if you're flying a Mini 3 then you're not going to be on a film set, documentary or something which will win an award.

The simplest way to find out what the market rate is, is to Google for local companies, work out if you think you're on par or better than them and see what they charge. If it feels too cheap, then it might be someone undercutting the market for business. Trust me, I see some companies charging day rates that I would charge for an hour...!

I don't know the North American market, but searching what's in the area will help you out. Be prepared to change your rates as your business grows, but be careful of going in too cheap to begin with or those initial clients you pick up won't be happy if they find out that you're going to charge them a lot more in the future. Safe to say that those who trusted you in the start are the ones who helped you succeed and therefore they stay roughly on what you charged them to begin with on a 'preferential rate' or as close to that as possible.

More great advice, thanks.  For sure any early clients would get to keep their rates the same, at least for quite some time.  

The problem with finding local rates is of course that it's never advertised.  It's always "Contact us for more information" and such.  This is, of course, a good strategy, because it causes newcomers into the market to have the exact problem that I'm going through now.

Also, the Mini 3 isn't my only drone in use.  Also running a Phantom 3 Advanced (it can shoot 2.7k30 in incredible wind) and an Air 2 (which is great for HDR right out of the drone).  But doing real estate shots in certain areas require a higher level of pilot license than I currently have, so the Mini 3 is the best use for this.  Hopefully this will eventually get upgraded to a Mavic 3, but that's a future goal not a current one.

Again, thanks for everyone's input on this.  Really appreciated.

Darkpaw Posted at 9-23 15:00
More great advice, thanks.  For sure any early clients would get to keep their rates the same, at least for quite some time.  

The problem with finding local rates is of course that it's never advertised.  It's always "Contact us for more information" and such.  This is, of course, a good strategy, because it causes newcomers into the market to have the exact problem that I'm going through now.

That Phantom 3 can go in the trash, it's not worth hanging on to that. You're best off sticking with the Mini 3 and the Air 2 for now.

Don't get too hung up on the Mavic 3, it's good, but it's also not great.