I'm just staring up a web site and listing wedding video package pricing. While I know that this is a sensitive question, can I solicit feedback about my general video package prices - do these prices seem inflated or about average (I know there'll be regional price variation, I live in Southern Cal). My wife feels that these prices are a bit over the top, since we only have a few weddings under our belts.

http://www.beyondblueeyes.com/wedding.html

Thanks
Greg

I believe you're going to get comments that will go ahead and say that it all depends on your market.. What's considered "high" in one market is "average" in another.. After reviewing your prices, I think you're in the ball park, but that's just my lil ol' opinion..

Regards,
Michael

Its only too high if your product doesnt match up to the price. Give me a sample of your work and I could tell you my opinion, if it is too high or too low.

I have seen plenty of 5k - 10k wedding packages but the work behind some of these companys was remarkable and so the price justified it.

IMO, for your average wedding video website, your prices don't seem too bad. Basic package #3 looks like it needs more added to it.

I think wedding videographers are under paid as it is.

The prices seem to jump up quite a bit. I would make sure you know what you will charge to customize. I realize that going to HD is a big deal, but it seems odd to have to do that to get the Groom's preparations.

Also, at least in my area, more couples would opt for the slideshow rather than the interviews, so if they are interchangable, then it shouldn't be a big deal. You just want to make it clear since a lot of shoppers will make an appointment based solely on the packages.

My advice,

Try to diversify by doing corporate, concert and event videography.

Weddings are the biggest hassel to book, the most stressful to shoot, and take the longest to edit.

With that in mind, I think your prices are very reasonable, but I don't think you will get many phone calls since there are so many guys who will do it for cheaper.

My service is based on how many hours you book me, I shoot anything you want me to in that amount of time. I'm probably going to be changing my prices for weddings after I get a few more under my belt, but for now, I'm doing them for the same price as my other event packages.

I'd call the prices on the low side for what you're offering unless you're just getting started in the business, in which case do a few weddings at those prices and then start inching them upward. You may also find that customers don't understand or appreciate the differences between the packages, so be sure your base prices are high enough to keep you happy since that's what most people will ask for. In the long run your number 2 package should be at least $1500-2000 if you want to make any real money, but that's partly dependent on your market base and salesmanship.

Including 10 DVDs standard is a bit excessive; most people are happy with 3-4 or so and you should be able to get a few bucks extra for any beyond that. Alternatively, telling people 3 is standard and then throwing in a few more "for free" later on will make customers feel better than just telling them they'll get 10 up front.

And for what it's worth, delivering HD videos in Quicktime format for computer playback is a marginal solution now that proper HD disc production is a possibility. If you really want to offer HD, charge a few hundred extra for HD disc authoring and either buy an HD burner or contract that step out to other companies.

Deepest thanks to everyone for taking time to look at the price list and make comments - I've found them immensely useful. Our main business direction is feature films, something of a loss-making venture until we hit the big time, with the idea of additional work (corporate and wedding) to help pay for equipment investment, etc. My biggest problem currently is that the wedding videos are taking so long to edit that they're locking up our editing equipment just by themselves. As all of you already know, wedding video production is far from being easy money as Scott suggested, but is a potentially constant source of business.

Mostly the bride-to-be or the MoB makes first contact in my part of the country, so I asked my wife what she thought, and she said that the price grid "looks too industrial". She thinks it shows inflexibility, and suggests two packages, Basic and Premium, would be received by the ladies better than three basics, one deluxe and one premium.

For example, the Basic package would be ceremony only, but then you would offer add-ons — reception coverage, bridal prep, interviews, etc. for a certain price each. That way, who ever the Decider is can build a coverage package of their own preference and financial ability.

My impression is that prices for everything are higher in S. Calif than around here, so what you list for the various packages doesn't seem exceptional.

Hi Greg,

Agreed, if your finished product and service are of high quality, your prices are very competitive. But assuming your a new entry (likely if you don't have a website), perhaps your pricing is in the ballpark with your contemporaries.

I realize your website is only emerging, yet there's several flaws that should be resolved before you get locked into a poor architecture. Let us know if you care for feedback. At a minimum, spend some time looking at your peers and you'll begin to see some of the areas for improvement.

Good luck, Michael

I do not think your prices are too high at all, especially for sourthern California. Assuming that your doing multi-camera shoots and delivering a decent quality product, if anything I'd say your prices are on the low side. As I'm sure you know, doing a decent edit of a wedding takes forever. Figure out how much you want to make per hour and how many hours go into the production and calculate out your prices that way.

I would imagine the weddings here where I live would be way cheaper than in southern california, but a basic ceremony/reception package for me starts around $2000 with all inclusive packages presented entirely in HD going for upwards of $10,000.

You should never underestimate how much of their parent's money some brides will spend on a wedding.

[QUOTE=Greg Quinn] can I solicit feedback about my general video package prices - /[QUOTE]

I try to put myself in the place of the person buying your wedding service.
The overall prices are not over the top but when you itemize and compare I would certainly look around and probably not come back.

Your basic package #3 charges an additional $500 to do interviews. The flags would come up at this point. It would cause me to look at your pricing very carefully.

The Deluxe package charges an additional $500 to do bridal prep and a photo montage. That sounds reasonable. That's about $250 for each.
The Premium package charges an additional $1000 for groom's prep and HD. That's about $500 for each. Suppose I want the groom prep along with the bridal prep without HD. Am I paying $250 for the bridal prep and $500 for the groom's prep? If so, I would want to know why such a price jump.
If I want the basic package in HD would I only have to pay $1100.

It seems that you just threw numbers down without doing any numbers crunching that would justify your pricing.
Your pricing should reflect a serious analysis of your business.
Allen W

If you are serious about getting $3000 clients, this site is all wrong in my opinion. Besides the home-made quality of the site, the presentation of packages leads me to believe that you don't really like doing things like interviews or montages because you charge almost as much for each 'extra' as you do for a basic wedding. I'd start higher and scale the extras so that for a little more, your client gets _______, and oh, wouldn't _________ be a nice touch.

I'm not saying $3000 is high, but the way you get there will probably turn off a lot of customers. A simple pricing table isn't a good way to convince clients that you are an excellent story teller, and that's what most people want from a wedding video. The story being told here is that you really like the number: 500.

Why would you give away 10 copies of the wedding. What are they going to do with them, use them for frisbies?
You devalue the cost of making copies. They should reflect the investment you made in purchasing the equipment, the ink used, the inserts, the DVD covers (unless you're giving them away wrapped up in a tissue), a small profit for the business and last of all, your labor unless you don't think it's worth anything.

If anything, why don't you use the extra copies as a paid option. If people want copies they will gladly pay extra for them.
Allen W

Why would you give away 10 copies of the wedding. What are they going to do with them, use them for frisbies?


Maybe I'm missing something, but to me that sounds like a pretty silly question.

I don't think 10 is very high and I think many companies offer quite a few copies. If your producing a high quality product that is original and entertaining, I think it is easy in most cases to find 7 other people besides the couple and their parents who would love a copy. I've done 30-40 for some weddings and upwards of 300 for one. Granted, in those situations not everybody who got one was actually interested in checking out, but I do think that if I did my job properly, the vast majority will enjoy having it.

In the end, I would also compare the cost per unit to the advertising value of getting your work out there. It is easy for a DVD to get passed around and find somebody who is getting married. Again, that will come down to the quality of your work your producing. If you think 10 DVDs would only be good as frisbees, I would look at the quality of what is on the DVDs again.

Maybe I'm missing something, but to me that sounds like a pretty silly question.

I don't think 10 is very high and I think many companies offer quite a few copies. If your producing a high quality product that is original and entertaining, I think it is easy in most cases to find 7 other people besides the couple and their parents who would love a copy. I've done 30-40 for some weddings and upwards of 300 for one. <CLIP>
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Shhh Patrick,

Stop that - it's all the better for us if others want to keep their media a secret <wink> Seriously though, some are of the mindset selling DVDs is a profit center (the photographer "proof" route) while others of us would rather provide them at-cost to help stimulate future sales opportunities. But no doubt, the later will be more popular and generate more good will with clients and their friends/familes. In the greater scheme of things, one sales philosophy is to provide low entry price points and charge extras whenever the opportunity arises (perhaps even using back-end pricing once they have the customer locked in); other's tend to base their prices on a cost-cause basis. Actually, the former (back-end loading) can actually work okay for non-repeat customers in a commodity market, but if goodwill and client/guest advertising is important, I'd suggest the later (cost-cause with perhaps a modest margin).

So much for my good ol' days doing business/strategic planning, competitor analysis, and pricing models now that I'm an independent contractor. I'm sure others have ideas that work best in their situation.

Regards, Michael

I must have went through 4 price strategies before I landed on one I was comfortable with and comparable to my surrounding peers.

I think what really threw me for a loop, was charging a set rate per event i.e., the ceremony and assuming that it would only last 2-3hrs. Until I read in another thread of how some ceremonies can be 3-6 hrs in length.

How was I to protect myself, if I only made the contract read "Ceremony = $x.xx). Since I could not really estimate how long the ceremony would be, I use a "Base Service Rate" of 3 hrs at a $750, and if it goes over I would charge $100 per hour there after. I think my price structure still needs some work though...
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Quality of product and price don't necessarily go hand in hand. Of course the product has to be good. However I've seen 10k videography and felt there are a dozen 2-3k guys/gals that produce better work IMO.

The difference is the videographer charging 10k 1) Has the initiative to actually ASK that much 2) Has done his/her marketing and attract clientel that can afford it and...3) Is confident in the value of the produce he/she produces.

It's very much NOT a sliding scale. In short price is not an indication of superior talent- rather an indication of success.

Maybe I'm missing something, but to me that sounds like a pretty silly question.

"Why would you give away 10 copies of the wedding. What are they going to do with them, use them for frisbies?"

Patrick, that may sound like a silly question to some and it was a bit harsh. I apologize to any one who felt offended but you legitimized it with the statement "...Granted, in those situations not everybody who got one was actually interested in checking out....". That answer was self explainatory.

I don't think it would be a problem to find lots of people who would accept a free wedding video of the bride & groom even if the quality might be questionable as you suggested.. Whether it's a high quality product that is original and entertaining or a case of blank DVDs, who would turn town a freebee. I think that pretty much rules out quality as an issue.

Obviously there are differences in philosphy. Giving the bride free DVDs of her wedding so she can pass them out like business cards is a practice that I never thought of before. Maybe I'm on the wrong track. Is it effective? How many weddings have you booked in the last two years as a result of this? Should I consider this idea?

So far I'm of the mind set that since the bride or someone close to her is paying a fair amount of money for the wedding video, possibly in the thousands, this is their exclusive property. Most B&G' want their parents to share their keepsake so parent copies are common to most packages. One of my packages includes multiple copies of a mini or condensed version of the wedding, usually the recap, that the B&G give as momentos but not the full version.
I believe that for me, the videographer to promote give aways to such an exclusive item devalues that item. Adding a price, even if it is small, says this item has value.

Patrick, I am certainly not the judge of wrong or right nor good or bad but as I said before, there is a difference of philosphy. I constantly learn from others as I am learning here.
Allen W

I think what really threw me for a loop, was charging a set rate per event i.e., the ceremony and assuming that it would only last 2-3hrs. Until I read in another thread of how some ceremonies can be 3-6 hrs in length.

How was I to protect myself, if I only made the contract read "Ceremony = $x.xx). Since I could not really estimate how long the ceremony would be, I use a "Base Service Rate" of 3 hrs at a $750, and if it goes over I would charge $100 per hour there after. I think my price structure still needs some work though...
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I too switched to an hourly rate after a couple of really long wedding ceremonies. I also started charging by-the-photo after one client gave me 50 pictures to throw into a montage. Funny thing is, people resented the hourly charge. I was told only doctors could charge those rates by someone. That ticked me off because I was trying to be fair to everyone by only charging for the amount of time I spent at the ceremony, and if I told you how little I was charging for my work you'd laugh me off this board.

What I eventually got from my experience was that breaking the prices down into hourly rates gave the person something with which to compare their salary. They didn't care that I has using expensive gear to shoot and edit with or that I spent many hours color-correcting their photos for the montage. All they saw was that I was getting much more per hour than they got paid when they went to work, and that didn't seem fair to them. So I switched to packages which were slightly less flexible and slightly more expensive and everybody was happy again. Go figure.

Greg-
I agree that you would be better off having your starting ceremony only package at a higher price and then charge a smaller increment for the extras, such as the photo montage, etc. Other than that, you would be in the ballpark in my neck of the woods (Eastern CT).
Also, and I hate being a stickler with grammar, change 'cater FOR every budget' to 'cater TO'...
Best of luck with the business.
Vin

So I switched to packages which were slightly less flexible and slightly more expensive and everybody was happy again. Go figure.



Hmm, sound wisdom... Looking at my competitive market here, I am the only Studio with this pricing strategy.. I think I will Archive, restructure, and see how things shake up..

Thanks for the info...

Hmm, sound wisdom... Looking at my competitive market here, I am the only Studio with this pricing strategy.. I think I will Archive, restructure, and see how things shake up..

Thanks for the info...

I have adopted a price structure based almost entirely on my editing / production time. and independent of shooting time. I figure that additional work is created for me when I have more editing to do. Since it takes about 2-4hrs of editing per minute of finished product (color correction, audio, soundtrack, titles, etc) I figure that the longer video they want, the more work. That means more money.

I have a floor to my price ($800 - which is astronomically low but I have only been in the business less than 2 years and I lack much of the heavy duty pro equipment), and includes a 30 minute finished edit. Any edit that is more than that or includes any fancy other features (photo memory package, movie credits, etc) adds to the price. I also only have one camera, so that is the only kind of a package I can do. I can somewhat fake 2 points of view by having a photographer (my wife or my partner) supply cut away stills.

That is just how I have been doing it in my market, so don't expect your mileage to match mine.

jason

Just to add to the comments,

I give 3 copies of the film to the B&G aiming at one for them and one for each set of parents, and that is how I sell it.

I then 'suggest' that they purchase some montage dvd's (I take the montage clip of the film and use 8cm dvds fully face printed) and sell them to the couple in larger qty'ies to give to friends/guests.

(for example, 10 for £79, 25 for £150)

Easy to make and quite a good seller.....

thanks for everyone's comments - I've modified the packages and prices based on your feedback.
Thanks again
Greg