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How to price your kit.


mojofunkster

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Complex process which is why I cost each job separately as no job is the same

Price gear elements just below what you rental house charges (they may add insurance)

Then always separate out the following elements

Labour

Consumables

Vehicle usage

Discuss the job with your client and try to understand how to meet their budget

Negotiation is key to gaining and keeping a client

mike

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I would love clients to pay me 2% of the purchase value per day. Unfortunately it doesn't happen this way. 

I do equipment packages depending on the job. (Documentary, feature fiction etc.) and I charge a fixed daily rate for the whole project. 

I also bring more stuff than the planned package. In may cases you will be using that extra stuff.

Use your best jugement to decide if you charge or not for that additional equipment. Not charging for it every time you use it has helped me to make my daily rate look like a bargain. This is of great help when you are negotiating your equipment rate in the future. 

... and I couldn't agree more with Mike:

Negotiation is key!

 

Best, 

Philippe

 

 

 

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(Johnny Carlson, Msg #2):
Some say 2% of new purchase price per day.

Pricing your kit appropriately is a negotiation influenced by many factors, particularly customary practice in your region. But I once ran a rental shop and can help a little with the arithmetic.

The general rule in equipment rentals is a daily charge of 1% of replacement cost per day. That applies to most items with reasonable service life and dependable operation. For example, a Sennheiser MKH microphone, a Sound Devices recorder, a Nikon camera, most lenses, most mixing panels, etc.

Some items have a shorter service life because of rapid technologic development. Video cameras are often "hot" for only a year or so (although the Alexa seems to be having a good run) and there is a need to recover the investment faster. A rate of 2% of replacement cost per day, or even more, is necessary.

Some gear may have a long service life but be so specialized that the demand is limited. Examples might include underwater filming gear and waterproof transmitters, ultra long or ultra high speed lenses and similar articles. Only occasional rentals force a higher rate.

Conversely, some gear is very rugged and largely unchanged from year to year. Today's C-stand is aluminum but otherwise not much different than the steel units used for Gone With The Wind. Boom poles need an occasional cleaning or repair but are otherwise serviceable for many years with minimal attention. This kind of equipment should be priced well below 1%/day.

While they may make package deals, most rental houses catalog each item in the order and charge for it. The itemization of cables, adapters, etc. can quickly run even a simple order into real money.

Most owner/operators, in the interest of offering a good deal and to keep the math to a minimum, only charge for the major items in the kit. So one might add up the rental cost of a Zaxcom Maxx, two radio mikes and a boom mike and not factor in the value of the back-up gear or the Cub-1 mike carried just in case. And then, I think most, unless working commercials, charge a bit less than the rental shop rate. After all, most owner/operators don't have the expense of a store front and extra employees. For commercials, at least for national and regional spots, the practice is to charge for everything; there may be a bundled price but it will usually make some allowance for all (most) of the gear made available to the production. Small local spots may be a bit less.

David

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$200 for basic mixing kit: mixer, 2 top shelf wireless mics, boom, top shelf mic and eng cable to camera.

Add $100 if they want a timecode recorder

Don't charge less than rental houses, you are a rental house, act as if.


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We offer more value than rental houses in that, we are intimately familiar with our kits, have them custom configured to work efficiently, and keep them in tip top shape.

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I say, don't match the rental houses...  Match the market and your brothers and sisters in your area... Find out the going rates and stick to them the best you can.. Forget about the rental houses...  The package you bring is NOT simply a mixer recorder and a mic, at least I hope so... It's all the bits and pieces that comprise your kit... so, unless the rental houses include hundreds of cables, accessories, and countless other items... don't "match" them...

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