As you all know,I live in a **** hole, and I am no stranger to **** from customers. I start off by only telling one story, and from there let others tell their own.
I am a freelancer who does odd jobs of recording and editing social events, web dev, corporate video, product photography, etc. Most of my clients are local, every now and I then someone from another city will contact me for my services, usually by word of mouth of recommendation.
Last year, a lady called because I was recommended by someone whose wedding I recorded. I charged that person 3,500 pesos (190 usd) for the whole service (recording, editing, photography, prints, etc), which is considered a normal price in this region of the country.
This lady owns a ballroom and offers banqueting services. She wanted to make a 1:30 to 2:00 minute promotional video of what she does. After taking a bit to make an estimate, I bid the job at 5,000 pesos (272 usd). She called me up the same day, and boy was I in for a shock:
The first thing she did was call me out on trying to take advantage of her. In her limited obsolete mind, I should not charge her more per minute than the average price of minute for the wedding video. The wedding video had a runtime of 55 minutes, which means an average of 63 pesos (3.43 usd). This lady wanted me to do the job for 126 pesos (6.86 usd). I have only heard of people like this, but had never had the unfortunate experience of actually trying to do business with one. I explained to her that a wedding was a job where quantity was preferred over quality, and that there is no comparison. In her commercial I was going to use a lot more sophisticated equipment (a jib, slider, steadycam, light kits), animation, professional voice over work, etc. At the end she didn't get it, threatened to expose me and complain to some syndicate/guild of photographers (which I don't even belong to) and never would allow me to work in her ballroom (and I have not met a single person who has rented her ballroom to this date). Of course I was pissed, especially when I found out she rents the ballroom with her banqueting services at a starting price of 20,000 (1089 usd) pesos and scales it according to how many guests you'll accommodate.
I have plenty of other stories, but this is the one that popped into my head last night while talking to a colleague who has had similar things happen to him.
Ok then, your turn.
I am a freelancer who does odd jobs of recording and editing social events, web dev, corporate video, product photography, etc. Most of my clients are local, every now and I then someone from another city will contact me for my services, usually by word of mouth of recommendation.
Last year, a lady called because I was recommended by someone whose wedding I recorded. I charged that person 3,500 pesos (190 usd) for the whole service (recording, editing, photography, prints, etc), which is considered a normal price in this region of the country.
This lady owns a ballroom and offers banqueting services. She wanted to make a 1:30 to 2:00 minute promotional video of what she does. After taking a bit to make an estimate, I bid the job at 5,000 pesos (272 usd). She called me up the same day, and boy was I in for a shock:
The first thing she did was call me out on trying to take advantage of her. In her limited obsolete mind, I should not charge her more per minute than the average price of minute for the wedding video. The wedding video had a runtime of 55 minutes, which means an average of 63 pesos (3.43 usd). This lady wanted me to do the job for 126 pesos (6.86 usd). I have only heard of people like this, but had never had the unfortunate experience of actually trying to do business with one. I explained to her that a wedding was a job where quantity was preferred over quality, and that there is no comparison. In her commercial I was going to use a lot more sophisticated equipment (a jib, slider, steadycam, light kits), animation, professional voice over work, etc. At the end she didn't get it, threatened to expose me and complain to some syndicate/guild of photographers (which I don't even belong to) and never would allow me to work in her ballroom (and I have not met a single person who has rented her ballroom to this date). Of course I was pissed, especially when I found out she rents the ballroom with her banqueting services at a starting price of 20,000 (1089 usd) pesos and scales it according to how many guests you'll accommodate.
I have plenty of other stories, but this is the one that popped into my head last night while talking to a colleague who has had similar things happen to him.
Ok then, your turn.
Nothing to see here, move along.