Ok, how much do I charge! sensible answers, please 
I quoted a guy ÂŁ100 a couple of months ago, it was over an hours drive away.
He went to somebody else (probably with no insurance), I think its a race to the bottom now, or agents are buying their own Miniâs
2 Likes
First job, charge low as a ânew customer discountâ and then when theyâre dependent start charging more.
1 Like
That was me charging low
1 Like
If itâs a company Iâd wanna work with on an ongoing basis, given the race to the bottom and people just grabbing Minis like youâve mentioned Iâd probably even consider doing it on expenses paid + living wage rate for the first time. That way they at least have a sample of your work and they can compare it to a rando who can barely select exposure settings and put a box around a house for a dronie. But make it clear it wonât be that price in the future.
1 Like
The job is to take some pictures of a town centre for their website/ FB page
It may lead to other work I donât know yet, so the question is how much to charge for a few pictures and how much is the insurance for a day?
Consider an hourly rate (with a minimum of say 1.5 hours) + expenses to get started with.
1 Like
Estate agent fees are a percentage of the property value. (So are architects for the build.)
A similar policy might be a good one. Match them at their own game. 
2 Likes
Many do fixed rate now given that the market is very buoyant in most areas.
Purple brick under a grand outside of London, although I do keep getting flyers through the door with agents still wanting 1.5%.
4 Likes
Pop over to Coverdrones web site âŚ. You can get a quote in a couple of minutes. Iâd guess a days insurance will be about ÂŁ10 for a mini.
2 Likes
Look at pricing by others to get started with, for example these guys have a good price list available: Drone Aerial Photography Prices | Cornwall & UK & https://www.dronesouthwales.com/prices/ and ask quotes from others (if you have time to get an idea) e.g. Estate Agent Properties â UK Drone Services by vaguely describing the work you are offered.
There are quite few companies you can find drone filming for estate agents at DuckDuckGo
1 Like
Yeah, the question to the OP is always is âwhy are you doing this, bit of pocket money or a business development?â.
If the latter Iâd be having a long hard look at the business plan.
Everyone wants stuff for nowt at the moment in the B2B services sector. Unless you have a niche and expertise which is a necessity, you will struggle- and drone services are no exception.
GC
1 Like
dont tell me sale or alttrincham haha
They make a fortune for doing sod all so go in high.
1 Like
Donât go in low and sell yourself short, it is almost imposssible to increase your rates later. Also, donât charge by the hour, see @milkmanchris comments above re distance etc. Plus you have to post-process the images.
Even a quick job will set you back half a day.
I have a freelancerâs day rate calculator on my website
Remember that when you have established a base rate, you then have to figure out your optimal selling rate, thereâs a link on the calculator page for more on this.
Why not photograph your own place to show off your work? If itâs good they will pay or can suffer the consequences.
You only have to look on Rightmove ti see the dismal photos estate agents use these days, good photography helps them get better offers for sellers, and more money to pay you withâŚ
Good luck, and let us know what happensâŚ
1 Like
Check out the ones using the giraffe cameras though, as a rough guide they are charging ÂŁ400 a month all in to buy in to that service
1 Like
Great point, but the obect of market disruption is to make money, not just put photography prices through the floor.
Why save companies 90% of traditional opex when you could save them just 30% and make much more money yourself? There has to be more to this than meets the eyeâŚ
Low pricing demands volume and many of the leading estate agents close to me are too tight to pay even the ÂŁ400 per month I think.
I regularly see homes at 500k+ advertised with images showing converging verticals, poor lighting, skies that clearly donât belong in the frame etc.
In 1 case a âluxuryâ apartment on sale held the record for the longest listing, you only had to look at the photos to understand why. I told the agent the images were rubbish but they didnât see any reason to change them. Maybe the owner provided the images, I donât knowâŚ
If Giraffe can offer an all-in service at ÂŁ400/ month I wish them well.
As usual for photographers we have to adapt and create our own USPâs, but we donât have to put our prices through the floor.
Drone photography costs money, if the estate agents wonât pay a decent rate, walk away.
We should never be afraid to fire a client when necessary if we want to maximise profitâŚ
3 Likes
Estate agents in my experience are not the most generous clients and often take weeks to pay. Make sure to agree your terms and conditions upfront. Make sure you advise them about VLOS as I have had agents who know nothing about this and assume we can photo huge buildings regardless. I have had to inform them that I am not 20 feet tall!
2 Likes
A quick update on this - Iâve just received draft terms and conditions for a property sale from an estate agent, they are asking for ÂŁ105 for âpremium drone photographyâ.
Deduct the estate agentâs commission (15-20%?) and your own costs, (equipment, national insurance, income tax, time (travel, site assessment, flight, post-processing etc.), image editing software licence, computer, travel/ fuel, PI/PL/Eqpt insurance, access permits etc.) to decide whether itâs worth getting out of bed at the crack of dawn to get the money shotâŚ
Also make it clear that, as the photographer, copyright remains yours - offer a licence that reflects the intended use of the image e.g. web/ social/ print/ advertising - donât give away your image rights and additional revenue opportunitiesâŚ
Try to get a property release signed by the owner.
1 Like