I just got my first iGuide back. My step brother is building houses and I used 2 of them to figure out how to use the system. I’m adding drone shots. How much are y’all charging, what’s the going rate?
Walter
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What I–or anyone else–charges means little/nothing to you if we’re not in your area. You have to determine what your market will bear and charge accordingly.
I charge from 3490 NOK (studio apt). For larger houses (300-400 sqm) I charge 5990 NOK. And different prices in between.
1 USD is about 10 NOK.
For commercial real estate and other businesses I charge 4990 NOK for the first 100 sqm and 15 NOK per sqm beyond 100.
This is in Oslo, so the markets may not be comparable, but hope it gives you an idea of a model you can use. Clients seem to be more than happy with the value for money they receive 
I always struggle with this. I charge $150 for anything under around 2500 sq ft. Charge same for drone and general photos. I’ll add $25 for any 1000sq ft after. I know this is probably out by a mile. I know I am slightly more expensive. If anyone has all three ( $450 ) I’ll probably knock off $25 .
I do know the agents who use me do have another iGUIDE operator they could use who is slightly cheaper. But apparently my photos are far superior.
I’m in CT but I know each state is very different.
I don’t know if this helps but in my city the going rates are $250 canadian for a standard iguide with 30+ photos 2500 sq ft and less. $330 for the premium with photos. I don’t offer iguide without photos and yet to have anyone ask for it so I combined the prices. There are three other photographers that offer iguide that have these prices as well. There is one guy in town that charges way more because his photos are the best around. He charges around $550 for Premium iguide with 30+ photos. People pay it too and he is super busy with a team of three photographers. It all depends on which market you want to tap into. If your photos are really good I’d keep your prices slightly higher than the competition and target realtors who get more luxury listings.
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Hi Kassy
Thanks very much for your input. I’ll check can $ to us $ and se how it differs. I too usually do photos AND iGUIDE so that $300 basic which sounds within the realm of possibility. I used to do very high end stuff along the Gold Coast of CT and I could ask a premium there. But if I’m honest I did it for several years but my travel times got ridiculous and I was spending more time in the car than photographing hating every minute. so now I am much nearer home and enjoy it far more, even though I can’t charge as much. You take care and keep well.
Does not seem like you are making near enough money on an hourly basis if you include post processing time and deduct iGuide processing fees.
It is a shame the lower end of the market is forcing pricing down so far. I am shifting to commercial and companies with occasional high end real estate iGuides just because the real estate market in general is so challenging from a price perspective.
Ken
Ken
Hi Ken
You are absolutely correct. I am thinking of moving into the commercial side of things, not sure where to begin though. I’m also a licensed drone pilot. So have a few strings to my bow. I’m in CT so not sure if I’m a competitor, but would appreciate and suggestions as to how I could get into commercial
I am living in Toronto and charge my clients $290 for iguide and unlimited photography for up to 3000 sqf. i do separate photoshot as well.
Both other of these jobs were between $1100 - $1500. I got the feeling, I could have even charged more. I am going to be experimenting with higher pricing going forward.
More arrows in your quiver is a good thing. Clients love a quality one-stop service. The KPAC shoot asked for a still image (in the gallery). I also did a drone overview video. Will be adding stills to the Brightwater job. This in addition to the iGuide pricing.
There is biz out there in this market. I just landed a large project with the state of Montana which will result in some serious dollars. Only problem is it will be done over 3 months. It will include video and drone work as well.
Now all I need is a bigger pipeline of this kind of stuff, but I notice that word of mouth and social seems to drive a lot of interest because of the exposure the work gets.
I hate being in a market that is fast becoming a commodity (real estate) with a race to the bottom with pricing.
I hope this does not sound boastful. I am new to this part of the biz although I have been in commercial photography for many years. The jury is still out if this will be able to replace the income I need. I sure hope it does. It is a hell of a lot of fun. But we shall see.
We need to keep the pressure on Planitar to keep adding options that separates our work from the crowd.
Ken
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Hi Kassy,
Welcome abord!
That $250 does sound like not a lot of money.
My rates for iGuide only are:
iGuide cost:
$179 up to 1500 sq ft.
$199 up to 2500 sq ft.
$239 up to 3500 sq ft
$269 up to 4500 sq ft
And I’m below what the big (M) competitors are at in this area. They (M) are usually 10 cents a sq foot.
Then I charge extra for stills and drone images.
If you provide excellent service, people will be happy to pay a little more.
Many photographers can be a little bit prima-donnaish about themselves. That can often work to your advantage.
Ken, awesome job on these commercial buildings!
How long did it take?
I was very pleasantly surprised at how quickly I got through a 9000 sq ft Church.
It took two hours, including more time than I should have, tidying things and picking up things.
Cheers,
Peter
Thank you for sharing this. I’m going to look into doing more of these and less real estate.
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Less fusspots in commercial too. That can make for a more pleasant experience.
They both took close to a day because I am still learning. For example the Culinary School was a real learning experience for me with all the glass (which I have experience with), the vast amount of stainless (acts like glass or a mirror, and matte black walls that did not seem to give a laser signature unless very close. I also got to the facility and it needed about 2-3 hours of prep that should have been done ahead of time by the client. Fortunately I brought an assistant. Lots of stainless to wipe down because it was coated with disinfectant because of Covid.
The performing arts center also taught me lessons. I covered the entire building in 4+ hours. Same issues with glass and matte black walls but this time I got much closer to the walls to assure the laser would pick them up and then possibly use but more often turn that view off in the actual iGuide. What caught me out was not thinking more about what the drafters needed. For example, there was a really low rail (seemed almost dangerous) on the balcony. This panos captured the whole area, but that low wall that was needed to draft the front of the balcony was not seem at all by the laser. I need up having to put the camera on a super low tripod to get enough info for the drafters. Same for the front of the stage. I of course turned these views off. Seems I am still learning things every time I shoot.
There is another thing I need to keep an eye on. That is to know when it is “good enough” and not over doing it in post production. Coming from the commercial world we always tweaked everything in LR or PS. Planitar offers some great tools very similar to LR which is awesome. I sometimes don’t know when to stop because further work will not even be noticed.
Ken
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When doing large floor areas, how far apart should each pano be from the previous one?
Beautiful work, man.
It’s suggested to be at 10 feet. The Church I did on Tuesday I used 15 feet and it worked out quite well.
A big function of it will be what LiDar can see. Make sure you are getting good reference points between shots.
A little extra time shooting images can really save you when you are putting it all together
Thanks Ken, that was quite a bit of work.
I was struggling to figure out what the first building was, it never occurred to me (Duh!) that it was a Culinary School. That makes a lot of sense now.
With these in your toolkit, you should have no trouble selling some more commercial property.
Because of the scale, you would think you do not need near as many, but as stated above, this is not really the case. The further apart the scans, the less information you can give to the drafting team. So I shoot more panos now then I need to make sure I am not creating havoc for the drafting team - I am sorry to say I must of driven them crazy as I was learning these lessons which is why I am sharing all my mistakes. Maybe it will help others.
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PeterMoly10 - Could not agree more. They actually appreciate the effort and results.
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