Frequently, we get requests for price estimates from our partner companies who want to pitch video to their clients and need a number to incorporate into a proposal. They might prefer a range, or a fixed estimate, which tends to prevent confusion during discussions with potential clients.  Having a fixed pricing plan helps everyone, from our vendors, to clients, to our partner companies.  But most of time the best we can do is answer the question with another question: “How much do you want it to cost?”

How much should your video cost? In answer:

“There’s a video for every price point.” – Logan Hale, Creative Director, V3 Media Marketing

“In almost every conversation about video I say the same thing.  There’s a $1,000 version of this video, a $10,000 version, a $100,000 version and anywhere in between.  There’s even a a $0 iPhone version but we all know that’s a bit silly.” (Unless you’re Apple, of course.)

So we have our range of what video costs, but more importantly, what SHOULD video cost?  Logan Hale weighs in:

“I personally think a quality video, using quality crew, with quality pre-pro and quality post production, should be a minimum of $2,500 per spot, especially in the 30 – 120 second range. Ideally, of course, we have $5k per spot to work with – not just to profit more, but my inspiration for bigger and better budgets is generated by the fact that in the $5k range, the project starts to really become a priority and there’s enough budget to really put in the time before, during, and after production to really produce something we can all be proud of and that will likely be good enough to put on our reels.”

“It’s not just reflective of the work V3 does, but of the work our partner agencies do as well – and 2014 is a good time to start investing in having a good video reel.”

PHOTO: Logan Hale on the set of the V3 shoot for the MAX Bus promotional videos

For companies where the $2,500 to $5,000 range is not the target, there is hope: Logan says, “There’s a video for every price point. Though for great quality, I’d invest a minimum of $5k-$10k, especially if it’s a video that will have years of life, and so one can amortize the costs over X years.  And that’s still with small crews, minimal talent, and at best a DSLR shoot.  For real strong brand videos, where we want a RED Epic package, great lighting, etc, I’d recommend the $10k-$40k range.”

For more on pricing for your corporate video needs, you can read How much does an Animated Explainer video cost? and our FAQ post about video cost.