i was just trying to find anything to justify my price increase and still keep my SD customers, Chris makes it all sound so easy, and is there already.
i hope someone comes up with more than i got so far :-)

When i raise my price 150% some customers wont pay, so i will somehow have to give them the SD option too and try to sell HD. Or toss out customers that i have worked for, for 20 years.

If they were all bugging me For HD and Blue ray, then i just say sure 150% but i dont think half of them know what it is even.

Thanks Chris.

That's exactly what I'm saying. Marty spent $35k to upgrade to HD. His baseline is now HD - and new his baseline rate is $1500 - $2000. If somebody wants SD and he wants to give them a discount and charge only $1000, that's great, but it's a discount. I won't do that - everybody pays the new $1500-$2000 rate, even if the deliverable is SD.

It seems like most in this thread think if you do 90% SD work and 10% HD work you're getting paid the regular rate from 90% of your clients and 10% are paying an "upgrade fee". I say 10% are paying the regular rate and 90% are getting a discount. Instead of asking "Are you charging more for HD?" the question should be "Are you giving a discount for SD?"

Chris, did you increase your pricing when you upgraded to HD or no?

if 90% is SD, then i should rent HD for the 10% , then when its more like 30-70 i could buy.

Because renting HD for the 10% who actually asked for it and wanted and are willing to pay for it. Just like renting my own HD at its higher costs, instead of old SD stuff i could get for cheap, would be more expencive by far, i am giving HD people a discount at that price.

If i was renting Either SD or HD to do a job, i would still be giving a discount to HD, because comperable SD rents and sells for way less than HD. and with HD i would have to rent Chips and all kinds of stuff that could fail completly. with Tape DV a failure is a minor dropout.


ahh that trick never works.

Word. This is why I haven't bought my EX-1 yet, even though I REALLLLLLY WANT one!
It would be a STUPID business decision. I'd be spending money on something
that would not bring me IN anymore money. So it'd be a purchase because I
'wanted' something new to 'play' with. I have to fight this all the time, because I am
too much of a 'gadget tech geek' and I always want to buy the new fun stuff. And when
I look at my market, I see a few things. First, I teach tech and business classes for
the local SBDC. I routinely ask questions such as 'how many people here own a
Blu Ray player?' I have not yet had ONE SINGLE person raise their hand. I guess
my part of the world is just behind the times.

Second, I have tried to offer Blu Ray or HD production.....totally depending on the fact
that I would probably be able to rent gear from a station that I freelance for occasionally.
(They have the Sony 350 XDcam cameras). Not a single client has went for it.

Third, I look at the other people who have attempted to do video production in my
area....and have offered HD production. They are now out of business and as far as
I know, I am the only one left offering full time, independent video production in my
market (meaning I don't do it 'on the side' when I have free time from my regular
job, and I don't work for a TV station). The reason for this, is that I have figured out
that I need to limit my costs and 'run lean' especially in these economic times.
Spending a bunch of money on new HD gear, when the SD gear I have right now,
(which is all paid for), will do the job for my client base, would NOT be a smart business
decision, for my market....which is what those 'now out of business other companies' figured out too late.

In other places, the situation is probably much different. Thats why it helps to know
what competitors are doing, what clients and potential clients are doing, what
the economic situation in your area is, what perceived value marketing in general,
and video in particular is given by a potential client base.....and a whole variety
of other things.

Travis, I don't think you and I are very far apart - perhaps I didn't start by stating that I'm not an equipment geek gave the wrong impression - when I refer to upgrading early, it's business-driven upgrades, not equipment caprices. I accept your points but frankly they're all covered by my single broad exception, first with the worst. Businesswise, knowing when to sell without losing too much yet not too early in the development cycle is key.

I totally agree, Phillip. I definitely wasn't advocating being the last to upgrade. I even think being the first to upgrade CAN be the right choice at times. As long as you're making your business decisions based on what it logical for the success of your business ... you're on the right path. d;-)