so ive been doing real estate aerial work for about 8 months now and honestly still not sure im pricing right. been charging $150 for a basic exterior package, maybe 8-10 edited stills, and i thought that was reasonable but had a realtor friend tell me that the photographer she uses for ground shots charges more than that and doesnt even have to deal with part 107 stuff, airspace auth, weather delays, all of that.

i live in a mid-size market, not NYC or LA but not rural either. started low to build portfolio which i get was smart at the time but now im kind of stuck at that rate because the clients who found me early just expect it. thinking about raising to $250 maybe $275 for the standard package but worried ill lose people.

also curious how you handle the clients who want video too ? do you bundle it or charge separate? i've been doing photo + short video clip for the same $150 which now seems insane to me in hindsight lol

yeah you're definitely underselling. $150 for photo AND video in any market that isnt completely rural is rough. when i started out i did the same thing, told myself it was just to get experience but then 6 months later i had a full client list all expecting bargain prices and it took me almost a year to transition out of that.

what worked for me was just being upfront ? sent my existing clients a note saying my rates were going up in 30 days, gave them a chance to book a couple shoots at the old rate as a thank you, and honestly most of them stayed. the ones who left were the ones haggling hardest anyway so no real loss.

for pricing i do photo-only starting at $225 for residential, video add-on is another $175 minimum for a short edited reel. bigger properties or anything commercial i quote individually. don't bundle unless you're charging what the bundle is actually worth.

im kind of in the same boat so following this thread. just got my 107 last month and have been doing a couple test shoots for free for family friends just to get comfortable with the editing side. hadnt even thought about how to price video vs photo separately, been assuming id just do one package for everything. maybe that's already setting me up for the same problem down the road