so ive been doing real estate drone work for about 8 months now and i kind of just picked a number out of thin air when i started - $150 for a standard package which is like 15-20 edited stills and a short video walkthrough. agents seem happy but ive been talking to a guy in my area who charges $350 for basically the same thing and he's fully booked. so now im wondering if i've been leaving a massive amount of money on the table this whole time.

my current clients are mostly smaller agencies and individual agents, not the big brokerages. wondering if pricing is regional or if i just undervalued myself from the start. also do you all charge extra for twilight shots or is that bundled in? i've been throwing that in for free because i thought it would win clients but maybe thats the wrong move

anyway just curious how others structure this stuff, ive been kind of winging it and it would help to hear how actual working pilots handle pricing

yeah you're definitely undercharging, $150 for video AND stills is practically volunteer work lol. i started around the same price honestly and it took me a while to realize that agents aren't actually that price sensitive - they're spending like 1-2% commission on a $400k house and they want it to look good. the ones who push back hard on price are usually the ones who are the most annoying to work with anyway.

twilight shoots should 100% be a separate add-on. i charge an extra $120-150 for those because the timing is tight, you sometimes have to reshoot, and honestly the results sell the listing so agents know they're worth it. i'd raise your base rate gradually if you're worried about losing clients - like go to $225 next month and see what happens. most won't even flinch.

regional definitely matters but even in slower markets $150 seems low for what you're delivering. im in a mid-size city and i do $275 base for stills only, video is separate. one thing that helped me was just looking at what photography studios charge for interior work and pricing drone stuff comparably - realtors already have that mental anchor so it feels normal to them.