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JeffK
T-Shirt
Joined: 22 Dec 2005
Posts: 276
Location: Oz
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 Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:23 pm Post subject: ...why bother replying? What has been your lowest offer? |
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Everyone, I have been on the side lines reading several of the posts and replies and I haven't contributed much...quite frankly due to some of the talent here, I didn't feel worthy!  However, I just got this email and it just blew me away. Most of us have invested a tremendous amount of time, money and effort in perfecting our craft and quite frankly it is hard not to take these emails as anything less than insulting...
Jeff – We need occasional VO work for radio and/or TV. Normally, we email or call one of them, send them the script, they cut the VO and email it back to us. We then forward it to the production departments. They usually charge us around $50 per spot, $35 per additional voice, and another $25 if they have to write the script. These are typical rates for this area. If your prices are in this range, we could probably do some business. Let me know.
... $75 to write the script and do the voice??? It's worth more than that just to hit the delete key!!! Don't you all love getting these??? Forgive me if this topic has been discussed...didn't see it while searching. What is the lowest you have been offered? How did you reply?
Jeff
www.jeffkaylor.com |
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Debbie
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| Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 5:48 pm Post subject: My lowest offer |
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| Quote: | | JEFF: ... $75 to write the script and do the voice??? It's worth more than that just to hit the delete key!!! Don't you all love getting these??? Forgive me if this topic has been discussed...didn't see it while searching. What is the lowest you have been offered? How did you reply? |
Below is an email I received yesterday. I had contacted them initially to find out how to get listed on their site. What a surprise ... another one you not only pay to be listed on, but end up being paid peanuts!
Jeff, you thought that offer was bad ... read this one,
Hi Debbie,
Our talent bank costs $300 per annum to join and is easily made back within this time (usually within a month). We service mainly regional markets and pay talent as follows:
per 30 seconds = $15.50(ex GST)
15 seconds reads = $10.50
Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions
**************
Yeah, I have questions ... how can you live with yourself charging those rates and paying a pittance?????? Geez.
Who thinks I should send that back? lol
AND - remember this is AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS we're talking! It's downright insulting. I think I should sic a rabid roo onto him. |
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Deirdre
Czarina Emeritus
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 13023
Location: Camp Cooper
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| Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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Wait a second--- they charge you to be listed and ALSO govern the fees?
Great Caesar's Ghost!
Re: the $50 reads--
Dude, that is the "going rate" in parts of this great nation of ours. I don't blame you for not going for it.
$25 to write a script?
Agony.
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dhouston67
VO-BB Intarwebz Glossary Administrator
Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Posts: 1166
Location: Right next door to Sandra Bullock. No, really.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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I got an e-mail today asking for rates for weekly one-minute podcast intros; he said he runs various internet radio stations and is testing the waters for podcast VOs (read: "comparison shopping").
I quoted my lowest possible rate (well above the ludicrous figures mentioned previously, thank you); he said he'd keep shopping.
And the trend continues.
_________________
Great Voice. Great Choice. For Voice Talking and stuff.
http://davidhoustonvoice.com
Do That Voice! - The DHV Blog
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dhouston67
VO-BB Intarwebz Glossary Administrator
Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Posts: 1166
Location: Right next door to Sandra Bullock. No, really.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 10:49 pm Post subject: |
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"These are typical rates for this area."
In a lot of cases, it's easy to see why some businesses can't imagine paying more than that for the voice talent. When I was in radio in a small market, businesses with small ad budgets would come to the station with a blank slate; the station would roll the copy and production costs into a package ad buy, getting jocks to voice the spots --- at a $20 or $30 "talent fee", if anything at all. Hiring independent VO talent was viewed as an extravagance.
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Great Voice. Great Choice. For Voice Talking and stuff.
http://davidhoustonvoice.com
Do That Voice! - The DHV Blog
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donrandall
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 12:14 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | ... $75 to write the script and do the voice??? It's worth more than that just to hit the delete key!!! Don't you all love getting these??? Forgive me if this topic has been discussed...didn't see it while searching. What is the lowest you have been offered? How did you reply? |
I told 'em I couldn't afford to pay $75 - - but I might be willing to pay 'em $40 if they would be nice enough to let me do all that work. |
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi
Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11075
Location: Portgordon, Scotland
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:56 am Post subject: |
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A friend referred a colleague to me who asked me to quote for a job. A book recorded on to 23 CDs teaching people about investment in the property market. I didn't want to do the job but felt obliged to quote because of the source of the lead. The quote was cut to the bone again because I wanted to keep the good will with my friend. $4,500 was the figure. Before you do 1 second of editing how much would you charge to sit and record 23 hours of material?
His email in response "I like your voice but your quote was outside of my budget". I wonder by how much I was under cut. |
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CWToo
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| Banksey wrote: | $4,500 was the figure. Before you do 1 second of editing how much would you charge to sit and record 23 hours of material?
His email in response "I like your voice but your quote was outside of my budget". I wonder by how much I was under cut. |
I was asked by a company to narrate and edit thirty 45 page videos... they accepted my bid (CHA-CHING!) but before the first session they called to tell me that a company in India had undercut my bid. They were going to narrate and edit 45 pages of script for.... $350! |
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Philip Banks
Je Ne Sais Quoi
Joined: 20 Jun 2005
Posts: 11075
Location: Portgordon, Scotland
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:20 am Post subject: |
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| CWToo wrote: | | Banksey wrote: | $4,500 was the figure. Before you do 1 second of editing how much would you charge to sit and record 23 hours of material?
His email in response "I like your voice but your quote was outside of my budget". I wonder by how much I was under cut. |
I was asked by a company to narrate and edit thirty 45 page videos... they accepted my bid (CHA-CHING!) but before the first session they called to tell me that a company in India had undercut my bid. They were going to narrate and edit 45 pages of script for.... $350! |
Caveat emptor. |
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Diane Maggipinto
Spreading Snark Worldwide
Joined: 03 Mar 2006
Posts: 6679
Location: saul lay seetee youtee
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:44 am Post subject: |
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gack! i responded to a call for voiceover, a company wanting to flesh out the roster, or some such. rate was $20 a spot, so i declined, then got completely reamed by the company dude, who claimed i wasted his time by following up on said ad. it was all i had to not dignify that with a response...
in that same vein, is there a thread archived here about rates? i've got to get back to a client on a price for 30 pages of script for web/flash demo that he thinks will take 3-4 hours to record, at his studio. i'm thinking the usual $300 first hour, $100 for each hour or part-hour thereafter, but wonder about finished minute rates and/or per page rates.
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sitting at #8, though not as present as I'd like to be. Hello!
www.d3voiceworks.com |
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SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer
King's Row
Joined: 30 Dec 2004
Posts: 1055
Location: Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:54 am Post subject: |
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We recently had a thread on rates. Check here:
http://www.vo-bb.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=932
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Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart. |
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Drew
King's Row
Joined: 27 Sep 2005
Posts: 1118
Location: Tumbleweed Junction, The Republic of North Texas
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:31 am Post subject: |
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| BettieWheelie wrote: | | gack! i responded to a call for voiceover, a company wanting to flesh out the roster, or some such. rate was $20 a spot, so i declined, then got completely reamed by the company dude, who claimed i wasted his time by following up on said ad. it was all i had to not dignify that with a response... |
I think I know the company of which you speak. They contacted me. I started asking a few legitimate questions, and suddenly got a churlish email asserting I didn't fit their business model and to move on. Being a native of South Philly, and one who finds it hard to pass up a good pissing match, I engaged them for a few emails.  They're a surly bunch.
_________________
www.voiceoverdrew.com
Skype: andrew.hadwal1
Although I have a full head of hair, I'm quite ribald. |
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Deirdre
Czarina Emeritus
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 13023
Location: Camp Cooper
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| Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 2:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Drew wrote: | | Being a native of South Philly, and one who finds it hard to pass up a good pissing match, I engaged them for a few emails. |
How I love the diversity on this board.
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DBCooperVO.com
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Sameer
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:33 am Post subject: |
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Lot of Indian companies do that kind of jobs....(read undercutting).......the best period will be when the chinese learn to speak fluent English without accent......The rates would be something to look for 
I think each client/market have their own budgets.....what is high for you can be low for someone... vice-versa |
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Deirdre
Czarina Emeritus
Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 13023
Location: Camp Cooper
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| Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 5:58 am Post subject: |
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| Sameer wrote: | | Lot of Indian companies do that kind of jobs....(read undercutting).......the best period will be when the chinese learn to speak fluent English without accent......The rates would be something to look for. |
Wow-- you're not kidding!
Indian complaints of outsourcing to and undercutting from China are already hitting the business news.
two words:
GLOBAL ECONOMY
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