Question about a corporate shoot in Dallas that made me rethink my whole pricing model

I was filming a three day event for a tech company in Dallas last spring. They asked for a simple recap video, but on day two they wanted a full set of social clips for each speaker, which added about 15 hours of extra editing. I charged my normal day rate plus a flat fee for the recap, so I basically worked for free on the extra stuff. My friend says I should have stuck to my original quote and charged a big change fee. But part of me thinks eating the cost was worth it because they've booked me for two more jobs since then. How do you guys handle scope creep on a multi-day shoot? Do you lock everything down upfront or stay flexible to keep the client happy?

3 comments

3 Comments

allen.anthony22h ago

My buddy had the same thing happen on a conference job. He ate the extra edit time to keep them happy, and they never called him back anyway. I'd say get the change fee in writing next time, because good clients will pay for good work.

robinp8918h ago

That line about eating the cost to keep them happy hits home. It's like that everywhere, you do a free favor hoping for more work, and it just trains people to expect free stuff. I see what @allen.anthony is saying about getting it in writing, because good clients respect clear lines. The tricky part is knowing which clients will actually come back to make it worth it, and which ones just got a freebie. Staying a little flexible is fine, but you gotta have a clear rule for when extra work means extra money, or you'll always be the one working for free.

knight.uma17h ago

Ugh, this is the worst spot to be in. I read this article once that called it the "client loyalty trap," where you keep doing free work hoping it pays off later. Honestly, locking down a clear change order process is the only thing that saved my sanity. You can be nice about it and still say extra work needs a new quote. If they're a good client, they'll get it and pay. If they get mad, they were probably gonna take the free work and run anyway.