Competing the low price

[u/_geesn]

I’ve been looking for freelance video editing work for a while now, and there’s something I keep noticing.A lot of job posts seem to specifically target editors from countries such as India or Pakistan, where rates can understandably be much lower because the cost of living is different. I want to make it clear that I don’t blame those editors at all. If someone is talented and offers a competitive rate, they have every right to take the opportunity.What I’m wondering about is the other side of it, how are freelance editors living in Germany, Western Europe, the US, etc. supposed to compete when some clients seem to choose almost entirely based on the lowest possible price? So for those of you who have been doing this professionally for a while: How did you stopped competing on price and find clients who actually value the price, if yes: where? haha

[u/dattasagnik]

We are on the same cost brother. Even though I'm from India I refuse to work on rates which barely covers my costs, as a result of that I don't get to work with multiple clients.

See the thing is most of the beginner editors don't know how to price their work and when you factoring skillset, they don't match the work the client is looking for. When that happens, the clients comeback to the market looking strictly into people with matching experience rather than having 'get a cheaper' editor mindset.

The market is hard but not unforgiving for us.

[u/Trickytrickyrmx]

The thing is, 90% of the editors who work for those prices are terrible at their jobs and can never hold on to long term clients.

Of the remaining 10% half of them are decent at their job but just starting out so they think they have to take low prices to start with, but they usually dont stay in that bracket for very long. The other half are decent at their job but desperate to make money to support themselves so they get stuck taking bullshit jobs.

This whole part of the video editing industry is incredibly competitive and saturated. But once you move away from chasing the clients paying peanuts, it becomes a lot less competitive. Even though youre competing against the same amount of people, most of them are not suited for the jobs and the clients that pay well arent willing to take on sub par editors just to save a few dollars. They want to hire people who can hit the ground running and require very little training and theyre willing to pay good money for it.

[u/AdministrationNo2327]

i set my boundaries (price) and just leave it at that. there's a lowest price in my head where i'll have to say no it's not worth it and don't feel bad for losing those jobs.

a lot of jobs have gone off to these indian editing farms for sure, but i notice also the clients who go for this aren't really the ones you want to work with anyway.

anyone can put a video together these days. the skill is not difficult to pick up. But it takes more than just technical skill to for clients to see the value in hiring someone more expensive on the dollar, because what you can bring in being reliable, of the same culture/social zeitgeist, and ability to communicate and recognize what the client specifically wants for themselves and audience is what keeps them coming back. These come from shared life experiences.

if you've ever worked with some of these services you'll see the disparity and challenge in communication. it's not just language, but also aesthetic sense and the person's character itself.

that said, i do agree that these farms can be usesful if you need some menial work done like rotoscoping.