How much to pay someone to edit a YouTube video

Wondering how I can determine my rate for someone wanting me to edit their YouTube channel. It would be about 10 videos a month, 5 minutes per video. I’m not exactly sure how long it would take me per video as they haven’t done one yet so I don’t know what it’s like.

How would you determine you rate of pay? Do you do hourly/per video/for the whole lot? How much do you guys charge for that?

level 1

$50/hr, $100 minimum Plan for content to take roughly 1 hour per minute of finished work.

level 1

I go by different rates for different employers. One pays me a flat rate per month and the other pays per hour. Don't undersell yourself to anyone, make sure you're getting your full worth.

level 1

Charge by the "minute of finished footage." Example: Video is 2 minutes 30 seconds.

Your rate per hour = X Number of hours to complete 1 minute of footage = Y

Quote = (X x Y) x length of video

So if my rate per hour is $50 and it takes me 1 hour to finalize a minute of footage then (1 x 50) 2.5 = $125.00 you should charge for that video.

The hardest part about this for most people is deciding what they're worth per hour. Your skills, your balls, and your customers/clients will help you figure this out as you grow. Hope this helps.

level 1

How long does it normally take you to edit a 5 minute video? Do they need any graphics work done? Do you have to find/license the songs?

level 2

If someone isn’t automatically asking themselves these types of questions, it really would make me think they have no idea what they’re doing.

level 2

These are good questions. I will ask.

level 1

It really depends. I just did two interviews at a recent event that a client wants for their channel. One guy rehearsed, had three clips to edit it took 15 minutes. (Still charging them for an hour because its a great rate), the other interviewee was/is all over the place, started stopped, said hi to people in the middle, took 2 hours to edit. There is no set time. Charge fairly and honestly for your time.

Editing may include titles, color and exposure, sound and audio work. Perhaps provide a sample of a video. (Doesn't have to be the company or a video like what you're working on). But $70-$100 per hour is fair.

level 1

be reasonable if you haven't got a portfolio. small jobs are great for building knowledge and portfolio. i will quite often do a 2-3 minute video for a few hundred dollars

level 2

· 5 yr. ago · edited 5 yr. agoA7rii | Zeiss Loxia Series

Is this $1,000,000 worth of bitcoin, or 1,000,000 bitcoin?

If given the option, I would rather have it in real money.

Edit: BTC people are out in force.

level 1

I would definitely consider charging a flat rate if it's going to be ongoing. As another commenter mentioned, finding out if they need graphics will impact the cost.

I can say that I charge $70/hour. (That's in Canadian dollars.) But everyone is going to be slightly different.

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/r/videography is a community for videographers of all skill levels in fields such as weddings, events, live performances, music videos, TV, corporate, live streaming, sports, real estate, YouTube, home videos and more.

When you’re outsourcing your video editing, there’s one question you’ll probably want answered first of all: How much does it cost to hire a video editor? 

The answer to this question depends a lot on how you pick your editor, and on what basis you’ll pay them.

Either, you can hire a video editor for your team permanently. Or, you can hire an external editor or a video editing company on a per-project or subscription basis. 

Depending on which hiring option you choose, the total amount of costs and their distribution will vary. 

Here are the details.

How much does it cost to hire a video editor for your team?

Are you running a rapidly expanding content creation business? Or are you an established brand, aiming to expand into video marketing? Then hiring a video editor full- or part-time may be an option for you. 

According to the Department of Labor, the average hourly wage for video editors is about $40, with a range of $15 to $82 depending on skill level and experience.

However, besides the actual salary, you’ll also have to shell out for office space, soft- and hardware, and payroll taxes. Those taxes go towards social security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance. They’ll come to 8-12% of the salary, depending on your state.

How much does it cost to hire a video editor externally?

Is it your first time hiring a video editor? You don’t have the constant work to justify an employee? Or do you just want to stay flexible? 

Then consider hiring someone externally.  You can go for freelance video editors or for a dedicated video editing company. Both options have their own pros and cons.

But, since we’re interested in costs, let’s move on to those.

There are three basic billing schemes: Hourly rates, package prices, and subscriptions.

Model 1: Hourly Rates

First, some video editors charge by the hour. Here, the cost of your video edit will depend on two things: how long it takes, and the editor’s rates. 

How much time your editor needs depends mostly on the length of your footage and the complexity of the edit (types of cuts, revisions, enhancements etc.). As a rule of thumb, you can expect 30 minutes to an hour of editing for each minute of finished video.

As for hourly rates, they’re roughly based on experience and skill – and there’s a wide range out there. 

You can absolutely find beginner freelancers who’ll do the job for $15 an hour on Upwork – just don’t expect professional results. Experienced editors with polished portfolios, though, easily charge $50 to well over $100 per hour. 

There’s another thing to consider when comparing rates between freelance editors: location. Someone working in the Philippines simply has much lower living costs than a US-based editor, and might consequently charge less for similar work.

Model 2: Package Deals

Second, many freelance editors and video editing companies offer package deals. 

These normally have very clear terms on the of source footage, final video length, and the type of the edit. An entry-level package could be just jump cuts, for example. 

While package deals limit the footage you can submit and the type and quality of the finished videos, they also simplify your work planning and budgeting.  

You can often get a basic jump-cut edit for around $50, while full editing packages for short videos start at around $200. That’s also about how much you can expect to pay for YouTube video edits.

Model 3: Subscriptions

Finally, you can hire an editor or an editing company on a subscription basis. 

This will either give you a certain number of packages, or “unlimited” edits (meaning one video at a time, and depending on editor availability). 

Depending on the company and what’s included, monthly costs range between $350 and $1500. To see some example subscriptions, check out the list of video editing services we’ve reviewed earlier this year!

The advantage of hiring a video editor by subscribing are fast turnaround times, guaranteed availability, and clear-cut budgeting for you.

The Bottom Line

Overall, how much it costs to hire a video editor depends on your editing needs, and whether you opt for adding someone to your team or hiring an external editor. 

In whatever way you hire a video editor, always make sure to vet them to get your money’s worth. Carefully check out a few candidates, and compare their portfolios, locations, reviews, and which services they include in their pricing.

With the right editor by your side, though, you’ll be able to free up more of your time, take a breath, and focus on the creative work you do best. 

Ready to give professional video editing a shot?

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