The problem with protecting the general rate structure of a market is that you are never really quite sure what it is. How do I know how much "Freelancer A" is charging relative to me or "Freelancer B"? I don't. Do I call them on the phone and ask them? Will they even tell me what they charge and will they be specific -- charging for extras, charge for tape stock, mileage, OT? Most people, except for trusting friends, won't disclose that information to me. Or at least not readily. And why not? Because they are competitors and they know it is to my advantage to know what they do and don't do.
So I charge what I think is appropriate for ME and something that I believe is within the basic economic/geographical standards of where I work. I don't really worry what other people are charging, although I keep my antennae up and listen when it is discussed.
I don't think iHDs analysis of renting versus owning is totally true. People who need to rent will have to charge more. They will also have to make less. But someone who rents is probably also used to making less. They don't see as much profit in the rental/freelance end of the business so they probably look to gross say, $600/day. However an equipment owning freelancer probably has an amount in mind that they'd like to clear as well. On a purely speculative level, that number is probably at a minimum $1000/day and approaching $1300/day when HD is involved, perhaps more. But the freelancer also has higher expenses to pay and those hidden costs reduce the gross intake down to a smaller net.
I think a freelancer has to be aware of the basic rate structure in any market. That only makes sense. You don't want to have the highest rates. Nor do you want to be the cheapest totem on the pole. But you also need to be aware of where you stand in the pecking order and what your scheme is to move up to bigger and better work and more lucrative pay. ALL of us did that. I started working in the mid-80s for $200/day without gear for local news magazine shows like Evening Magazine, otherwise known as PM Magazine around most of the country. When I bought my own equipment, the industry was growing and freelancers were less plentiful. The whole supply/demand dynamic was much different than it is now. We worked our way up very very quickly because we has a wave pushing us along. The new people entering the market don't seem to have that kind of ballast. It's a much harder slog. However, what you do have that we didn't is extremely cheap editing capability. You can shoot and edit for a lot less than we could and that alone makes you able to be more of a business than we early freelancers who came of age in the 1990s.
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