Somewhat OT File Hosting Fees

In this day and age of tapeless we're being asked more and more to provide file hosting on our server. We're getting up into the 40-60GB range for some clients and for longer periods of time. A month or longer instead of just a few days for approvals.

Collaborative work is also taking up time and considerable space.

Of course, there are any number of free hosting sites, but clients want us to provide services to; 1. eliminate upload time and, 2. because we provide individual support, conversions, accounts administration, notifications etc.

The server administration is easy. It's the personalized service that costs time/money. It's become a sundries/extras item. Question is, how much to charge? Anybody doing this and can you give me an idea on what you bill?



Clay

I've been doing this for years. Back in the day you could charge quite a hefty fee but nowadays it is different.

I tend not to charge for temporary hosting of smaller <200MB offline/web files during edit and for a short time after completion for transfer of files. I offer it as part of the service - many of my larger clients either have their own FTP or use DropBox/YouSendit so the free or low cost options are so abundant I would feel particularly bad charging for something that can be found for a very low cost.

But certainly I charge for any time taken up compressing/transcoding and for uploading. But this is done at the cost per hour of the suite and my time (at my lowest fee if I don't need to babysit the progress bar or full whack if I do).

If you are hosting it on your Mac network and not externally then look at similar FTP services and be competitive; albeit with the added security that you offer by not going to the cloud and an external FTP which can be viewed by the service admins.

However if you are doing very large very high-bandwidth then you need a dedicated server. You can get hosted 250GB dedicated servers for about $135 per month - here is a service [www.365ezone.com] [for illustrative purposes only I have never used these guys]

Like any service - work out how much it costs you - mark it up a bit; covering setup and running costs and charge accordingly.

Tell clients the options up-front, and tell them the cost and time involved in data-wrangling. As long as they know what, why, when, where and how much then they are usually more accepting of the charges involved - especially if they need the service.

If they say they can get it cheaper - let them arrange it - but make sure your contract puts the onus on them for any issues.



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Hey Ben,

thanks for your insights. Been thinking along the same lines. Our USP is that we operate our own server and can transfer files to it via our internal network or by simply connecting an external drive. The thing clients like is the instant online function this provides. There's no upload time. Plus, they don't have to set up accounts, manage logins or administrate. We do all that for them on their instructions, via email or even on the phone.

Local guys doing the same thing charge between ?100 and ?300 for the initial setup and between ?4 and ?8 per GB per month for the hosting. By utilizing the existing infrastructure, that can certainly cover the rent, even with a relatively small amount of clients if the personal service is there. The instant upload coupled with the personal touch seems to be the key.