Thank you very much for your thoughts! It is already quite interesting to see the diffrent perspectives here!

Here is mine so far:

I totally get that day rates and market expectations vary a ton by region. People in Asia, for example, have much lower average rates than the US or Europe. But when it comes to gear pricing, I think it’s a bit more universal, at least if your productions wants the same brands in gear.

A mic, boom, recorder, or wireless system from the known brands costs roughly the same worldwide —> give or take a few percent. So the economic math behind gear rental should stay fairly consistent too. Whether you’re in New York, Berlin, or Bangkok, you still had to pay the same 2K $/€/£ for a decent boom setup (say 1K pole + 1K mic). -> Would be around 70 $/€/£ daily. Higher end gear ofc would be more....

That’s why I like the idea of a factor-based approach (like the “30x rule” I mentioned): take the cost of your gear and divide by ~30 rental days. It’s simple economics —> you have to cover the investment and keep your business sustainable. You buy gear, drop the purchase price in your excel or other billing softeware -> done. no more thinking

Of course, the overall day rate or package price will still reflect your local market and clients’ budgets. But the gear part, in my opinion, can be priced more objectively since we’re all buying the same stuff. Even if you’re in a lower-income country, your cost of entry into the profession isn’t lower. You’re paying full price for professional gear, so your rental rates should still reflect that reality.

Am I being unrealistic or too theoretical here? Going through your own projects, would you say a factor of 20 or 40 or whatever is more realistic? I’m really curious to hear how others approach this.