What outsourcing actually costs
Nobody publishes prices for this work, and there’s a reasonable explanation as well as an unreasonable one. The reasonable one: the work genuinely isn’t comparable between clients. The unreasonable one: opacity suits agencies.
We don’t publish prices either, for the first reason. What we can do is explain what a quote is made of, so you can read one properly.
What actually drives the number
Volume. Four long-form videos a month is a different operation from twelve. The unit cost usually falls as volume rises, because planning and setup are shared across the output.
Format. A talking-head edit, a heavily-graded documentary cut, and a fully animated explainer differ by an order of magnitude in production hours. Motion graphics and 3D are the largest single variable.
Scope. Editing only, versus scripting-through-publishing, versus running the whole operation including strategy and reporting. Each layer adds cost and removes work from you.
Turnaround. Compressed timelines cost more everywhere. A schedule agreed a month ahead is cheaper than one agreed on Friday for Monday.
Revisions. Two rounds included is standard. Open-ended revision cycles are where quoted work becomes unprofitable, which is why most studios cap them, and why a quote without a stated revision policy is worth questioning.
The comparison that matters
The useful comparison isn’t agency versus nothing. It’s agency versus the fully-loaded cost of doing it in-house: an editor, a designer, someone writing, someone publishing, plus the software, plus the management time, and plus the risk that it all stops when one person leaves.
For a channel publishing weekly, in-house typically means at least one full-time person and usually more. Below a certain volume, that person is underused; above it, they’re overwhelmed. Outsourcing is often the better answer at both ends and the worse answer in the middle.
When you shouldn’t outsource
Honest answer: when the direction isn’t settled. If you don’t yet know what the channel is, what it sounds like, or who it’s for, no external team can produce it well, you’ll spend the budget on revisions while you work out the strategy.
Settle the direction first, even roughly. Then outsource the throughput.
What a good quote looks like
It should state the deliverables and the quantity, the turnaround, the revision rounds included, what you’re expected to provide, and what happens if the schedule slips on either side. If a quote is a single number with no scope attached, ask for the scope, the number is meaningless without it.
We quote per project and return scopes within two working days. If you want to see what your output would cost, send us what you’re planning, or read what a full month of channel management involves before you decide.