DIY vs Vendor Calculator

Why hourly rate comparisons are the wrong way to evaluate vendors

Dividing a vendor's total quote by hours included gives you a cost-per-hour that looks like a fair comparison but usually is not. A photographer at $400/hour who shoots 8 hours and delivers 600 edited images is providing a very different value than one at $350/hour who shoots 6 hours and delivers 300 images with no album. The hourly rate hides what is actually included.

The Inclusions score in this calculator asks you to rate what each package actually covers on a 1–10 scale — second shooter, engagement session, album, digital files, turnaround time, commercial licensing, or whatever criteria matter for the specific service type. That qualitative score, combined with the per-hour cost, gives a value metric that reflects the full package rather than just the time component.

Entering the Total Quote: what to include and what to exclude

Total Quote should be the all-in package price — everything the vendor is offering for that dollar amount. If travel fees are extra, ask and add them. If an album is included at no additional charge, make a note of it in the Notes field and factor it into your inclusions score. If taxes and gratuity would be added at booking, add a reasonable estimate to the quote total before entering it.

The most common comparison error is including taxes and gratuity in one vendor's quote and not another's. Before entering numbers, confirm that all three quotes are on the same basis: same sales tax treatment, same gratuity assumptions. A $200 difference in apparent quote price can disappear entirely once tax alignment is applied.

Hours included: not just shooting time

For photography and videography, Hours Included should capture the entire contracted engagement window — setup through departure — not just the hours when the camera is actively shooting. For catering, it should reflect service hours plus setup and breakdown time that the contract covers.

A caterer contracted for 4 service hours whose team arrives 2 hours early for setup and stays 1 hour for cleanup is providing 7 total hours of presence. A caterer contracted for 4 hours with a separate setup fee is providing 4. For comparison purposes, use the hours the vendor is committed to your event because that time has a value whether it is active service time or not.

The inclusions score: rating what matters for your specific event

The Inclusions score is intentionally open-ended. On a scale of 1–10, score each vendor on the criteria that matter to you for that service category. For a photographer, you might weight second shooter heavily. For a florist, you might weight the number of arrangements and floral design consultation time. For a DJ, you might weight lighting package and MC services.

The score is most useful when you define your criteria before you look at the vendors, not after. That prevents the natural tendency to weight criteria that the most appealing vendor happens to score well on. Write down your top 3–5 requirements for the service, assign rough weights to each, and then score each vendor against those fixed criteria. The calculator does the comparison math; the scoring rubric is yours to define.

Notes field: where the qualitative details go

The Notes field for each vendor captures what does not fit cleanly into a number — 'second shooter included, album requires upgrade,' 'requires 50% deposit at booking versus 25% for others,' 'based on previous client reviews, turnaround is 6–8 weeks.' These details affect real decision-making and belong in the comparison even if they cannot be scored numerically.

A common use is to flag package limitations that the quoted price does not include. If Vendor A's $2,800 quote includes photos but a $400 album upgrade that you want, the effective total is $3,200 — and that comparison changes the calculus. The notes field is where you document those conditionals so the comparison reflects your actual purchase, not the base package. Compare your quotes here side by side and make the call with data, not gut instinct.

DIY vs Vendor Calculator vs. the alternatives

How to use it

1. Enter a Vendor Name for each option so the comparison is clearly labeled.
2. Enter the Total Quote in dollars — the full contracted amount including any inclusions you have negotiated.
3. Enter Hours Included as the total contracted event window, not just active service time.
4. Rate Inclusions on a 1–10 scale based on your pre-defined criteria for what matters most in this service category.
5. Add Notes to capture any conditionals, upgrades, or qualitative factors that are not captured in the numerical fields.
6. Read the value comparison output — per-hour cost, inclusions score, and the calculated value metric — to identify the clearest choice.

Who it's for

• Couple comparing three photographers — Enters $3,200/8 hours/score 8, $2,800/6 hours/score 7, and $4,100/10 hours/score 9 — finds the third vendor offers the best per-hour value on inclusions despite the higher sticker price.
• Couple evaluating DIY versus catered bar service — Enters a licensed bartender service at $1,800 versus a DIY bar package at $900 in supplies — scores the DIY option lower on inclusions for missing bartender licensing, liability coverage, and cleanup, which shifts the value calculation.
• Event planner comparing florists for a client — Enters three florist quotes, scores them on number of arrangements, consultation hours, and sustainability of materials — presents the calculator output to the client as the basis for a recommendation.
• Couple reconciling a budget shortfall — Discovers that the mid-tier photography option at $2,900 has a better value score than the budget option at $2,200 once inclusions are scored — reallocates $700 from a lower-priority budget category to close the gap.

Key terms

Inclusions score

A user-assigned 1–10 rating of a vendor package's completeness and quality relative to the buyer's defined criteria. Captures what is actually included beyond the base time commitment.

Value metric

A composite score that combines per-hour cost and inclusions score into a single comparative figure. Higher inclusions score at lower per-hour cost produces the best value metric.

Flat-rate versus hourly vendor

Flat-rate vendors quote a fixed total for a defined scope; hourly vendors bill by time used. Flat-rate packages are easier to budget; hourly vendors offer flexibility but carry cost uncertainty.

Effective cost per hour

Total quote divided by contracted hours. A useful normalization for comparing vendors with different package sizes, though it must be used alongside inclusions scoring to be meaningful.

Sources & further reading

• HomeAdvisor — Project Cost Guides
• Angi — Home Services Research
• Thumbtack — Services Marketplace Research
• Consumer Reports — Home & Garden
• Fixr — Cost Guides by Project