Brilliant feedback, just the kind of stuff I was hoping for.
You can create 360 panoramas for yourself and some of the tips I've posted should hopefully set those interested on their way to creating their own virtual tours. I can draw similarities with those that create their own websites, if you have the time, patience, a bit of money to invest and a real interest then it's definitely possible. The end result will obviously depend on the level of competence the individual achieves.
Laughing at my prices seems a little harsh Spanishvida, especially when you haven't even seen the quality of my product. I have seen your tours (the link given prior to your first post's edit), I suggest you stick to your prices and I'll stand by mine. I believe there is a market out there for both of our products.
Tansy/Brooke, cheers for the supporting comments regarding time taken, though Tansy I have to point out that the best way to light an indoor panorama is to use the light available and open the curtains (additional lighting presents a whole array of problems when capturing a 360 degree environment- don't even use a flash, just manually set the exposure level). Time spent at a location is a very small proportion of the total time taken to create the tour. Sat at the computer afterwards stitching good quality spherical images (fisheye lens shots take minutes to stitch-high quality spherical panoramas with a wide angled lens take a lot longer)/creating floor plans/adding hotspots on doors/creating Java and quicktime versions/including every room in a property and outside panoramas – it all takes time.
The prices I mentioned equate to an hourly rate that is less than half of what a good web-designer charges despite my set-up costs being a lot more and this being more of a niche product. That said, I'm confident that this is the way forward in terms of on-line holiday property viewing, I just have to try my best to persuade my sceptics!
http://www.theoldmill.me.uk/ I think this tour is okay, but the software used to create them give a very 'flat' feeling to the panorama, like you're scrolling along a flat image and not within a sphere. As Paolo says, with a virtual tour you can't hide anything, so there could be a big advantage for those with well maintained/unique property in a beautiful location where photos just don't do the place justice.
Janny came in with a good question regarding redoing rooms that have been decorated etc. I would personally charge a small amount for that re-shoot, but then there is the expense of getting to the location, the only way I can see of getting around this expense would be to be flexible and allow the re-shoot to be tagged onto another job in the area/country. Failing that, this could seriously add to the cost of re-decorating a room! So I'd suggest making sure any major changes to a property are carried prior to a tour being shot.
Brooke addressed the topic of return on investment, I'd suggest that a tour is seen as having a minimum of a 5 year life, so spread that cost! Losing a booking could be an issue, rather than losing a week would it be possible to offer 25% reduction for that week? Perhaps the lower price may even attract clients that would otherwise have gone elsewhere? Or if you take your holidays at your house could you book a tour for then?
My research with holiday makers so far shows that using a virtual tour as a preview prior to booking can rid any uncertainty and give added confidence. If this proves to be the case then those who are first to use virtual tours should have a considerable advantage, but I'm bound to say this! So does anyone out there use virtual tours already? If so what response have you had from your clients?
Are there any java-based tours you could link me to?