I'm the one who said 7-8k, and I do know what I'm talking about. My second video hit #1 on MTV.com, ranking higher than Adele, Katy Perry, and every other major label artist on the site for three days straight. You can
see it here.
I mean 8k for the TOTAL budget. Shoot, posts, etc. We got 4k for that one, and I put in another 6-8k alone as I knew MTV was into the song. It was a gamble. Small videos yeah are between 2-4k. Bigger ones (soup to nuts) can get you 10k. Most of my budget went into locations, crew, color grading especially I paid through the nose for. I shot for two days non-stop, and that isn't cheap. Insurance, gear, van rentals, etc.
But that's just me.
Our edit alone (with one of my favorite editors in NYC, he is one of the best) was 10 sessions.
To do a great video requires a lot of time, money and dedication, and as you say. There's no money in it, and it's not worth it, so I stopped doing it even though the last one "did well".
Peace out.