What do you charge for photos?

[Stime]

Somewhat late to the party, but here are my prices for prints only, I'm not a professional but do make a bit of spare change...

8x10 / 8x12 - $25
11x14 - $50
12x18 - $80
16x20 / 16x24 - $125
A couple images work at 20x30 - $185

Of course, there are a few other sizes that I've sold and various images have various aspect ratios (I USED to crop to other ratios, I don't anymore) but those are my standard ones. 12x18 is my most popular size.

- Scott

[aphotographynut]

Originally Posted by akrab

LOL Andy, you are too nice

ah yes.. landscapes, flowers, birds, bugs... pretty much beyond me LOL though the combines are out harvesting and I am antsy to go shoot them... will have to see if I get a chance and how they turn out

I need to find a printer.... it has been a LONG time since I have had anything printed and back then I used Shutterfly... what size should I have printed? what should I display them in? who is recommended for a printer?

I have a canon camera, and a canon printer. I have the Pixma 600D that cost about 150 or so. The reason I like it is that it has several tanks (six) and has a tray too. If I had to choose another one, I would do the "$500 jobbie at bestuby". It can do pretty large prints and can take larger size ink tanks.

[NetJohn]

Honestly, I wouldn't use an ink-jet, and instead use a lab. I use WHCC, and are very happy with them. When you hand a customer a print, and they flip it over (they all do, sometimes when you're not looking) and they see that it's not a home-made print using CostCo or Sam's Club paper (or even the Fuji Crystal Archive that you get when to take it to be printed elsewhere), they suddenly realize they don't have some "cheap" print.

Just a data-point, nothing more.

John

[ciphotodesign]

MY question to everyone interested is right now I charge $16 for an 8x10 and I STILL get people baulking at that. I want to be around $20-25 for one, but don't know if that would turn people away. I live in a pretty small town if that makes a difference. You can go to my website (if your nice! haha) Creative Images Design & Photography, Sheridan, Wyoming photography by Melanie Araas

[jfrancho]

It might turn some away, specifically the ones the balk at $20 prints. It might also attract those that are willing to pay the piper for quality without adding bitching about the price to the process. You need to ask yourself, can you continue to offer your services at that margin? Of course you can, but will you have to lower your standards and simplify you process to do it? Do you want to offer inferior quality? I can't, and I don't even do this full time.

[brian.austin]

Taking John's statement a bit further:

I am a network engineer/consultant and I'm not cheap. When people balk at my rates, I simply shrug my shoulders and tell them that you get what you pay for. Sometimes you'll get lucky and get the cheap rate with the best service. I prefer to take the 'luck' factor out of the equation and use my reputation, reliability, education and experience as the deciding factors. I have plenty of people wanting my services. If you want on that list, you'll pay my rates. If not, you're more than welcome to seek someone else. Nature of the market.

The kicker here is that you have to be willing to watch someone walk away. I know people who simply cannot stand to watch a customer leave and will lose money to keep them around. Why? This isn't a charity. Make money or find something different to do. If the market can't take it, adjust your costs accordingly or find a different market.

[Steve Buchanan]

Once you engage in selling prints it becomes a business and not a hobby. If you're interested in making money, not just recovering your costs, then you need to approach it as such. You need to research what the other suppliers(artists) in the area are offering and at what price. Then determine what makes you better (or different) than them and price accordingly.
It's generally considered bad business to engage in a race to the bottom when it comes to price and quality. Wal-Mart can do that because they've got a bazillion stores and can twist the arms of their suppliers to lower their prices. In the end they're fine making 2 cents on every pair of jeans they sell, because they know they'll sell 2 million pairs this month. I, for one, am not going to sell 2 million photos this month so I need to make more than 2 cents on each sale.
If the people you're selling to are balking at $20 for a print you need to A) accept it or B) find a way to get that $20. Either by making your work better and therefore worth it, or finding a market that will pay that $20 without freaking out. Remember, you don't set prices, your market does.

my pair of jeans worth

SB

[heartseye]

I'm with Brian on this one......people come to me because they want MY vision and excecution of the assignment. Usually, with the exception of weddings, I am commisioned without any real discussion of price.

I don't agree with Steve that you need to know what others charge. What matters to me is what I charge. Other than a couple of friends who are in business, I really have no knowledge of what others in my community charge.....

[jfrancho]

I think Steve's advice was geared toward someone with no idea what to charge. Once you have a benchmark, then you can go about evaluating your expenses, and charge what you need to get, the competition be damned.

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by heartseye

I don't agree with Steve that you need to know what others charge. What matters to me is what I charge. Other than a couple of friends who are in business, I really have no knowledge of what others in my community charge.....

I don't think knowing what others are charging is a bad thing here. For instance, taking my same job/rates into consideration, the only reason I know I'm expensive is because I know what others are charging. Knowing who they are (for the most part) and their experience levels combined with their rates gives me a better opportunity at selling myself. (Did that sound vaguely like prostitution here? )

Markets vary all over the country. Here in Phoenix, I'm on the high side of the equation. In New York or Silicon Valley, I might find my same rates in the middle of the pack. In some areas, I might even be LOW (perish the thought).

Knowing what your market can tolerate is important in maintaining a competitive level of pricing. But costs HAVE to play a part in this. If I find my rates decreasing to a point where I can't make as much money, my costs have to go down or my value has to go up. If my value goes up, I can increase my prices without reducing costs or providing less service than before. If my costs go down, I can maintain the same profit margins (hopefully) while effectively competing for business in the market. Reducing costs risks quality, however, since I couldn't necessarily afford the same software, tools, or training to keep me on top of the game...which would further reduce my value.

Bob, you have been setting your prices for some time now, I suspect. What's probably happened (and I'm guessing here) is that you're in a smaller city/town with limited market. Your services are regularly in demand and you probably pick up a lot of referral business. The nice thing is that reduces your competition by simply removing them from the playing field of consideration before price becomes an issue. It's a good place to be.

[Nikonfreak]

Originally Posted by riha

The problem i see today is the fact that cameras are so good today (and printers) that most people have the chance to take an good image and sell it or print it for private usage.

That makes more and more people to not wan´t to ay that much money for images, even if they are as good as for 5,10, 20 years ago (when an printed photo cost more).

I have the very same dilemma, especially when selling to my friends.


What i do know is hat in sweden there is an recommended price list to use as refernce when you set your price. It can be bought here in Sweden and there might be something similar available in your country.

You'd be amazed at how bad some of those prints at art fairs can be, both from a photographic standpoint and a print standpoint.

Julio

[Danno44]

Originally Posted by ciphotodesign

MY question to everyone interested is right now I charge $16 for an 8x10 and I STILL get people baulking at that. I want to be around $20-25 for one, but don't know if that would turn people away. I live in a pretty small town if that makes a difference. You can go to my website (if your nice! haha) Creative Images Design & Photography, Sheridan, Wyoming photography by Melanie Araas

After reviewing your site, my opinion is your print pricing is too low across the board. My guess is you recieve a lot of "price shopping" inquires. That is fine if that is the market you want to service and compete within (i.e. walmart photo, sears). But based on your statement, it appears you want to try to move away from the low end. Also, at that lower level, price is more important than the image or quality. Sure i would like to get a prime rib dinner at a value meal price, but I understand if i want higher quality it is going to cost more. Photography is no different. The low end price shopper is a huge market and if your willing to work a tremendous amount of hours, can be financially rewarding. I personally prefer to work with people who are not always trying to nickle a dime everything to death. My goal is to work less hours for more money. Remember you work hard at providing quality prints, higher service levels to your customers and unless your a non profit group, you need to be striving at making a profit and not just covering costs.

[Nikonfreak]

I get calls like that all the time. When the conversation starts with, "I want a price for ...." You know you've got a price shopper. Rarely, if ever, does it end up with it being a price for "just ..." , usually it ends up with, "...and I need this and this and this also" during the shoot.

I usually ask those people what kind of car they own. You'd be amazed at the responses. Of course, I mention that they could have purchased a used whatever for $2,500 ... why are they driving "x"?
Sometimes they get it.. sometimes they don't.

I got a call like this yesterday. They wanted to shoot 3 models in 10 dresses in 10 different poses with two backgrounds for each model. They wanted a price. I told them it wasn't quite that simple. I needed to see what we would shoot, what kind of set they'd want to use, location, etc and that likely this would be a 6-8 hour shoot depending on prep time and shoot time with 3 models doing 10 different dresses and MUA preparing the models. I included a MUA that I know that would show up for an all day deal for $250 (cheap but he's pretty good.)

So I start off with a day rate plus an assistant on hand, plus a half day for image prep work and I get the classic bomb... She said that some photographer told her he'd do the whole thing for $500. I told her to take his deal and that she was getting a $3,000 job for $500. She said she wanted a professional job. She kept insisting that the guy was a professional with a studio and yada yada... but the guy must have been an illegal as he was booted out of the US so now she was in need of a new photog.

I compromised a little in the end but that was rediculous to expect a shoot like that for $500.

My favorite was someone that was getting married on one of those dinner boats. They were looking to see if they could get the wedding shot any cheaper than the $400 that the guy affiliated with the dinner boat company was willing to shoot the wedding for. They were getting a CD with the images. She was insulted that I wouldn't do a wedding for less than $2,000. Most folks around here quote just shooting the wedding for $1,800 and prints and albums go up from there. I told them that for a wedding, with the work that is involved for a professional quality job, you can't get me to pick up my car keys for $400.

Another fun one... I was quoting a yacht brokerage for shooting the interior of boats for brochures and catalogs. Mind you, when you're selling a boat worth millions of dollars, everything in the image should be perfect... blinds, lights, reflections, pillows, dishware on the table in the dining room, black out cloths over the windows so that you don't just see boats outside the windows (replace the scene later with whatever you want), watch the distortion (med format is nice). They were using some guy that was dinging them $150 to shoot the interiors with a digicam I think. I saw some of the images. White balance was wrong, orange / yellow looking images...some were blurry...and I mean really blurry like a handheld 1/10 sec exposure, flash hot spots... OMG ...

Oh and knowing what the market and competition is doing is not only smart, it's necessary in my opinion. No one lives in a business vacuum. If you're competition is offering equivalent quality at a lower price, that's something you'd want to know. Also, if you are in a community that is a lower income area, it'll be pretty hard to charge the premium price and get it if you're a family portrait photographer. If you're a commercial photographer and in an industrial area, then that's something different.

Julio

[Danno44]

Originally Posted by Nikonfreak

Oh and knowing what the market and competition is doing is not only smart, it's necessary in my opinion. No one lives in a business vacuum. If you're competition is offering equivalent quality at a lower price, that's something you'd want to know.
Julio

Agreed. Your examples are similiar to those that I think most of us are experiencing. It seems everyone knows a "photographer" that will do it for less. I, like you, give the same type responses. I refuse to get into the price game.

[KellyL]

Fantastic discussion. Can't really add much to it except I am now at a point where this discussion really matters to me.
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