Help me price a print I've been asked for?

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

01/26/2012 01:50:49 PM · #26

I find it interesting how some people give their talent away to feed only their ego, and in doing so neglect 'feeding' their children.

ETA...

Come to think of it, maybe feeding the ego is only the excuse to give it away for free, or a very low price. Maybe it's more due to low self esteem, and lack of guts at the bargaining table. ???

Message edited by author 2012-01-26 13:55:13.

NikonJeb

Nikon D850

01/26/2012 01:54:48 PM · #27

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

I find it interesting how some people give their talent away to feed only their ego, and in doing so neglect 'feeding' their children.

Well...there are some people who are multi-talented, who don't need the money from all their talents to feed their kids.

And some of us are feeding our hearts and spirits as opposed to our egos with what we give away.

Not everyone's like you, Slippy! LOL!!!

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

01/26/2012 01:56:29 PM · #28

I forgot ... in the OP's case, the commercial customer is probably not only prepared to pay a retail price (see

Skip's post), but also to deduct it as a business expense, thus enjoying a 15-30% discount courtesy of the US taxpayer ...

01/26/2012 01:56:47 PM · #29

Originally posted by GeneralE:

I'm planning to go through my DPC Prints gallery and raise my prices to something like 4-6 times the base cost.

*I learned far more working in my university cafeteria than from my classes ...

You mirror my thoughts exactly then.

He wants to sell a 24 X 16 print so:

3 times DPC base price - $37.80
4 times DPC base price - $50.40

01/26/2012 01:58:40 PM · #30

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Originally posted by Strikeslip:
I find it interesting how some people give their talent away to feed only their ego, and in doing so neglect 'feeding' their children.

Well...there are some people who are multi-talented, who don't need the money from all their talents to feed their kids.

And some of us are feeding our hearts and spirits as opposed to our egos with what we give away.

Not everyone's like you, Slippy! LOL!!!

I put 'feed' in quotes where it refers to the kids because I meant it to mean extra money to put into their RESP or to enrich their lives in some way. It must be nice to be independently wealthy, though.

01/26/2012 02:01:00 PM · #31

... and hey, I give my work to charities, I do have a heart and a soul. :-P LOL

I don't 'give' my work to businesses such as hotels, however.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

01/26/2012 02:08:28 PM · #32

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

Couldn't have said it better. In my case it supplements my income not creates it and that's eactly what Jeff stated in his post. He said he was not trying to be greedy, just wanted a fair price.

If it came down to my family being on the streets over photography I would be agressive but I don't need to so I do it because I love it.

I know I said I would sit back in this thread but I can't. LOL

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

Maybe it's more due to low self esteem, and lack of guts at the bargaining table. ???

Low self esteem - In my case and referring to photography, yes. I always know I could do better and strive for it.
Lack of guts at the bargaining table - No, I do that for a living.

Message edited by author 2012-01-26 14:10:03.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

01/26/2012 02:13:43 PM · #33


Size          Price (USD)  Approx. Markup

4x5, 4x6         3.00      4.6x

8x10, 8x12       20.00     4.7x

12x18            35.00     2.3x*

16x20            85.00     4.1x

*The 12x18 pricing is odd, because I also sometimes sell prints I make locally at Costco, and their 12x18 costs less than half the DPCP base price.

01/26/2012 02:17:13 PM · #34

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

... and hey, I give my work to charities, I do have a heart and a soul. :-P LOL

I don't 'give' my work to businesses such as hotels, however.

I don't know if you are referring to most of my posts but assume you are. I never once suggesting giving it away and if you think selling something at 3-4 times the cost is giving something away then I feel for people that you do business with. Others in this thread are suggesting selling it at 20 times the cost. Which is fine and I hope he gets it.

People just need to realize there are all types of pricing structures out there and it varies from market to market.

However, I do believe that professionals who devote all there time and energy into photography as a career should sell it for that much. They are buying equipment and have much higher overhead than an ameture who catches a break on a sale and I do recognize that.

01/26/2012 02:19:33 PM · #35

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Calculating the markup at DPC Prints is a little tricky, because you can get either a 50% or 75% commission, depending on how the buyer got to the site. I think I based my prices on making approximately equal numbers of sales under each scenario. This is what I've been thinking, if anyone wants to comment:

Size Price (USD) Approx. Markup
4x5, 4x6 3.00 4.6x
8x10, 8x12 20.00 4.7x
12x18 35.00 2.3x*
16x20 85.00 4.1x

*The 12x18 pricing is odd, because I also sometimes sell prints I make locally at Costco, and their 12x18 costs less than half the DPCP base price.

That is my mistake, I was not thinking of actually selling stright from DPC. I have sold very few items from DPC directly. I purchase from DPC or other vendors and sell persoanlly so I get 100% of my sales. I see your point and scenario though.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

01/26/2012 02:46:30 PM · #36

Originally posted by SEG:

Originally posted by Strikeslip:
... and hey, I give my work to charities, I do have a heart and a soul. :-P LOL

I don't 'give' my work to businesses such as hotels, however.

I don't know if you are referring to most of my posts but assume you are. I never once suggesting giving it away and if you think selling something at 3-4 times the cost is giving something away then I feel for people that you do business with. Others in this thread are suggesting selling it at 20 times the cost. Which is fine and I hope he gets it.

People just need to realize there are all types of pricing structures out there and it varies from market to market.

However, I do believe that professionals who devote all there time and energy into photography as a career should sell it for that much. They are buying equipment and have much higher overhead than an ameture who catches a break on a sale and I do recognize that.

No, I was referring to Jeb's post where he mentions heart and spirit (I typed soul by mistake). I do charity work at zero charge, though I could get tax credits if I jumped through a lot of hoops, which I don't bother with.

I make a good living as a geologist, but refuse to let my photography go for a pittance. But I may undertake a new sideline, making self-esteem boosting videos for photographers.

NikonJeb

Nikon D850

01/26/2012 02:56:05 PM · #37

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

But I may undertake a new sideline, making self-esteem boosting videos for photographers.

Where do I send my $99.95 to, Slippy?

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

01/26/2012 03:14:09 PM · #38

Maybe Stuart smalley can help turn my life around.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

01/26/2012 03:24:40 PM · #39

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

You shouldn't look at it as "needing" the money. Look at it as giving that money away by not taking it. If you undercharge for your work, you might as well hand the customer a wad of cash. If you feel that bad about being engaged in commerce, you can sooth your guilt by donating those "extra" profits to the charity of your choice. That way if you charge too little, you're stealing food from starving babies.

Message edited by author 2012-01-26 15:25:38.

01/26/2012 03:35:38 PM · #40

Originally posted by Spork99:

...If you feel that bad about being engaged in commerce, you can sooth your guilt by donating those "extra" profits to the charity of your choice. That way if you charge too little, you're stealing food from starving babies.

OH SNAP!

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

01/26/2012 04:30:59 PM · #41

Originally posted by Spork99:

If you feel that bad about being engaged in commerce, you can sooth your guilt by donating those "extra" profits to the charity of your choice. That way if you charge too little, you're stealing food from starving babies.

Charging too little for a product causes starving babies is the new marijuana funds terrorism I guess.

Neil

Fujifilm X-T30

01/26/2012 04:43:32 PM · #42

After a few iterations, I think I've got my own pricing working. The lesson I learned was to set pricing so that I could sync my online pricing with pricing that would work in a gallery. For canvas prints, that means selling 16x24" for $350, since they're sold "as is".

For regular prints I charge $175 for a 16x24 lustre print. That's probably still too low, but it seems fair, and a gallery can add their own markup on the framing.

So between that and $250 for a print seems fair; don't forget to charge for shipping etc. If you order from WHCC they'll drop ship it to your client for around $7.

Message edited by author 2012-01-26 16:43:48.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

01/26/2012 04:49:25 PM · #43

Originally posted by SEG:

Originally posted by Spork99:
If you feel that bad about being engaged in commerce, you can sooth your guilt by donating those "extra" profits to the charity of your choice. That way if you charge too little, you're stealing food from starving babies.

Charging too little for a product causes starving babies is the new marijuana funds terrorism I guess.

They aren't chopping heads off in Mexico over nothing.

levyj413

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon

01/26/2012 05:51:43 PM · #44

So ... wow. I went to bed last night thinking "that was a helpful little discussion" and now I come back to much more debate. :)

SEG, I took your post in the helpful tone you intended. You're actually considerably more experienced at selling prints than I am. And I think your posts since your first response have been helpful, too. My only comment to you specifically is to not devalue your shots' worth just because you're not a pro. If your shot is as good as something selling for X, then try to sell for X unless you're talking about one of a very few well-known photographers (or someone in your local area who's well-known).

I agree with the points everyone's made about valuing your work. I just think there are different ways to capitalize on that value. For some, that's money. For others, that's sheer joy that someone's enjoying your work. For still others, it could be both, depending on whether it's a corporate buyer or a friend. I'm sort of between the second and third group.

I do understand the pros' lament that when amateurs don't charge as much, the pros' livelihood is hurt. I'm sorry about that, but that doesn't mean other ways of thinking are inherently wrong.

I shoot for the love of it. Every once in a long while, I sell a print on DPCPrints (total sales: $150 or so). I know I could print my stuff and work at fairs and other means of selling, but I don't really want to. I have a job already. Printing is a decent dollar investment, and time is worth even more to me, so even if I could sell lots of prints and make a fair amount of money (not a totally farfetched concept), it's not worth it to me. I've actually used most of my DPCPrints proceeds to make prints that I donate to various charities' silent auctions.

I assume this guy plans to pay fair market price, and he picked my photo out of whatever he's seen online, so I know he likes it. That said, my goal is to sell, not price myself out of his interest. I'm comfortable with what I sent him; he hasn't responded yet.

I've heard the "3-4x production cost" suggestion before, and that's roughly where I ended up. But I also think it's appropriate to charge whatever a normal amount is, so if those two differ, go with the normal amount in that market.

Put all that in the pot, and what you get is that I'd rather lose $50 and have my print hanging up than chance him passing because I asked for too much.

Thanks again - I really appreciate all the good thinking!