Can you give me your opinion on my pricing?

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

06/25/2010 10:33:58 AM · #1

Hello all. So I have buckled down and set my prices and all that but would like you to look it over and give me your thoughts. See if the wording is done OK and all seems professional. Any advice or thoughts is greatly appreciated. The other photogs in my area are all over the place in their pricing and whatnot but it seems I will be significantly higher then the Sears/Walmart portraits but am mostly in the middle for others around here. Of course there are numerous $20 photogs here giving away the rights and all for nothing but their quality reflects that. So here is what I have written up....

Thanks to the advice given by

skip I went back and spent the past several days working on this and would love your thoughts.

PORTRAITS: Families, Children, Couples, Engagements, Models, Pets, Maternity and Newborns

Packages:

Bronze $175
One Hour Photo Session on Location
One 8x10 Pro Lab Print
Four 5x7 Pro Lab Prints
Eight Wallet prints, all one pose
Additional Prints available A La Carte

Silver $250
Two Hour Photo Session on Location
One 11x14 Pro Lab Print
Two 8x10 Pro Lab Prints
Six 5x7 Pro Lab Prints
Sixteen Wallet Prints, Two Poses

Gold $350
Two Hour Photo Session on Location
One 11x14 Pro Lab Print
Four 8x10 Pro Lab Prints
Eight 5x7 Pro Lab Prints
Twenty-Four Wallet Prints, Three Poses

Diamond $700
Four Hour Photo Session
Two 11x14 Pro Lab Prints
Four 8x10 Pro Lab Prints
Twelve 5x7 Pro Lab Prints
Thirty-Two Wallets, Four Poses
Hardcover Coffee Table Style Photo Book
Cd of Prints with Rights

Party Time: Birthdays, Reunions, Showers, Anniversaries
*These will be mostly candid shots and not posed.

The Party Package $300
Two Hours of Coverage at your Venue
Cd with Rights

Keepsakes Party $400
Three Hours Coverage at your Venue
Cd with Rights
Hardcover Coffee Table Style Photo Book

A La Carte

Additional Hour of Shooting â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦ $100
Locations More then 30 miles from Lynchburg â�¦ $50 per every additional 30 miles
5x7 Prints â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦ $15
8x10 Prints â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦ $30
11x14 Prints â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦ $50
Sheet (eight shots, one pose) of Wallets â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦ $15
Hardcover Coffee Table Style Photo Book â�¦â�¦â�¦ $150
For Metallic Prints add â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦â�¦ $5 per print
Larger Sizes and Canvas Prints also Available

Call or email to book your Session of a lifetime.

Message edited by author 2010-06-29 08:26:30.

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

06/25/2010 11:07:59 AM · #2

you'll never make enough money with those prices and those session fees to do this full time (assuming that's the intention).

otherwise, your prices are undercutting the established pros, which will put you in this club:

what you need to find a freelance rate calculator and then open up excel and start playing with the numbers as to what you will have to charge for a session and how much you'll have to charge for prints in order to make it worth it. read all the post in this thread about pricing an 8x10.

yes, you have to take market conditions into consideration, but, if you have quality imagery, people will pay for it. it's just a matter of how you want to be perceived and which peer group you want to be associated with. sure, there are a number of past-their-prime pros who whine and moan about eroding market share without doing what it takes to stay on top (they might even resort to rude emails); all the same, there are a lot of established pros who built their businesses and work hard to maintain their businesses that do not enjoy rubbing elbows with those undermining the profession by essentially giving it away.

unless, of course, it is your intention to market only to those who can only afford the pricing you're offering...

eta: removed broken link to freelanceswitch.com's freelance rate calculator

Message edited by author 2010-09-19 06:04:55.

06/25/2010 11:24:54 AM · #3

Thanks Skip. I thought the prices were low but even with the calculators I am finding difficulty choosing pricing. I know what I need to make hourly to break even and How much to charge to make a profit but now I am stuck on where and how to implement that in my pricing. Do I charge a more significant session fee and a bit more on prints? Do I move the session fee up just a bit and price my prints where I really think they should be? I guess the main thing is session fees or prints or should I scrap that and setup a packages from a base to bells and whistles and also have a la carte pricing for additional prints?

eta, I am def not trying to undercut anyone. I have a couple very successful friends in the business and I have actually referred clients to one of them for a wedding as I was not setup or comfortable shooting a wedding at that time. I will let the quality speak for itself but even with the books and articles and calulators I am finding pricing to be one of the most difficult things.

Thank you for those links, the one on your site as well as the one breaking down the costs of an 8x10 were excellent reads.

Message edited by author 2010-06-25 12:15:16.

06/29/2010 08:27:37 AM · #4

So i edited my original post after redoing my pricing and packages and would love your thoughts on the packages, prints, wording and all that good stuff. Anything to add? Delete? Reword?

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II

06/29/2010 11:09:01 AM · #5

bump please

toddhead

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

06/29/2010 02:06:35 PM · #6

Hi, I am going to pop my head in here and give my opinion. Please understand that what I am about to type isn't intended to be hurtful or harsh, just an honest assessment. That being said...

I looked at your site and (I am going to sound like a major d-bag here) didn't see anything that really sets you apart from the "$20" guys you are talking about. I think before you start jumping into charging these mid level fees you need to build up your portfolio and maybe work towards finding your style. If you look through your samples they are mostly shots of the same boy and girl, so your portfolio looks more like a family photo album. Maybe you can do some free shots for some family or friends to get your portfolio built up a little. Offer to shoot a birthday/bachelorette party or go to a bar/club and offer to do some shots that will help build your event portfolio. Maybe find a local band to take shots of or make a post on craigslist offering free shots, but in your choice of style/location.

If you look around at most successful portrait photographers you will see they all have some type of "go to" style. I think by offering up to do some free shoots you would be able to work towards finding what type of shots and processing you like.

I guess in the end it really comes down to what you think your shots are worth. Do you think you can provide shots that are worth what you are charging? If so, then charge whatever you want. If you have the talent, which you do, then you will have the customers no matter what you charge.

With all that being said, I am just some hump who doesn't really know anything so please take what I say with a grain of salt and know that it was not said in malice. I just wanted to give the same opinion I would give to a friend if they asked me.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

06/29/2010 02:20:37 PM · #7

Originally posted by jminso:

So i edited my original post after redoing my pricing and packages and would love your thoughts on the packages, prints, wording and all that good stuff. Anything to add? Delete? Reword?

I wonder if you're really allowing enough time for post-work.. Especially on that pack with the book... You're going to lose your a$$ on the editing there I suspect...

06/29/2010 02:22:35 PM · #8

Originally posted by toddhead:

I completely understand what you are saying. I actually have been collecting a fairly decent portfolio and the shots are quite far removed from what I have on my site. I am working on updating my site now (hopefully have everything up and running in 3-4 weeks) and it will be streamlined with my more professional looking work, and a much wider variety. I am looking for input on the pricing so that can be put on the new site when it goes live. Right now most of my stuff (almost all of the newer stuff) is on my computer at home and some recent stuff is on my facebook. Sadly I have not touched my site in 4-5 months. I may look at doing smugmug just so it is easier to update and I don't need to spend weeks trying to update it as I am not all that html savy.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

06/29/2010 02:26:10 PM · #9

Originally posted by coryboehne:

Originally posted by jminso:
So i edited my original post after redoing my pricing and packages and would love your thoughts on the packages, prints, wording and all that good stuff. Anything to add? Delete? Reword?

I wonder if you're really allowing enough time for post-work.. Especially on that pack with the book... You're going to lose your a$$ on the editing there I suspect...

I was going with the base line of 2 hours per 1 hour shoot, so a 1 hour shoot would take 3 hours including post. The book may throw a kink in that since I have only done one and not completely sure on the timeframe to do it. I tried to average everything out to be around $40-$60 per hour with $50 being my goal for what I want to make. I could always make a book for one of my last collections to see what kind of time I am really looking at with it thoug.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

06/29/2010 02:27:51 PM · #10

Originally posted by jminso:

Originally posted by coryboehne:

Originally posted by jminso:
So i edited my original post after redoing my pricing and packages and would love your thoughts on the packages, prints, wording and all that good stuff. Anything to add? Delete? Reword?

I wonder if you're really allowing enough time for post-work.. Especially on that pack with the book... You're going to lose your a$$ on the editing there I suspect...

I was going with the base line of 2 hours per 1 hour shoot, so a 1 hour shoot would take 3 hours including post. The book may throw a kink in that since I have only done one and not completely sure on the timeframe to do it. I tried to average everything out to be around $40-$60 per hour with $50 being my goal for what I want to make. I could always make a book for one of my last collections to see what kind of time I am really looking at with it thoug.

I would strongly recommend that...

Also notice that the difference in price between the two packs is $100... What's your printing cost on that book? Clearly, I don't think you can edit it in 45 minutes... At least not well..

06/29/2010 02:30:38 PM · #11

Originally posted by coryboehne:

Originally posted by jminso:

Originally posted by coryboehne:

Originally posted by jminso:
So i edited my original post after redoing my pricing and packages and would love your thoughts on the packages, prints, wording and all that good stuff. Anything to add? Delete? Reword?

I wonder if you're really allowing enough time for post-work.. Especially on that pack with the book... You're going to lose your a$$ on the editing there I suspect...

I was going with the base line of 2 hours per 1 hour shoot, so a 1 hour shoot would take 3 hours including post. The book may throw a kink in that since I have only done one and not completely sure on the timeframe to do it. I tried to average everything out to be around $40-$60 per hour with $50 being my goal for what I want to make. I could always make a book for one of my last collections to see what kind of time I am really looking at with it thoug.

I would strongly recommend that...

Also notice that the difference in price between the two packs is $100... What's your printing cost on that book? Clearly, I don't think you can edit it in 45 minutes... At least not well..

Good point. I actually kinda threw the "party" prices together quickly. I spent a lot of time on the other ones and guess I just did the party one as a cast off almost.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

06/29/2010 02:32:10 PM · #12

Originally posted by toddhead:

With all that being said, I am just some hump who doesn't really know anything so please take what I say with a grain of salt and know that it was not said in malice. I just wanted to give the same opinion I would give to a friend if they asked me.

I wouldn't say you are a hump, I did a quick look at some of your stuff and it is quite nice. I would def value your opinion.

Strikeslip

Canon EOS-5D

06/29/2010 02:53:32 PM · #13

I charge extra if I have to massage the ego of an insecure woman:

$20 "Your hair looks great!"
$30 "Makeup? You don't need any makeup, baby!"
$50 "Those jeans make your ass look awesome!"

For a happy ending, it's $200 extra.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

06/29/2010 02:55:48 PM · #14

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

lmao

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

06/29/2010 02:58:57 PM · #15

Originally posted by Strikeslip:

And the best part is, he actually offers a discount on the same services for elderly men... Quite nice of him don't you think? ;)

(Why do I have a feeling I will pay for this later.. ;) )

Message edited by author 2010-06-29 14:59:12.