HELP! Senior Portrait Gig pricing...too much?

Candid Arts

So I shot my first paid senior portrait gig this last Thursday. He was a friend of my cousins, and my cousin told him to contact me for his senior portraits as I shot my cousin's last year.

So for this shoot, I charged a flat rate of $250. Which included 2 hours of shooting, about 90 miles of driving (there and back), I'd say about 6 hours of editing/uploading, and a private online gallery. It clearly states on my site that prints, enlargements, and digital downloads are available for purchase through my site. I told the mom and son before the shoot started again, that all that is separate and can be bought through the site. I decided to throw in one free digital copy of any photo they chose. The kid called me 2 weeks before his graduation, we shot Thursday, he graduates Tuesday, so everything was short notice.

Knowing all that, would you expect $250 to include prints or digital files? Is $250 too much to charge with no digital files or prints included? Should I include some stuff for him? Granted he wants about 100 wallets and needs them by Tuesday, I can't do it through my site anyways because no way I would get them to him in time (his fault obviously since he contacted me so late).

What do you think I should do? He called me tonight asking about all this, and I told him I would give him a discount on any prints or digital downloads, but even at that point he still had a rather pissed off tone to his voice. He said he was going to talk with his mom (and dad I'm guessing) about it all and get back to me. He needs one digital file by tomorrow (Monday) for the year book, which was gonna be the one I was going to give him for free, but otherwise hasn't made any decisions.

Thanks for any help.

The Mack

Given how cheap prints are, I would expect at least some smaller sizes included in the $250.

Candid Arts

The Mack wrote:

Given how cheap prints are, I would expect at least some smaller sizes included in the $250.

Thanks for the reply.

So for example...? 1 8x10, 2 5x7, 2 4x6?

Either way this ends up going, I can't get him wallets by tuesday, again, obviously because he was so late in the game in contacting me.

So what would you say for digital downloads?

Gary752

If he needs prints in that short of time, you could always go to one of the 1 hour photo centrers like CVS or Wal-Mart. I know that on the Kodak machines you can get 9 wallets on one 8"x10". Another option is to put all his photos on a CD, and give him a copyright release to make the prints himself. When you make the lable for the CD, make sure you include your name or studio name on there. Also make sure you watermark each photo. The 1 hour photo centers will see the watermark and then ask for the copyright release, before they will allow the customer to take the photos. Some studios now include the CD in the initial price, but charge extra for the copyright release. I am guessing that they are hoping to discourage the customer from making their own prints and buy them from them.

Art Scott

as far as the wallets.....you have at least one pro printer in portland, I would think......however to do a 24 hour turnaround it will around a 150% to 300% + to the actual cost of the print job.......
Wall Mart does wallets....upload thru the internet and get the wallets.........it sound like you got one of those it doesn't matter what you do it won't be good enuff......give him the one digital file and wash your hands of it.......
Make sure to get your contracts uploadable by email to prospects like this and send it to them and have them signit add their drivers license # and tic a box that states this is in leiu of my hand written signature....blah, blah, blah and so on on..................

Candid Arts

Thanks Art, great tips. Problem with me printing the photos at a 1-hour shop or a pro printer in portland is that he needs them by tuesday, more likely in his hand by monday, I'm at work all day monday, and he lives 45 miles away. Even then me shipping them to him wouldn't get there 'till wednesday probably. I think the best bet for wallets is to sell him digital downloads from my site, and he can take them to the wal greens near his house to print them himself. Right now I'm charging him $30 for a low res digital download, and $60 for a high rez digital download. First of all, is that too much to be able to print his photos how ever many times he wants? Secondly, I told him I would give him a discount on the downloads, with that I would only ask for $15 and $30, per photo obviously. Is that ridiculous?

msf

Candid Arts wrote:

Thanks Art, great tips. Problem with me printing the photos at a 1-hour shop or a pro printer in portland is that he needs them by tuesday, more likely in his hand by monday, I'm at work all day monday, and he lives 45 miles away. Even then me shipping them to him wouldn't get there 'till wednesday probably. I think the best bet for wallets is to sell him digital downloads from my site, and he can take them to the wal greens near his house to print them himself. Right now I'm charging him $30 for a low res digital download, and $60 for a high rez digital download. First of all, is that too much to be able to print his photos how ever many times he wants? Secondly, I told him I would give him a discount on the downloads, with that I would only ask for $15 and $30, per photo obviously. Is that ridiculous?

Since you told them ahead of time that there was no prints involved in the $250 package, I wouldnt include any. If you give them free stuff, the next person that hires you that has talked to them will expect the free prints as well, and you have devalued your services. Also the 50% discount seems a bit much, especially since it was his fault for contacting you so late. Since you already offered a discount, perhaps 10%? If he wants them by tuesday, I would give him 2 options, for him to come to you on monday to pick them up, or for him to pay for over night shipping. Or a 3rd option, get them when ever they arrive by regular mail, he should have contacted you earlier.

As for digital downloads, figure what you could make on each file in prints, and charge that? You will be loosing any chance of print sales if you give them a digital download. $60 sounds good to me.

All this is highly subjective to what you want to make, and what your community can support. One person living in the rich part of NYC can probably charge 100x that and have business, while someone in rural ohio might be lucky to get that much.

bob swanson

Why allow him to make his problem yours. He was the one dragging his feet. Have him make the effort to pick up the reprints. Also the fact that you gave them prices and all of the details. You probably aren't going to see this customer again. Stick to your guns and don't give away the shop.

Candid Arts wrote:

Thanks Art, great tips. Problem with me printing the photos at a 1-hour shop or a pro printer in portland is that he needs them by tuesday, more likely in his hand by monday, I'm at work all day monday, and he lives 45 miles away. Even then me shipping them to him wouldn't get there 'till wednesday probably. I think the best bet for wallets is to sell him digital downloads from my site, and he can take them to the wal greens near his house to print them himself. Right now I'm charging him $30 for a low res digital download, and $60 for a high rez digital download. First of all, is that too much to be able to print his photos how ever many times he wants? Secondly, I told him I would give him a discount on the downloads, with that I would only ask for $15 and $30, per photo obviously. Is that ridiculous?

Candid Arts

bob swanson wrote:

Why allow him to make his problem yours. He was the one dragging his feet. Have him make the effort to pick up the reprints. Also the fact that you gave them prices and all of the details. You probably aren't going to see this customer again. Stick to your guns and don't give away the shop.

Thanks bob. I already told him what I'm going to give him. It's gonna cost me $16 including shipping, so not a huge loss to hopefully make them a happy(ier) customer. They apparently need the one copy for the yearbook today, and I still haven't heard anything yet from them. We'll see how this goes.