pricing help request

Andy

i got this in an email from a friend, and fellow dgrinner. rather than answer him personally, i thought we could all help:

anonymous dgrinner wrote:

I need a piece of advice.
I have been requested to carry out a photography job for a musical instruments company in the USA. They liked very much the samples I sent them and advised me that if the price is right, I get the job. Now I have to send them a quote and I have absolutely no idea what is condidered as a reasonable price in the USA.

We talk about 40-50 various string instruments, 4 photos each so it's 160-200 photos altogether. The end product consists of files only (jpg + tiff) but no paper prints. Any advice would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks

Andy

there's some good info here

i'd want to know: what's the use? sales brochures? how many? website? photos for catalog? each use has it's own structure, and then it's volume and rights driven.

don't give up the rights to the photos - license them for a particular use and for a specific period of time.

mercphoto

andy wrote:

there's some good info here

i'd want to know: what's the use? sales brochures? how many? website? photos for catalog? each use has it's own structure, and then it's volume and rights driven.

I can't get to your link Andy, due to it being blocked at work. Oh well.

I can't offer personal advice on pricing, but I do have a respected book on "Pricing Photography" and would be more than glad to give ball parks. This would be assignment photography, and it would appear for print advertising as well? National? Regional? Circulation? Length of time? I can tell you, from what I know of thumbing through that price book, for 200 photos you are looking at a nice paycheck.

I suggest the person buy and study this book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1581152078/qid=1119450247/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_ur_1/002-3084487-8364802?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

gtc

buck$ for pic$
I have been researching image banks/stock photo agencies and registering with them so that I can access their pricing structures.

I am currently collecting macros and other images as most agencies won't take any notice of you unless you submit a sample of 500 photos minimum.

Pricing is either a flat rate say $500 per image on a one- off use basis or a sliding scale dependent on use-eg advertising (bigger buck$) or say small use in education(smaller buck$),what it will be displayed in (eg magazine,book etc) and circulation and also company size and turnover.These are however generic photos that have already been taken and are reused in various publications.

You may want to think about a total price for the job rather than pricing per photo.Try asking them what their budget is -you would be surprised how many people spill their guts and give you the full budget amount -it is sometimes more than you were expecting or, if more likely it is too low, you need to show them how much stock agencies charge for generic pictures as opposed to custom photographs of their products and suggest that they revisit the budget estimations.How much does a good wedding photographer charge for a days shooting? Hey Shay? Come on,how much do you charge?

How long do you think it would take to design the shoot,set it up with props and lighting (do you need to hire anything)etc,shoot and post process?You should also factor in the cost of an assistant photographer.Would there be a chance of repeat business?

Anyway,these are just some of my thoughts and I have not sold a photo yet-but I have been researching it... good luck.

G