Pricing Structure for New (Sports) Photographers
Pure Energy
Registered Users Posts: 180 Major grins
I need help pricing my photography to get prices I am comfortable with.
For me, it's easy to sell something when I know what it is worth but I am not there yet in regards to my photography. So far, I've only seen people talk about cheap or ridiculously priced photographers with little information as to what actual prices are or should be.
In other words, I'll be fine with my prices when I'm comfortable with my prices. More often than not, how can I charge x amount for a photograph when I wouldn't pay x amount whether it be a photograph of mine or of somebody else's . The point still being, how do I figure out my prices?
It's been suggested I look at my competition. Well, my competition quite frankly is what everyone else can search for on the internet or knows about in my area. So, my competition is as follows:
At one time, I thought MaxPreps was at the following prices but appears to be higher now:
How much lower can I go before I am considered a "cheap photographer," a photographer that is "bastardizing" the industry, one that people will think "he can't be a good photographer," or (insert your own rant here)? How much higher can I go before I am considered overly priced, floating on a cloud with "ridiculously" priced photos "that never sell," or (insert your own rant here)?
I don't appear to be heading towards doing volume and I don't feel comfortable eliminating 4x6s.
So, a part of pricing photos is being comfortable with my pricing from a 4x6 on up to whatever size as well as any other items I care to offer. So far, I am all over the place on prices and tend to think of what to charge for photos based off of an 8x10. Currently, I have the following tiers for 8x10s for all types of photography I shoot (not necessarily sports):
So, basing my prices off an 8x10, how does one figure out their prices for a 4x6, 5x7, 11x14, 16x20, 20x30, etc? Which method should I use:
Of course, one day I should be able to factor in my actual costs in determining prices but that still leaves many unanswered questions about how to price my photos.
I know this is a long post, so for the sake of keeping it simple: please don't post what I've said or at least try to keep it to a minimum on what I've said when replying to this post.
--- You're at the end now::barb--- I :lust for responding and Rambo :rambo suggests you don't draw first blood. ---
For me, it's easy to sell something when I know what it is worth but I am not there yet in regards to my photography. So far, I've only seen people talk about cheap or ridiculously priced photographers with little information as to what actual prices are or should be.
In other words, I'll be fine with my prices when I'm comfortable with my prices. More often than not, how can I charge x amount for a photograph when I wouldn't pay x amount whether it be a photograph of mine or of somebody else's . The point still being, how do I figure out my prices?
It's been suggested I look at my competition. Well, my competition quite frankly is what everyone else can search for on the internet or knows about in my area. So, my competition is as follows:
- MaxPreps
- every SmugMug account out there
- every sports print photo site out there
- a few local people with more overhead
- a few local people/students/hobbyists/etc.
- parents of athletes
- administrators/yearbook staff/team members
At one time, I thought MaxPreps was at the following prices but appears to be higher now:
- old price (print size) latest price
- $8 (4x6) $8
- $8 (5x7) $10
- $15 (8x10) $18
- ? (16x20) $40
How much lower can I go before I am considered a "cheap photographer," a photographer that is "bastardizing" the industry, one that people will think "he can't be a good photographer," or (insert your own rant here)? How much higher can I go before I am considered overly priced, floating on a cloud with "ridiculously" priced photos "that never sell," or (insert your own rant here)?
I don't appear to be heading towards doing volume and I don't feel comfortable eliminating 4x6s.
So, a part of pricing photos is being comfortable with my pricing from a 4x6 on up to whatever size as well as any other items I care to offer. So far, I am all over the place on prices and tend to think of what to charge for photos based off of an 8x10. Currently, I have the following tiers for 8x10s for all types of photography I shoot (not necessarily sports):
- $8 - Clubs, groups and people that hoodwink me into thinking they deserve a break
- $10 -
- $12 -
- $15 -
- $20 -
- $30 - The photos I'd like to shoot more of to post.
So, basing my prices off an 8x10, how does one figure out their prices for a 4x6, 5x7, 11x14, 16x20, 20x30, etc? Which method should I use:
- Same price up to an 8x10 because it's just as easy to print a 4x6 as it is an 8x10
- Subconsciously phase out any sizes below an 8x10 or 5x7 with prices darn close to an 8x10 or 5x7
- Figure out my prices by the square inch a print has
- How many 4x6s fit on an 8x12 and divide by that number to get my 4x6 price
- How many 8x10s fit on a 16x20 to get my 16x20 price
- Use a flat percentage markup of my actual print costs
- Use a flat dollar amount markup over my actual print costs (same markup for every size)
- Use a flat dollar amount markup over my actual print costs (adjusted by size but how?)
- Use some other method I'd love to learn about
Of course, one day I should be able to factor in my actual costs in determining prices but that still leaves many unanswered questions about how to price my photos.
I know this is a long post, so for the sake of keeping it simple: please don't post what I've said or at least try to keep it to a minimum on what I've said when replying to this post.
--- You're at the end now::barb--- I :lust for responding and Rambo :rambo suggests you don't draw first blood. ---
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Comments
I will say this: if you think you're going to drive a lot of print sales for sports from your smugmug (or other site), you are likely mistaken. web based sales need to be a secondary stream of income. Otherwise, you're going to find that 95%+ of your views don't result in sales. There are several reasons:
1) many people just like to look. They say "cool pic" and then move on. It's a cell-phone / facebook world - people want to see a photo and then move on.
2) you'll find that tech-savy teens will simply copy the image from your site - even at 'small' size, it's big enough for a cell phone or social media
3) shipping costs. Say someone wants to buy a $8x10 print - then they find out they have to pay a couple extra dollars just to have it shipped. Most online shoppers have come to expect free shipping. For people that only want to spend < $20, paying an extra 5-10% for shipping is a real turn-off.
4) you're competing with "free" from other parents. Yeah, your shots might be "better" but it needs to be SIGNIFICANTLY better for enough people to pay for it.
I suggest something completely different: Either you do major event (tournaments) and provide on-site viewing / printing or you cover either extremely young (i.e. < 10 yrs old) and create packages where they pay up front. Shooting an event, putting photos on line and waiting for sales $$ just isn't going to yield a lot of income.
Of course, a lot depends on what your business objectives are. How much time are you expecting to spend shooting? How much revenue are you expecting to generate? (and remember, with smugmug they take their cut of your profit AND automatically file 1099 so uncle sam takes his cut)
But the bottom line is: this isn't 2002 where you could run a website of sports images and make good sales because no one else had DSLR or super-zoom digicam. So, it's not just a question of what price you should charge for on-line photo purchase. At any price, your income from the site is going to be relatively small given you're a new business unless you're a savant shooter (and some people are).