Don't Justify Your Price.

jmphotocraft · February 5, 2015

Send them this article instead:

http://petapixel.com/2015/02/03/unspoken-reason-wedding-photography-expensive/

mercphoto · February 5, 2015

Excellent article and is indeed the way to "justify" your business. Look at how Apple, BMW, Mercedes justify the cost of their products, its certainly not through an accounting spreadsheet!

jonh68 · February 5, 2015

Great article. One of the hardest parts for me is pricing. I like giving good deals but I also like eating and taking care of my expenses. Photography is a luxury and isn't a need. I am not forcing them to go with me.

michaelglenn · February 7, 2015

I remember reading that article a few years ago when I started out. It's so important to stand your ground on pricing and be what you're worth. People who are willing to pay for your services at the prices you offer are the ones that appreciate your artistic eye and respect what you do.

Matthew Saville · February 10, 2015

Very well said. I was ready for it to be a bunch of nonsense about how a full-time photographer has to put their kids through college, and I was ready to strongly dispute that notion, that business model.

The bottom line is that consumers don't care if you have to put your kids through college. They don't care if you can't retire on the number of weddings you're managing to book each year, or the price you're able to charge per wedding.

That's not how supply and demand, how capitalism itself, works. If the industry trends in the direction of part-time work, because there are too many qualified pros and affordable cameras, then so be it.

But photography, especially wedding photography, will always be a relative luxury. Therefore, you're paying for a status symbol, you're paying to make a statement, even if you're the most private, "law of Jante" type person, you're still paying for a luxury.

I know that many people will respond to this saying how it's not necessarily a status symbol, it can simply be a private keepsake for future generations. To this, I would unfortunately have to respond, that uncle bob can do that job just fine. When it comes to documenting people' faces, even in a moderately artistic, creative, quality manner, ...uncle bob has got that covered.

I'm not saying you can't build a business around a simple documentary style, absolutely not. Just know that, the more you want to charge, the more you're going to be doing business with people who are spending money on, well, a luxury...

=Matt=

ian408 · February 25, 2015

It's funny. People want you to justify why things cost what they do. Unfortunately, doing so can never end the way you'd hope.

You can emphasize what's included in your packages, the personal service, etc.-it's definitely not wise to delve into the details about the cost of doing business. Make the discussion about what you're bringing to the table and how that translates into the product you deliver.

Glort · February 27, 2015

I always wondered who the ignorant twit was that came up with the stupid half baked idea of trying to explain all your costs to your clients to change their minds from your prices being expensive to them feeling in your debt and like they were getting a bargain.
I wondered even more why people even followed or advised others follow the same idiotic practice?

Who else follows this dumb justification idea?
A car dealer or a real estate agent might extoll the features of a vehicle or a property to its value but they don't try to tell you how much it costs to pay their staff or rent or how much that new bit of equipment they bought cost.

What really never fails to amaze me is how often basic business questions come up but photographers have such an aversion to learning anything about it and putting any time into to learning about basic business practices.

If they did, this stupid idea of explaining yourself would have been seen for how ridiculous a tactic it is from the start and people would have known how to sell themselves properly in the first place.

ian408 · February 27, 2015

Glort wrote: »

If they did, this stupid idea of explaining yourself would have been seen for how ridiculous a tactic it is from the start and people would have known how to sell themselves properly in the first place.

So you always pay full boat for stuff?

Matthew Saville · February 27, 2015

ian408 wrote: »

So you always pay full boat for stuff?

Well, for most things, yeah. Haggling is only acceptable in very, very few situations actually.

Hunting for deals, promotions, or discounts, is different IMO. Because photographers offer discounts, promos, and stuff all the time too.

That's different, however, from simply calling up Nikon and asking them if they can give you a $100 discount even though the rebates aren't in season. ;-)

jonh68 · February 28, 2015

I give discounts and deals to customers all the time AFTER the fact. I have found that when it comes to haggling before hand the customer is looking for the best price and I am not going to compete that way. They want a cheap price but then try to get expand the package. I do it cheaper, someone will come in and do it cheaper than that.

Matthew Saville wrote: »

Well, for most things, yeah. Haggling is only acceptable in very, very few situations actually.

Hunting for deals, promotions, or discounts, is different IMO. Because photographers offer discounts, promos, and stuff all the time too.

That's different, however, from simply calling up Nikon and asking them if they can give you a $100 discount even though the rebates aren't in season. ;-)

ian408 · February 28, 2015

Matthew Saville wrote: »

That's different, however, from simply calling up Nikon and asking them if they can give you a $100 discount even though the rebates aren't in season. ;-)

You'll never get what you don't ask for. Presented with a fee of $25 for some banking thing, I asked it be waived. They said no, I said "long time customer". A call was made and the fee waived. When I bought my car, I did use the "justify" tactic and it resulted in a pretty significant savings.

I don't always ask. And I don't always get. But one thing I know and that is if you don't ask, you won't get. That includes camera gear.

So I see where customers are coming from. How you handle that request is what matters.

Glort · March 5, 2015

ian408 wrote: »

So you always pay full boat for stuff?

I have no idea what you are talking about or how it relates to what I said.

Tom Foster · March 5, 2015

ian408 wrote: »

You'll never get what you don't ask for. Presented with a fee of $25 for some banking thing, I asked it be waived. They said no, I said "long time customer". A call was made and the fee waived. When I bought my car, I did use the "justify" tactic and it resulted in a pretty significant savings.

I don't always ask. And I don't always get. But one thing I know and that is if you don't ask, you won't get. That includes camera gear.

So I see where customers are coming from. How you handle that request is what matters.

Speaking of the 'don't ask, don't get' mentality... I had a Hitech Firecrest filter break and emailed them asking for a replacement and got one! Pretty good customer service! However if I didn't ask then I would've been a fair few quid down!

JessicaLittle · May 25, 2015

Really enjoyed the article, belated thanks for sharing.

r3t1awr3yd · May 26, 2015

Has anyone found that as they increase the quality of their work, they get asked less and less about their gear and details?

I'm one to set expectations for my B/G but darn it if it hasn't been a few years since any clients even asked about anything technically related to photography.

jonh68 · May 26, 2015

I can't remember when a client asked about gear other than wire services making sure I could handle a sporting event.

When a potential client asks more about pricing I pretty much know they are bargain hunting and will probably not get their business. The ones that ask for availability, plan b for weather, or how I handle little kids are ones that may have had a bad experience with the bargain photographers and I have a higher chance of getting them as a client. I have also found the ones that ask about pricing first thing do not spend time researching otherwise they would find the pricing info on my website. The ones that research and spend time on my website have a higher percentage of bookings and they have more specific questions, not general questions about how I do things.

I don't want to come across as snooty but I have made a decision to do this full time. I have done house painting to supplement my income when I priced my photography to be competitive on pricing. I'm tired of that. I price to make a living, not to be a hobbyist or part timer.

Don't Justify Your Price.

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