Hi, how much to sell?

IBWO

Hi all,

I'm new here, but I did just get a smugmug gallery. I specialize in birds. http://www.swnaturephotography.com/ Anyway, my main question today is how much should I sell my pictures for based on their quality (not that I am saying they are any good or bad)? I want to sell them low enough so they will sell, but not too low, you know. Forgive me if I am in the wrong place with the wrong questions. Thanks,

Sean

sirsloop

thats what everyone wants to know

I personally sell my prints a lot cheaper than most pro's. It encourages multiple print sales, more happy customers cause they get more bang for the buck, and more events I get invited to. In the last two months I've sold over 300 prints, and I've only had four sales where there was only one item purchased. You can make the argument that a dollar or two more wont make a difference in the amount of sales, but I think it does. I want my customers to buy a crap load of prints and be so happy they got them cheap that they will tell everyone about it and buy more! I shoot just on the weekend when im not working, and simply enjoy making a few bucks while enjoying a nice sunny day outside. Its like getting paid to own a camera and relax

Then again, I read this article online about pricing. The author mentioned that by him raising prices significantly, he pushed away the hagglers and attracted a lot of people that are willing to pay for good art. You can't really haggle with price on smugmug though... it is what it is unless they email or call you With your type of shooting, im just gonna take a stab at it and guess that you won't see many crazy orders just because of the nature of the shot. Its much easier to sell 20 prints of someones child to them, then of a bird. Don't take it the wrong way or anything cause I love your shots... just the way it is.

hey! what do ya know! Cornell!! My parents moved to Ithaca on the west hill about 6 years back... I was at the Sapsucker Woods park a few months ago and even saw a few birds myself! Redwing black birds were always my favorite growing up for some reason...

RKeaton

I can't really answer your question, but just wanted to say your images are very good! You came off as quite humble in your post, which is nice, but your shots are great. How about this one, just as one example:

http://www.swnaturephotography.com/gallery/1851210/2/93020002

Anyway as far as pricing I recommend you just browse as many similar photogapher's portfolios as you can and get an idea of what they're all charging and set your prices accordingly. It should be too hard.

Keep up the great work.

mercphoto

IBWO wrote:

Hi all,

I'm new here, but I did just get a smugmug gallery. I specialize in birds. http://www.swnaturephotography.com/ Anyway, my main question today is how much should I sell my pictures for based on their quality

One question about the quality part is why do you have such a range of image sizes? One beautiful bird was only 1142 by 1428 pixels (just over 1.6 million pixels).

As per your pricing, it depends entirely upon your intended market. If you are hoping for random passer-by's to purchase your photos then your price will need to be much less than if trying to sell to a bird lover, or a magazine or book, or... you get the idea.

Great pics,by the way.

LouBuonomo

Sean,

Bird photos are very hard to sell. Probably the hardest prints to move.. better at shows and fairs but tough on the web unless you have a following like Artie Morris etc... Mags & print devoted to birders are better but tough to break into since there are so many great bird photographers out there.

You have some really nice stuff. The Royal Terns are nice. I would suggest hanging on some more specific Nature sites like PhotoMigrations and NatureScapes.net

Good Luck !
Lou

IBWO

Wow, thanks everyone. You all were a tremendous help. In my gallery, pictures somewhat regularly sell for $20 for an 8x10 print, on average, about 2 a week. I sell my 11x14s for $35, and framed pictures for $75-90, so I didn't know how to adjust to online. I will have to look at other galleries, though. Thanks,

karkar

You have some very nice pictures Sean. : Having given a stab at nature photography myself I can only admire your dedication. I normally give my clients a 20% discount because Smugmug doesnt' offer textured finish or protective coating, which I provide on all my studio prints. Also, online orders really simplify my workflow.

You might also want to consider offering digital uploads at a premium. You are selling a copyright release, so charging a premium is justifiable. If you tag your pictures correctly perhaps wou'll find that they sell well for online usage.

Anyway, welcome to Smugmug. I've been using it for almost a year and I have to say they do a great job. Hope you like it just as much.

IBWO wrote:

Wow, thanks everyone. You all were a tremendous help. In my gallery, pictures somewhat regularly sell for $20 for an 8x10 print, on average, about 2 a week. I sell my 11x14s for $35, and framed pictures for $75-90, so I didn't know how to adjust to online. I will have to look at other galleries, though. Thanks,