Need help with pricing....

gmonkeh

Hey guys/gals, I need some help from the established pros out there. I'm on the ground floor in getting my business started and I have one of my biggest gigs coming up this sunday.

I just built my website (http://www.reverbphotography.com) and now I'm having some issues with pricing. I just got in a tiff with my wife because of what I want to charge for prints. The pastor of the church is the guy who married my wife and I. I negotiated a decent fee of $500 flat for the church and whatever gains I make from print sales. It's going to be 200+ families and individuals.

Here's what I had in mind:
Premium Package
$59.99

12 - Wallet
2 - 3.5x5
2 - 5x7
1 - 8x10
Standard Package
$49.99

8 - Wallet
2 - 5x7
1 - 8x10
Basic Package
$29.99

4 - Wallet
1 - 8x10
Single Prints

Wallet Size (4 per set) - $10.00
3.5x5 - $7.00
4x6 - $5.00
5x7 - $12.00
8x10 - $25.00
Large Print 11x14 -$50.00

I thought this was a reasonable pricing package, and I actually feel like I'm low balling myself. Cause of all the time needed to shoot 200+ people wear and tear on my camera and gear, and the time to process each photo.

This will also open up a huge door for me in terms of this Pastor's connections, he said if all goes well he'll refer all of his pastor friends to me in the future. What my thought's are if I charge cheap now any return customers I get from these sessions will expect me to be that "cheap" photographer. I feel like my work is up to par with a lot of the local area photographers and in some cases even better.

Sorry for the long winded post, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

OneWayMule

If you decide to shoot this for the said price, you should be upfront and mention (or even write in the contract) that this is a ONE-TIME introduction price. They, even the pastor, would have to pay the normal price after that.

Think of it this way:

Tiffany's doesnt sell jewelry or Mercedes cars, they sell ideas - ideas of quality, prestige, distinction etc. Its the intangible part thats the key.
Same with a photographer but you have to get up to that level where youre not simply selling pictures.
Set a fair and competitive price now but build up to a quality where you can charge a premium and people will pay.

urbanaries

Your prices aren't more than Target/JCPenney studios, so if your wife thinks you're better than that (I'm sure she does) then why should you charge less?

FWIW, the bio on your site doesn't sell. You sound like you're making excuses for yourself "I found myself being a paid photographer", "I make no claims to be a great photographer".....

if you don't think your talents are worth anything, then no one else is going to either. You have a slick website and a start to a nice gallery of photographs. don't sell yourself so short.

If you were in a job interview would you say "I know I didn't go to the best school, but some people think I might be able to do the job"?

kapalua

Your website
I know you didn't ask this, but I would redesign your website when you get a chance. Just waaay too many words. You can't even tell it is a photographer's site unless you read the words. For inspiration, check these out:

www.matthewklein.com
www.plattphotography.com
www.karlischphotography.com

Your photos are much better than your site - they deserve more!
good luck to you,
-Larry

Laurence Kim Photography
Seattle Wedding Photographer

gmonkeh

I cant really justify paying someone else to build me a website when I'm able to do it myself. To be honest you're the first one who's said anything bad about the site. I've seen those photographer's flash websites and you see one you've seen the rest, cause the'yre all the same. Though I took your advice and cut down on the wordiness and im gonna implement my slideshows in a different way.

Thanks for the input guys.