To Post Prices or Not to Post Prices

chuckinsocal

Hi Gang,

I've finally worked out some standard fees and prices for my projects.

Are there any professional opinions out there as to whether to post those prices on my web site where people can see them up front, or not to post prices and hope that people will actually contact me for a quote if they are interested?

As in anything else, there are advantages and disadvantages to each, but I'm not sure which outweighs which. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

DrDavid

Post prices. But, post them in a matter-of-fact way. Don't make excuses or appologize for prices.

Something like this works well:

At ABC Photo, we work hard to offer photos that are of very high quality. We offer a 100% guarantee that you'll love your photos, or we'll reprint or refund your order immediately--your choice!

Our pricing is as follows:

4x6 = $10
5x7 = $15
8x12 = $25

...etc

YMMV, but, that's pretty much how my pricing page is laid out. I also include workflow (the fact that everything is calibrated... Camera, monitors, scanners, printers, etc..), and that each photo is hand-edited to ensure it looks perfect.

David

Scott_Quier

- put them out there. Many people shop on the internet (D'oh). Putting the prices up is one way to eliminate unqualified price shoppers, thus saving you a bunch of time.

chuckinsocal

Thanks Guys ...
That's the way I was leaning, but I wanted to make sure I hadn't overlooked something.

Now for the really <em> really </em> big question: Can I upload and display a PDF document or do I have to retype the whole schedule on a page on my site? Maybe I can convert a PDF to a jpg. I'll play around with it and see.

And why didn't my HTML tags work? Dang!

Thanks again.

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

darkdragon

chuckinsocal wrote:

That's the way I was leaning, but I wanted to make sure I hadn't overlooked something.

Now for the really <em> really </em> big question: Can I upload and display a PDF document or do I have to retype the whole schedule on a page on my site? Maybe I can convert a PDF to a jpg. I'll play around with it and see. <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/headscratch.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" >

And why didn't my HTML tags work? <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/headscratch.gif&quot; border="0" alt="" > Dang!

Thanks again.

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

First: please post prices - it might scare some off (but they would have tried to low-ball anyway), but seriously it's for the better. Personally I will not consider doing business with a website that is not upfront with pricing - and most of my friends/relatives are the same way.

Second: You gotta use BBEdit code for the forum, not HTML code. Basically you just use [ and ] instead of < and > (basically).

Third: You can include the PDF as an object in an HTML iframe instead of typing it all out again. Another option is to copy/paste if you have Acrobat and not just Reader.

DrDavid

darkdragon wrote:

Third: You can include the PDF as an object in an HTML iframe instead of typing it all out again. Another option is to copy/paste if you have Acrobat and not just Reader.

Personally, I *hate* having to open a PDF to see something that could have JUST have easily been viewed as HTML. I browse a lot on my PocketPC Phone, and opening a PDF is a major pain.. It'd probably mean that I'd just skip your site over.

Retype it. It won't take you that long.

David

chuckinsocal

Thanks again ...
I guess I gotta watch my <>'s and []'s on the forum. No prob and thanks for the tip.

I do have Adobe 8 Pro so I'll try to figure out what an iframe is and how to use it.

I wasn't intending to have people open an pdf file. I just want to display it already opened, like an image. I hate opening pdfs too.

Back to work I go ..

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

denisegoldberg

chuckinsocal wrote:

I wasn't intending to have people open an pdf file. I just want to display it already opened, like an image. I hate opening pdfs too.

I know I've seen some pricing pages that look like someone took a snap of a pdf and posted it. I find that they are usually difficult to read, and they don't fit in with the site well. I would be much happier seeing a simple html-only page showing the prices.

--- Denise

chuckinsocal

Thanks Denise ...
I've successfully converted the pdf to a jpg in Acrobat 8 Pro and have it uploaded. Now I'm trying to display it. I need to go find the tut on how to link to an image 'cause I totally forgot how to do that. I think I wanna put the link in some of my gallery descriptions and see how, or even if, that works.

If it doesn't display well I'll go the html route. Then I'll have to deal with formatting issues, won't I?

Work work work work work work work ...

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

chuckinsocal

It's Done ...
I had to resort to the HTML thing but it wasn't that bad once I got into it.

If you want to have a look, it's <a href="http://chuckinsocal.smugmug.com/gallery/4303284_voN39">here</a&gt;

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

denisegoldberg

chuckinsocal wrote:

I had to resort to the HTML thing but it wasn't that bad once I got into it.

If you want to have a look, it's <a href="http://chuckinsocal.smugmug.com/gallery/4303284_voN39">here</a&gt;

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

Chuck -
Looks good. If you want to remove the share button and the "this is a brand new gallery with no photos" from that gallery, add the following to your CSS:

.gallery_4303284 .nophotos,
.gallery_4303284 .share_button
{
display: none;
}

--- Denise

MJRPHOTO

chuckinsocal wrote:

I had to resort to the HTML thing but it wasn't that bad once I got into it.

If you want to have a look, it's <a href="http://chuckinsocal.smugmug.com/gallery/4303284_voN39">here</a&gt;

Chuck Cannova
http://chuckinsocal.SmugMug.com

Chuck,
Your work is great. But your prices are to low, at the least you should double them. Think BIG

JDub

I went through this same thing. I posted them, I didnt, I posted them, I didnt. It was 3 years of hell, until...

Not Posting Prices
-I had tons of emails and phone calls, yes, but the close rate was only 5%. People either didnt return my calls or emails after I gave them a quote. It got frustrating.

Posting Proces
-you pre qualify the buyer, all the bad news is out of the way
-they wont try to low ball you
-everyone (mostly) that contacts you, is now considered a "hot lead" and the close rate for sales on this now is about 95%.

I would post them. It worked for us in sales, and booking.