setting prices??

coltphotography · March 25, 2010

now i know what i want to charge for the basics (4x6, 5x7, 8x10).

how do you decide how to mark up all the other stuff?? just by %? if not, how do you keep it all consistant?

Wil Davis · March 25, 2010

Welcome to DGPF!

Try checking a few other sites to see what other folks are charging, and use that as a starting point. You might also check some of the other threads on what to charge ("search" is your friend).

Good Luck!

- Wil

coltphotography · March 25, 2010

thanks wil,

between the forums, my site and the other sites, my kids are yelling "mom, when we gonna eat?". i have spent so much time reading i feel like i am back in college. lotsa good stuff!

i go looking for one thing, see something else that spikes my interest and then...i am off in another direction.

Wil Davis · March 25, 2010

coltphotography wrote:

snip...
i go looking for one thing, see something else that spikes my interest and then...i am off in another direction.

...ah, that's The Curse of The Web!

- Wil

johnmireles · March 27, 2010

Use your costs as a minimum as to what you should charge. Figure your costs should not exceed 30% of the selling price of the print. But that's just the floor. The actual price that you can and should charge is determined by what the client is willing to pay.

That's always a tough thing to figure out. Look at what the competition is selling similar work for. (Don't pretend to be a client - that just pisses people off.) Experiment with your pricing. You can always raise or lower your prices to see what works.

I don't know what kind of work you're selling. Pricing for kids portraits is completely different from wedding prints which is different from fine art sales. One thing to keep in mind that sometimes price isn't the most important factor as to whether a client will buy. Depending on what you're selling, a client is as likely to pay $100 as they are $50. Once the client makes the decision to buy, price isn't always that important.

Good luck!

John

MadisonPhotography · March 28, 2010

pricing
I believe the worst thing you can do is price yourself too low. Once people get comfortable with paying $5 for a 4x6 it's hard to get them up to where they should be.

I offer 4x6's only as a necessity because they are such a common size. Depending on your work and market you may or may not want to exclude them. Offering them doesn't mean you need to give them away. Nuts to the Walmart, Target or Costco pricing discussion you may get sucked into.

I explain to people that the equipment I use, the knowledge and skill I utilize and the time spent learning more all comes at a price. The person that wants the $1 4x6 is never going to be your main customer, or at least your main money making customer...

NostalgicDad · March 28, 2010

To echo a bit of what MadisonPhotography said.....I also don't typically make available 4x6 prints unless it is a specific enough event that I know is needed by either parents or kids. For more serious work, I leave those off the table. As an example, I occasionally shoot bike races and there are lots of cyclists who also own cameras and provide a link to their galleries of the shots they got while not racing. The prices they offer are nearly comical they are so low, including allowing the purchase of the original file for next to nothing. But, there is no way to compete against that. So, I just price my stuff as I value my own work and let it go from there. I've had complaints that the prices are too high while, a few minutes later, an order for a $50 4mp download comes through. There's no way to please everyone with your prices so I want to only be concerned with those customers who see value in things.

And, as far as the Costco, Walmart, etc print price discussions go.......When asked, I just tell those looking for the cheap way out that Costco, Walmart, etc wasn't out there shooting for 7 hours or so with thousands of dollars of equipment, using their creativity to make the images.

But, it still all depends on the type of shoot you do, and the market you are in that will set the tone for your prices. Lots of variable at play when asking how to set prices.

setting prices??

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