To sell or not to sell.. that is the question

[pippin]

So I've been doing dog agility shows and I just got an email from a customer that wants to know if I would sell her a CD of the images.

Here's the thing - because I generally prefer to have control over my images and final output of the image I'm reluctant to give her a price - but if I do decide to say that I would sell her a CD with a release, how would you price it? There's 130 images in total and I am not too sure just what to price the CD at.

Considering my average sale so far from this particular event has been around $150 I'm not too sure.

To give you an idea on what I charge for this event since each customer has ordered more than one size this is my discounted rate. Regular rate is in parentheses:

5x7 = $20 ($25)
8x10 - $35 ($45)
11x14 - $50 ($60)
16x20 - $75 ($90)

So if I were to say yes to this person, how much do you think I should charge. I know why she wants to do it - she wants to be able to print the pictures at wolf/walgreens/walmart/target or wherever. My issue with it is that I was total control over final output of the images presented to the client, since after all, who wants to have bad looking photos representing them because the lab screwed it all up?

Or do I offer it to her and tell her that I would recommend a certain lab to go to, or tell her to come to the lab that I work at so I have final output of the images?

-- Lisa

[texxter]

My business model allows the sale of digital images or prints, in addition to my creative fees. My pricing is per file and depends on the resolution. As an example, if the customer really wants 130 digital files, my pricing would be 130*$2 + $20 CD charge = $280 for low resolution, and 130*$10 + $20 DVD charge = $1,320 for a CD with full resolution images. By pricing per file I expect the client to buy only the ones they really want.

I don't worry about the quality of the client's prints because they could scan a print and send it to walmart and it would look even worse. I just can't control what the customer does with a print or a digital file, so might as well make money. Other photographers feel that giving a file is never an option, so you'll get all kinds of opinions on this.

[paul48503]

Sure sell her the CD but in slide show form. That way she can't print the images. This way you will still maintain the control. Not sure If I would sell to her if she plans on duplicating images at walgreens because of quality. Remember this reflects your work and if you give her the control of your images you have nothing.....If this is a custiomer that orders frequently give her a discount on images printed by you only if she orders frequently. Atleast the quality will represent your work.

[TxManx]

This is something I've struggled with as well - although I've never really launched my business (per se)...

Finally, I've just decided that SmugMug was the best option (alternatives exist).

It allows for paid for downloading of 'web quality' images (with watermarks or without), and allows for pricing by gallery (event).

A 4x6 through SmugMug is only 19c for a color corrected, Bay Labs print...granted, it's not the 5c mass discount you can get at Walgreens, but it does provide you with control over how the finished product looks... From there, you can apply your markup to what you feel is comfortable.

I finally decided that if a client/customer really wanted the picture I had taken, then they would pay the markup.

[pbyd]

As those who know me will tell you, I will sale anything for the right price. Images in printable format with rights to print are the same price as my 8x10 images, if the client wants to print they can scan you 8x10 and it will look worst than your printable file. A straight 8x10 with no digital work is 65.00 as would be a digital file. If an image has photoshop work the price is 165.00. I have had no problem selling at that price, I know photographers that get 435.00 for a straight 8x10 image, so my prices are low.
Keep shooting and making money,
Wayne

[Brains]

Not everyone buys the files to simply skirt a photographers prints. For example, we hired a photographer for our wedding and paid for the rights to the images in digital format. Why? Well first and foremost so we have a complete archive of all of our wedding images. 20 years from now, what happens when you want more prints, or prints of images you didn't originally purchase? *crickets chirping* Second, we purchased the rights so we could re-purpose images in other formats (personal website, for example). We still purchased printed prints, albums, photo books, etc. from the photographer, because that's a very large portion of how we chose that particular shooter in the first place. Getting a good snap is only part of the picture (hah, pun!). The post processing is an art form too.