Pricing for Prints - is mine too high?

[kikiluv]

Hi everyone. I am new to the biz and I am just getting started charging for my time. I created a price list for prints for my friend who was interested in having some portraits done of her and her little 2 yr old.

I quoted her $50 off my family port rate of $150 which would include one 8x10 and online viewing. These are the print prices I included:

4x6 $20.00
5x7 $30.00
8x10 $40.00
8x12 $40.00
11x14 $60.00
16x20 $100.00
20x24 $130.00
20x30 $175.00

Are these prices too high? It feels like she is backing out of the session now that she has seen the prices. Saying she doesn't want to pay that much.

Your feedback and advice is greatly appreciated.
Here is my flickr link in case you need to see my work to verify quality.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/travelobsession/

Thanks,
Kristi

[ldelacruz]

Too some people anything is going to be high. You can't please them all. I think your prices are good and in line. There is a lady in my area that charges $185 for an 8X10 and her min package is $750 with a $600 sitting for 30 min. She stays busy. Are her photos and prints 5 times better than yours? No but she knows how to convince her client that they are worth every penny.

If you are not busy and have the time make her an offer. Come up with a creative idea for customers that balk at your prices if you you want the business. Ask are you on my email list, were you referred by someone? Then you can negotiate without sounding desperate. Something like if you were referred you get an extra 8x10 and 2 5x7's. In all you have given less than $7 and in her eyes it is $100. Just something to think about.

[HotHolly]

These prices are in line with an entry level photog. They arent too high imho. I would remove the 4x6 from your price list entirely. Many pros dont sell that size.

As for your friend, she may have been expecting the friends & family discount. I also wouldnt drop your rates to shoot her. If she went to Sears, she'll end up paying more money than with you. I think their average sale is still around $325 per client.

PS - What is your gross sales goal per session? That looks a little low to me, unless you shoot bulk and dont do much pp on the images.

[Shelby Lane]

Kristi, your small print prices are fine. In my experience, friends and family always think that you're too expensive. According to PPA, even if you don't have studio rent, if you're charging less than what you have your 5x7 set at, you're losing money... so your small prints are right on target. Take a good look at your wall portrait prices, though. You probably won't sell many when you're first starting out, but your 20x30 in particular is too too low, especially if you're going to have it mounted and/or textured. You want to keep your cost of goods (how much it will cost you for printing, extra services, packaging, shipping, etc) at less than 30% (and even then, I think that's a high percentage for COGS).

Keep in mind, too, that last time I checked, even the print-on-site Santa photos at the mall are about $30- $40 a sheet, so don't let your friend's reaction influence your prices.

[kikiluv]

Really? Sears is that high? Crazy.

Idelacruz: Those are good suggestions to create an incentive/discount. I will definitely add those to my price list. I'm not busy. That is the problem. I've already given her a $50 discount plus an 8x10.

HotHolly: I know you're going to shake your head at this answer but I'm not sure what my gross sales goal per session is yet. I'm a total noob at this and really just want to get some biz going...I know I'll need to look determine those goals at some point if I really want to make any money. This is just part time for me and not that I don't value my work - I'm just intimidated by the pricing out there. I know that with time my confidence will grow not only in my work but in the price I charge for it.


Thanks for your responses!

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by kikiluv

HotHolly: I know you're going to shake your head at this answer but I'm not sure what my gross sales goal per session is yet. I'm a total noob at this and really just want to get some biz going...I know I'll need to look determine those goals at some point if I really want to make any money. This is just part time for me and not that I don't value my work - I'm just intimidated by the pricing out there. I know that with time my confidence will grow not only in my work but in the price I charge for it.

That doesnt mean that you must charge more, but you should have a benchmark that you expect to gross with each client. Sears had been around $325 a few years ago. That was total sale (prints, products, session fee, sitting fees per person). They take a little here and a little there and it adds up. You can easily do the same thing. Its part of your pricing structure.

ps, i wrote something over here about getting started the other day. there are many newBs who start out shooting, charging what they feel is fair, and then looking at their books come tax time they learn that their business was hemorrhaging money all year.

pps - you are a step ahead of lots of newBs b/c you skipped that whole charging $3 for a 4x6 thing. so you're on your way. ;o)

[kikiluv]

Thanks, Shelby for the input. Not having children, I didn't realize that santa pics were that expensive either.

So these are good reality checks for me. I'm just anxious to grow and not sure how to approach getting new clients.

I'm going to email her back with your suggestions, Idelacruz as well as present her with a few other options on the album side. --found another vendor option this morning.

kikiluv added 6 Minutes and 29 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

Thanks, HotHolly, for the link. This is such a great group. I'm glad to be a part of it.
:)

kikiluv added 131 Minutes and 35 Seconds later...Double Post Merged Below

I just spoke with another friend about my print prices and she informed me of a local photog she uses who charges $100 session fee (in studio) and offers 15 images on disc. Her complete disc of full res images only costs $100. I had mine set at $300.

Ugh...so discouraging. Why are people so freaking cheap?

[Shelby Lane]

Originally Posted by kikiluv

I just spoke with another friend about my print prices and she informed me of a local photog she uses who charges $100 session fee (in studio) and offers 15 images on disc. Her complete disc of full res images only costs $100. I had mine set at $300.

Ugh...so discouraging. Why are people so freaking cheap?

When you talk to friends about prices, it really helps if you can remind yourself "if that's what they're willing to spend, they are NOT my target market." That's why it's not a good idea to build your prices based on what other people are charging -- they don't know how to price photography either.

Austin is a good market, and you have good starting out prices. I just moved out of that area and did very well for a very long time, so I can promise you that there are clients out there who will love your work and will be more than willing to pay the prices you need to charge.

[kikiluv]

Thanks again, Shelby.

[ronocnikral]

based on that wedding i saw in the other thread, you are very well priced.

just remember when doing things for friends and family, there can be other things recieved besides money. When you are trying to break into a market, referrals are huge and the cheapest. the problem is when you discount for family and friends and they are happy, the give you referrals, at the price you gave them. We tell people not to tell and incentivize them by giving them an 8x10 for every referral at full price.

don't worry about cheap people who just give their images away. $300 is cheap for the digi negs. we give limited and personal rights only for backup purposes. main reason being, this is our work and what we pride ourselves on and we only print with the best. We don't want people printing at walgreens and sending them out to everyone with our pictures looking like crap. Most people who have worked for anything in their lives understand this when you explain it to them that way.

[gusrb42]

Wow I didn't know photographer can charge them that much. I was charging them only the print fee.

[KellyHay]

I love this thread sooo much! Thanks for all of this. I had a very similar price structure to kikiluv and always felt like I might not be charging enough for prints larger than 8x10.

Thanks again. Great info.

[photopam]

This is good to know. My smaller prints are a little lower priced than this, but my larger prints are higher. They use to be around this price. Thanks for the additional thought process on pricing!

[CaptainTom]

One of the best pieces of advice I've gotten is to not charge what YOU could pay.

If you're a working photographer and aren't independently wealthy, you're probably not even in the demographic you want to aim your business for.

[toverman]

The hardest thing (it's at least hard for me) is turning down work, but if someone isn't willing to pay your rates that's what you have to do.