A business question...

[ramiro]

I am trying to implement a minimum purchasing requirement on some of my sessions, but I am just not sure how to go about doing that. The reason for doing this is because since some of the sessions involve more work, I'd like to ensure that people will buy products after all the time investment on my part. The biggest hurdle for me right now is determining how to collect the $$. Should I collect the minimum purchase amount when they book the session? or should I collect a portion of it? Any other ways people do this? I appreciate your inputs.

[dracula02]

You could do a fee for the session with $XX.XX amount towards prints with a minimum purchase before ordering. Or you could put together packages that have your minimum ordering amount already in it.

[bondarnes]

There are several different ways to do this. I will explain the ones I am familiar with and you can decide what works best for you.

1. Prime time: Decide when your time is more valuable and have different session fees and minimum orders. As a full time photographer, our prime times were evenings, and weekends. for part timers it would probably be just the opposite.

Quality portraiture involves two separate services: the portrait session and the finished portraits. In order to better serve you and fulfill your particular needs, the cost of the session and the cost of the portraits are separate. This allows you to select the session that best suits your needs.

The camera charge is due at the time of the session and covers the photographer's time and talent, use of the camera room and equipment, and the cost of producing images for viewing. It does not include any finished portraits.


Normal Studio hours are 10:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. All other times are considered Prime Time and are subject to our Prime Time Policies.

All PRIME TIME sessions will have a non*refundable session fee and a minimum order. The session fee must be paid in advance to reserve the appointment time. All sessions away from the studio have an additional location fee payable in advance.

All weekday sessions beginning before 9:55 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m. will have a session fee of $99.00 and the minimum order is $250.00.

All Saturday sessions (when available) will have a session fee of $129.00 and the minimum order is $400.00.

All Sunday sessions (when available) will have a session fee of $159.00 and the minimum order is $600.00.

Holiday sessions are quoted on a case by case basis.

2. One Price Print Credit: You quote one price that includes a session fee and a certain amount of money to be spent later on prints. Entire amount is collected at the booking or at the session.

Our session fee is $800.00 and that includes a print credit of $650.00.

3. One Price Wall Portrait: You quote one price that includes a session fee and a certain minimum sized framed print. Entire amount is collected at the booking or at the session.

Our session fee is $800.00 and that includes a framed 24" Wall Portrait.

[dracula02]

I think that Don explained it in better detail than I did.

[ChristopherCoy]

Originally Posted by dracula02

I think that Don explained it in better detail than I did.

That's because Don is a professional we should all strive to be. He's been there and got the wardrobe....

[ramiro]

Wow! Thanx a bunch Don for sharing your ideas.

I kind of like the 1st choice you listed because it gives me the freedom, I think, to have different sessions (as I do now), get paid for my time and talent, then charge separate for what people want to buy, whether that is an a-la-carte or packages. I think that it can get more confusing for me to track and for the client to decide what to get if I have packages that include different kinds of sessions.

Maybe I should clarify how I have setup the studio. Basically, when we book the session, we also schedule the client's viewing/sales session, which is done via projection. This way people can book the session separate from any products, then after seeing the presentation we prepare, then we help them select which portraits are best suited for their needs. It is during the sales session that I am trying to figure out how to get the minimum required investement before they walk out the door.

Since I am leaning more to option 1, under that system, at which point do I charge the required minimum? or how to I ensure that they'll buy at least that?

I heard of another photographer that gives out paper proofs and puts a value of, say $1000 on those proofs. They get to keep them for 2-3 weeks then they have to bring them back, if they don't, the credit card they left to take out the proofs gets charged the $1000, after several attempts at trying to get the people to bring back their proofs of course. But by doing this, the photographer makes sure they will come back and buy actual portraits, not just proofs.

What I still can't see with that method, is if the people bring back the proofs and decide to buy nothing, then the photographer is still out of the minimum required investment. On the method above the photographer will basically need to charge a portion of the value of the proofs as "collateral" and have that be a credit towards portraits/product purchases.

Thoughts?

[brad]

I went with the option two... I decided to add my minimum order into my session fee.. and I did this for two reasons:

1. It simplified things (for me).

2. It avoided the disappointed sound when the answer to their question "What comes with the session?" was "That's just the fee for the session." By telling them "It includes $XX in credit towards your prints," they feel like they are getting something for their session. I still make the same as when I had the session fee + minimum order, but they feel like they are getting more.

YMMV of course.. and like Don said, either approach is valid and may work for some and not others.