How much to charge?

[nikondude24]

Hi,
I was asked to take pictures of a dance group at my school. They want several different kinds of pictures. So far, I've been taking pictures at their pratices and at their performances. The pictures are looking really good. I'm a student at the school, so I can't charge the group as a whole. Its a high school by the way. Well anyways, I've been shooting with both film and digital. A lot of the dancers have asked to see the digital photos on the lcd screen. They want individual prints. Money is kind of tight right now, so I can't afford to just give them prints for free. I can get 4x6's at a local lab for .23. So what would be a fair price to charge? Should I also consider the huge amount of time that I've been putting in to this? Since I've been spending a lot of time with the dancers, we've become good friends. I don't want to rip anybody off, but I want to make them happy and to consider me for future occasions. Any suggestions or advice is welcome.


Thanks,
Jon

[lscottpht]

Well, I have no idea, personally, but this grandfather of one of the kids on my son's soccer team takes photos of them playing. They are some of the best photos I've seen of youth soccer. Anyway, he charges us $5.00 per print. You might want to charge more, but this just might give you an idea.

[MyKey]

There is no way I can honestly tell you what price to set, that is up to each person. However, your time and your talent in this art can never have a price placed on it. Remember by lowing your prices you set a standard on your work, while you are still young it is something you need to think about from day one of your business when you start selling images. Don't sell yourself short, they would not want the images if they sucked. While I am not saying rip them off, I am saying make good money from them, they will thank you for the product in the end and you have earned it by spending time, effort and talent on them.

[jordankreationz]

This link was given to me in another thread...has some pretty useful advice in it.
http://www.photonomics.com/pricing1.htm

The whole site is very informative.

DJ

[ndsimm]

I've seen people try and explain this before, but never saw it this plain...looks like I need ot raise my prices (I am my own slave labor)

[nikondude24]

thanks for the replies. Now I have a good idea on what to charge.

[Bruce M. Morris]

I was looking for pricing guidelines and searched through the forum. Seems like the link in this thread will help so I just want to bump it up so others that are new to the forum will be able to see it.
Thanks DJ for the link.

[canoflan]

Please use this opportunity to develop a way of pricing anything that comes along. What helps is to first determine you costs per hour for your labor/expertise, etc.... After you know how long it takes you to provide a print (in terms of shooting time and post processing and either printing yourself or having a lab do it), then you set the price of the prints. I have set the price of my prints based on cost per square inch, therefore, if someone asks why a print costs more than another smaller size, I can tell them I am charging them the same price per square inch.

After you have developed a way to give someone a price and why as soon as they ask to buy something, you can provide them a price and go from there. In my opinion, you shouldn't be selling your work if you have a feeling you will feel guilty if they are willing to pay $100 for a 4x6. The market is what it is. People will not take you seriously if you fool around with trying to be "fair." Just state your price and move on.

Oh, here is the trick...try never to say "no" to a customer, so now you have to figure out how to sell them and keep them coming back for more; therefore, if your prices are too high, then you may turn them off, but if too low, then you will not be taken seriously.

I think you see the balance you have to strike and being able to explain why you price the way you do is a key element to having others see the value in your work.

I am not saying this is what I charge, but someone once told me if you are a sole proprietor and you are not charging at least $12 per 4x6, you are losing money and undervaluing your time in to make the print.

Let us know what you decide.

Pat

[Robin Binder]

Great topic Jonathan. Thanks for starting this.

[mdd770]

Originally Posted by jordankreationz

This link was given to me in another thread...has some pretty useful advice in it.
http://www.photonomics.com/pricing1.htm

The whole site is very informative.

DJ

this link no worky... any way around this? can someone post?

[Kalrog]

Originally Posted by mdd770

this link no worky... any way around this? can someone post?

That link was 2+ years old... but maybe someone else will still have it around (or something similar).