match.com pricing

[ShaneKislack]

I recently had a guy wanting me to shoot his photos...and he wanted me to match these packages.

http://matchphotos.com/(dlbkhz45l20t.../packages.aspx

He wasn't rude or anything, I was just caught off gaurd by how cheap these prices are. Heck, I might buy a package to see how they do it.

I'm assuming it basically a wal-mart type package??? Even if you got all of the money...and shot constantly all day, AND didn't have to buy equipment or pay for studio time...you'd barely make a good living.

[RiverSide]

hmm how are the prices low? sorry but maybe i'm the el cheapo one doing the hand me down gigs :) but $50 for one headshot and one body shot in under 30 minutes isn't bad in my book.. specially if u have a dedicated setup which is always up and ready so all u do is schedule, get them in.. chat a bit.. get them to relax, pose, shoot (compose right the first time), just do minor cropping and upload to match.com ..

No extra post processing time involved and no printing required and the price does go up as color correction and retouching are added.. which seems fair.

[ShaneKislack]

It might not be so bad if you were a factory shooter and someone brought them in and you shot one after the other all day. And you were using their facilities and equip.

But, look at it this way. It's basically $100 hour, no?

$100 for shoot
-40 for studio rental for one hour
-20 for light rental (or depreciation of your own lighting?)
-5 accounting (you'll have to pay taxes on it)
-15 depreciation on camera and ancillary equipment
-3 misc

=$17 profit. But wait, you shot for one hour, but it probably took 15 minutes to schedule and another 30 minutes to resize and ftp to match.com. So you probably spent 1.75 hours. So now you're back to making, what? $10/hour?

[ShaneKislack]

Dang, I forgot to add in monthly phone charges and a few more costs. Oh well, you probably get the point. How much is DSL? How much does Photoshop costs again? Oh yeah, I had to buy my computer. Geez this is a losing business! :)

[RiverSide]

well u answered your own question.. they can afford to do it because they're already setup.. if u're going to go on rent studios/lighting for this thing.. then yes.. forgeddaboudid..

[ShaneKislack]

That's the thing, RiverSide. You have to pay for all of that stuff one way or the other. Even if you 'already have a place'...then you still have to pay rent. Someone recently mentioned their studio rental was $3000/mo. Granted they were in a shopping center type area. But that's $100 a day + another 10-20 for electricity, etc. You also had to pay for you lighting. You are not a charity...that money comes from somewhere.

Any other way is bad business.

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by ShaneKislack

It might not be so bad if you were a factory shooter and someone brought them in and you shot one after the other all day. And you were using their facilities and equip.

But, look at it this way. It's basically $100 hour, no?

$100 for shoot
-40 for studio rental for one hour
-20 for light rental (or depreciation of your own lighting?)
-5 accounting (you'll have to pay taxes on it)
-15 depreciation on camera and ancillary equipment
-3 misc

=$17 profit. But wait, you shot for one hour, but it probably took 15 minutes to schedule and another 30 minutes to resize and ftp to match.com. So you probably spent 1.75 hours. So now you're back to making, what? $10/hour?

How many pros are trying to make a living by shooting and are renting studio space and lighting gear by the hour? Doesn't seem like a very smart business plan to me. And your gear depreciation seems wildly pessimistic for an hourly rate. I know there are other things not taken into account here but even so your numbers don't seem very realistic to me. Also I wouldn't be surprised if they offer customers additional print sales (for an additional price).

The match.com prices don't seem as low as what Penny's and the other "factory" portrait places charge.

[ShaneKislack]

Plug your own numbers in Jeff. I'd be interested to see what you get. It's a great exercise.

The main point is most people that are new to running a business forget to charge for expendables.

[ShaneKislack]

Also, I was basing my gear depreciation off 3 years like my accountant does. So if a piece of gear cost $1000, then it depreciates $333/yr.

[srwatters]

Here's another way to look at it...

If your studio is empty, you generate zero dollars. Now how much does that headshot bring in?

Half full or half empty? I wouldn't try to make a business plan out of it, but to fill empty hours, it might make more sense. I know Greg and I shoot for a company that markets for Match and other online dating services. Their pricing is higher and edits are extra. The setups are easy and it supplements the studio income. YMMV.

[ShaneKislack]

You are right in a sense, Scott. If you just sitting around, hey, it's and extra $50. But when you look at the numbers...don't you really deserve more for the amount of time/money you've invested?

The whole idea in money matters is to work less, make more.

[Mike G]

another 30 minutes to resize and ftp

Better work on that workflow .. if its taking 30 minutes to resize and upload you're slow.

[Gambit]

I only glanced at the link, and I'm no business expert in photography or anything else, but a lot of businesses have a low-end that is attractive just to get people in the door. Then once there, they find they want a little more and that markup is what's useful for the business.

So, the basic one headshot + one body shot is $50, and per your calcs that's close to break-even. How much more time (and thus your cost) does it take to do the 2 head + 4 body package that sells for $100? Incremental cost @ double price = profit ?? How many customers just get the basic vs an upgraded package? Especially if the salesman's good. :)

[ndsimm]

keep in mind that this is probably not where they make their money anyway...most is probably made off the dating memberships...

[ShaneKislack]

Originally Posted by ndsimm

keep in mind that this is probably not where they make their money anyway...most is probably made off the dating memberships...

Exactly...and unfortunately the photog doesn't get any of that. I'm assuming the way it works is an agreement that they'll send people to you if you agree to charge those prices.