E-Wedding Package (low-res CD)... to do or not to do?

[rozzie]

Hello folks:

I've been creating a pricelist for weddings (even though that is honestly not my favorite thing to do at the moment since I don't have the time), and for my lowest end package, I was halfway considering creating an E-Wedding package, where the ultimate end result would be a CD with the low-res images only suitable for displaying on the web or via email-if they wanted prints, they'd pay the individual print prices. Even with a disclaimer stating that printing images from these files would yield unfavorable results, do you think it is still too risky to provide this package at all? I included it with higher end packages, but they also come with print credits (so they can actually see what a difference a pro lab makes), and also some packages come with a few digital negatives, so they would be less likely to be trying to print from the low-res CD.

My concern is that I imagine most potential clients that would pick that package in particular would think they might be able to get away with paying less and printing some images off of the low-res CD anyway, and that could only mar my image for other prospective clients if they do follow through and print out a 600px max image @ 300dpi.

What do you guys think? This is such a dilemma.. I just don't want to screw myself!


Thanks!

[AndrewCCM]

I wouldn't do it. Project yourself as you value yourself and price accordingly. They will print them and they will SHOW OTHERS. There is nothing wrong with offering a CD of negs.. But.. I wouldn't make it low res and/or a very cheaply priced package. My packages include $x print credit. They can apply that towards an Archive CD if they want. But I make most of my $ from the labor...not prints. After looking at my sales, I determined that a few hundred extra $ made from Archive CD actually outweighed my print sales over the long haul and was much easier to deal with.

Now you'll hear arguments about wanting full control of prints, etc. and I understand that point of view. I am always tweaking my pricing model. I also need to work on how I market large expensive prints...That may change my profit center.

Good luck!

[rozzie]

Hi Andrew!

Glad I'm not the only one up late in DFW! My price for shooting up to 5 hours (ceremony/reception) and the low res CD (including processing) is $950--so that's my bottomline, if it helps. Whether that's too much or too little, I think for what I'm offering and going to be doing for a job like this, it would be worth it, and charging any more would not be that necessary. The reason I feel the need to offer a low-res CD is so that I don't have to worry as much about having possibly poorly resized versions of my high-res images on my clients' personal pages or being distributed through email. Perhaps I should just include low-res images for those that buy the high res images, too? Bah! What stress it is to be a digital photographer in such an oversaturated market! My biggest nightmare is giving full-res images to someone who thinks they know how to edit pictures and end up butchering one of my photos and making me look like a terrible artist. I think I'm starting to understand more and more why the pros don't offer the high res CD's, let alone low-res.

[MarcoLaino]

If you release low-res CD's to your clients, rest assured that one thing will definitely happen - Your clients WILL, WITHOUT DOUBT, use those low res photos - and, they won't use only the best ones. Yes, YOU WILL suffer from this because they will use images to make your biggest nightmare your worst reality - photos that you would cull out, will get distributed to family, friends, etc. and, Yes, you will end up looking like a "terrible artist" to some. Or, at best, an inconsistent shooter.

Better idea for you: Sit with your client and allow them to select X number of photos that you will agree release as low res versions. But, YOU have the final say on which photos will be released as low res, obviously in consultation with your client. Just let them know the impact that release of "that funny candid of Uncle Ernie farting in the punchbowl" may be amusing to them, but it isn't going to win you any new wedding clients.

Protect yourself! Because your clients won't - not in an ill intentioned way, they just don't appreciate the consequences to you as a pro photog having bad images circulating around.

[rozzie]

Marco, after reading that, I just deleted my entire e-wedding package from the list-so glad I haven't published it anywhere. I most DEFINITELY do not want to go through that nightmare.. ever! The reason I partially feel that I should offer low-res image versions it allows me to have some control over what my clients are emailing their friends/families, instead of having them try to take a screencap off of their web gallery (I use one of CS2's flash galleries), and really botch the capture afterward. Part of me desires for the low-res images to be available so they can be distributed almost as business cards (though not printed). It just seems hard hoping that I might not be able to reach out to their family/friend networks without them purchasing enough prints to go around. What if I provide a low-res CD as just an a la carte item, and also provide a high-res CD, with BIG DISCLAIMERS? Would that still tempt some to try the sneaky approach with the low-res CD, you think? Hmmm, perhaps having control over which low-res images are distributed might be a decent idea afterall. I know how people can be... and I just can't afford to take the risk.

[MarcoLaino]

Rozzie,

Check out Pictage (www.pictage.com) - that might solve your problem.

Good Luck, Marco

[Mark McCall]

Rozzie,
Touchy subject for sure...but but hold off on dropping the CD wedding package.

Photographers have always been taught to keep our negatives, protect our copyright. Many photographers held on to outdated business practices when they switched to digital.
But does this make any business sense? Not any more.

What if I told you that you could make more money by selling the CD?
There IS a way to put this into your package lineup, and make more money in the long run...but it requires a little homework.

We have a CD only wedding package at our studio, including all high resolution images on CD. We've found a way to make it profitable, and it's easier than you think. I'll give you my numbers at the bottom of the post.

Although it helps to have a firm grasp of your market (your in a gem of a market), but it's not required.
Let go of the artist part of your brain telling you NOT to sell negatives. Focus on the business part of your brain telling you to make more money.

Carefully price your packages so that the client can't get you cheaper by buying a 4 hour coverage and adding an hour overtime, rather than buying a 5 hour package in the first place. Like I said....it'll require some homework.

To make more money selling the CD...(we're talking hi rez images).
Go through your last 10-15 weddings and figure up what you grossed for shooting a wedding, INCLUDING all mom's albums, add-ons and reorders after the wedding.
Get an average number, then divide that number by the number of hours you've put into it.
This will give you a cross section of what your making per hour.
During this processes your going to find that you've put more hours than you thought into the wedding in shooting, downloading, converting, tweaking, album design, proofing, album delivery, ect. ect.

Add a few hundred bucks to that number, then sell the CD for that amount.

We also make the CD available if they're buying any of our wedding packages that includes an album.
This is set at $750 at the time of album delivery. (had 4 takers last year).
When we offer the negatives a year after the wedding, we're very lucky to get $75....I even had a groom try to talk me down to $20 or $30. They just do not have the value they once had.

Here's why this concept makes more money than keeping the files:
Clients simply do not buy images from the wedding after they've placed their original reorder after receiving their album. If they do, it's usually a tiny order.
Keeping them makes no sense businesswise. Your holding on to something that is depreciating faster than your new car.
Those files are most valuable right after the wedding. Use this to your advantage.

Rather than take my word for it....try selling wedding negatives to your client a year after the wedding. You'll be amazed at the price your going to consistently get...it's nothing.
As well, there's a time investment in contacting those clients because many of them won't buy them at all. Some are divorced already.

Another reason this concept works.
You've relieved yourself of buying an album, proofing the photos, manhours filling the orders. Your simply delivering a CD. No overhead at all, with the exception of downloading, color correcting and burning a CD or DVD.
Money saved producing your product is 100% profit. Your only selling your time. This step alone saves me about $400-$500.

In my studio wedding packages, the bride and groom can walk away with their CD for $900 per hour.
That means I'll pocket $3600 for a 4 hour wedding, with no overhead but a CD or DVD, and the time to download and convert. I have 3 of those weddings on the books for '07.
That same wedding would cost me quite a bit in album design and purchase, lab prints, and manhours...that goes directly to your bottom line.

Just good business sense.