Birthday party session

[hooligan]

I am trying to get my business up and going. This weekend, after providing some pics to a customer, she asked if I could shoot her friend's son's birthday party as a gift for her friend. My customer is going to pay for the job. It should last no more than 2 hours and will be a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds.

The question I have is, what is the best way to charge for something like this? Is it typical to charge a flat rate and include "x" number of shots with it, or a flat rate and the pics are the normally charged prices?

Thanks for the help.

[photostein]

Charge by the hour, or a flat fee for parties assuming 2 hours max. Prints are at the given print price schedule you provide them before the shoot.

I would charge for a minimum of 1 hour up front (they pay for the 1 hour before you show up), then you bill them for any additional time you are there afterwards. That way you at least come away with some cash in hand in case disagreements arise over how long you were there, etc....

Parties can always last longer than expected and frankly, vs. nickel and diming your customer, you can just say that you charge XXX for parties figuring 2 hours of travel to and from the job, time on site, etc... this could avoid later billing for additional time and you can disregard how much time you are spending for you know you already have the money. Be sure to get paid for this flat fee up front.


Always get paid up front. They should finance your operation, not you.

[toverman]

I'd set up a flat fee so you and your client don't have to watch the clock. Whatever you do, cover your shooting time and build in travel time and how long it will take you to process your files afterward into the up-front price.