 Laura Starks |
How to price jobs Hi! I work as a freelance photographer - I shoot mostly kids/families/pregnancy, etc ... recently (touch wood) I have been asked to do some larger size events -- anniv parties/bar mitzvahs etc .... how do I set up prices?? time - cd with photos -- where do you get all this info?? thanks!
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Pete H |
Hello Laura, This is probably not the answer you hope to get. No one can tell you "Charge this much." 1) Current market Just a few Today, everybody and their uncle claims to be able to shoot "the event" with their new "whiz bang shoot-o-matic" camera. This is probably the number one problem when pricing, esp if you want to shoot pro. You can always price your work so low, everyone will use you at the expense of YOU making close to nothing for your time. This approach de-values your work and dilutes quality photography. To the buying public, perception IS reality. Your answer depends on your end game. By far the easiest formula is this: $$$/Hr..what do you feel YOU are worth per hr? This is after you have covered your expenses..all of them, travel, printing etc. Track everything! From the time you leave your home until the finished product is in your customers hands. Most photographers do NOT make their living at this; it is more the enjoyment of doing it, so pricing low is probably their best way to get paid at all. Those of us who do make a living at it are less concerned with the photography and moreso with the business aspect. Try the dollar per hour approach if you have not yet entered the realm of pro shooting. It is by far the most simplified business plan. You will see even this approach is not as easy as it sounds once you get into it.
Pete
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Raymond H. Kemp |
Laura, For $19.95 you can purchase Michal Heron's book "Pricing Photography". You'll find it on Amazon as well as other online book resellers. Her book will give you all the info you need for establishing your price structure. Ray
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Laura Starks |
Hi! Thanks for replying -- I have Pricing Photograph - not all the way through yet .... I guess the scary part is choosing your numbers ... I want to be fair yet I have no idea what to charge for a CD of photos vs a package ... things like that that stump me ..... I will keep reading and hope it becomes clearer!!
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Jerry Frazier |
It depends who needs who more. A CD of images is a really low-end way to do events, and I would avoid it at all costs. If the client insists, then I'll provide it for around $2k, depending on the event. But, usually, through a discussion, you will find they don't actually want the CD. They just think they do. But, it's always the first thing they ask for. Ask them why they want the CD, and then everything they say they want it for, you say, "I provide that". If they insist, then sell it and make money. Keep in mind, some of these events are like weddings. They are very time consuming and will ruin your life. Well, maybe not ruin your life, but almost. You need to make sure that you are happy with the money you make. Most newbies totally underestimate the cost of doing business. As a hint, and I already know that almost all BP.com shooters disagree with me (but I do this for a living), if you charge less than somewhere around $2,200, you are losing money on the deal. Now, there are lost of issues around this. And, I don't want to go into it here, but this is generally true. In the situation where you have so much business for this year that you are all set and don't need any more work, some photographers will lower their price if it's an easy gig. Your year is set, you have all the money you need to live, so rather than charge $2,000, you decide you can do it for $1,500 because all your fixed costs are met. This is what some photographers do. But, not me. As I get busy, and all my costs are met, I increase my price and seek more profit. I do this because I don't need more work. But, you can go either way, I'm just providing options. Anyway, my time = $2,200 depending on how much time they want. But, in general. CD of images = $2,000. And then, what else do they want, albums, prints, etc? I know you are just starting. But, it doesn't matter. If you are charging, you should charge like a pro. And, if they just want a snapper, let them pay their uncle $500. Who cares? They likely wont respect you for charging a small amount like that. Also, you kind of have to ignore the market because most likely, the market is low right now. But, that's not really the market. It's just a small dip created by the $500 and a CD crowd. But, I think that will go away once everyone realizes that it's not all that easy. Good luck.
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Mark Feldstein |
Hi Laura. I haven't seen the book mentioned here, but to add to Pete and Jerry's top-shelf concerns, you'd do well to draft a flexible, written, business plan indicating what you want to do, all the incidental costs you may incur including (among other things) equipment and liability insurance, bookeeping fees, a percentage of your income paid to a tax impound account for quarterly IRS and state tax payments (if any), business licenses, membership dues in professional organizations, before and after shoot time spent with prospective or actual clients); a marketing plan and cost of advertising even if it's only business cards and letterhead, etc., etc., etc. And yep, good luck. M.
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