# Are my prices too low??



## hunter102 (Dec 18, 2013)

I've been toying around with my prices lately after officially going back into the photography business earlier this year. Some say I don't charge enough, but living in the area that I do (small town) some say I charge too much and would like to get some insight from the pros! 

I charge by the number of finished, edited photos the client will receive in their online gallery. From there, they get free digital downloads and can also purchase prints separately whenever they want. 


Smallest Package: A one hour photo shoot with 10 edited photos is $100. 

Medium Package: A one hour photo shoot with 20 edited photos is $125

Larger Package: A one hour photo shoot with 30 edited photos is $150

Deluxe package: A hour and a half photo shoot with 40 edited photos is $225. 


I also give clients the option to have their edits overnighted and get them the next day for $50 (for the small and medium) or $100 (for the large and deluxe) I like that feature because it motivates me to get sessions out of the way faster, and you would be surprised how many people purchase the overnights.  


Customers can then order prints off my site, or download the full resolution digitals for free. I know a lot of people download and print from Wal-Mart or wherever, but some do order from the website and I have gained a little extra revenue from that. 

Here is some of my work - I have been taking photos for about 7 years and am currently also a local papers photographer as well as doing this on the side. 





















I feel like its at least OK work, and I match up with a lot of photographers in the area but most don't produce the same type of work that I do. I'm not saying its anything amazing, but you can tell they have considerably less experience and/or equipment. 

There are also photographers that charge FAR more than what I do, and I feel I'm pretty low/middle of the road.


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## ShootRaw (Dec 18, 2013)

Firstly..Your pics look great minus some cropping (mistakes)..Don't take it personal...Having 7 yrs of experience I believe you are charging to little...I base my pricing off of time(Shoot,retouching etc...)...I do not give clients Physical digital images..I like the idea of them being able to order prints so you can get compensated and they do not hack up your work..


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## sm4him (Dec 18, 2013)

I'm not a Pro, and I'm trying my best to NOT become one.  Actually, I guess I *am* a Pro, as I'm now officially the Photographer for the company I work for--but I do not have my own photography business.

This is a point that I would struggle with if I did decide to "go pro", but from everything I've read and the advice from those with real experience here:

Your pricing really shouldn't be based on your image quality. Image quality should certainly be a major factor in whether or not to BE in business, but once you're at a level where you feel that you can deliver a quality image, then the pricing issue is separate from that.

Pricing should be based on:
1. Your CODB. Is your pricing structure sufficient to cover the cost of your camera gear, insurance, business taxes and license, etc and still net you any actual "income?"  That should really be the main basis for your pricing structure.  Too many people, in an effort to start with prices that will attract clients, don't realize that if they factor in all their actual costs, plus the time they work on processing and such, they are lucky if they're actually netting $1.25/hour in wages.
2. Who is your target market? If you want high-end paying customers, charge high-end prices and promote yourself as such (and be sure you can exude the confidence that goes with being able to take on high-end clients). But do NOT charge low-end prices thinking you'll work yourself UP to the higher-end clientele eventually. What's more likely is you'll just lose the lower-end clients you have when you raise prices.  If you're happy with targeting your services to the lower end of the market, then go with that.
3. What will the market bear? That is a highly variable question. What would be absolutely reasonable for someone to charge in New York City is entirely different than what would be reasonable to charge in Turtletown, TN or Plum Nelly, GA. (And yes, those are real places!)


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## ShootRaw (Dec 18, 2013)

sm4him said:


> Your pricing really shouldn't be based on your image quality.



I disagree with this...You have some great points in your response.. But Image quality is top priority..Your image quality should be twice the price you charge in my book..


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## Braineack (Dec 18, 2013)

my IQ is only 89.  should I charge $44.5?


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## ShootRaw (Dec 18, 2013)

Lol^^^That is on you..Im just saying you should always over deliver..If you charge $500 for a shoot, you should deliver $1000 quality work..As you improve, and are more in demand..Your prices should reflect that..


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## Derrel (Dec 18, 2013)

The fact that a lot of people pay the extra $50 or $100 for the overnight edits makes me think that yes, you are, "Leaving money on the table," by charging too little.


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## KmH (Dec 18, 2013)

From your prices one can infer you charge $50 an hour for your time, and $5 each for the first 10 photos. For additional photos you charge $2.50 for a fully edited and finished photo.
(Apparently, you charge a lot less for the time you spend doing post production work like editing photos.)

Yes, I think your prices are to low. Basic math seems to indicate that at your current prices your business can only survive if it is supported with other income.

Well run, legal (licensed/registered both local and state), home based 1 person (no studio, no emplyees) retail photography businesses usually can generate income at about 22% of total revenue. Note: the photographer's income is a cost of doing business (CODB) and is an overhead expense, not profit.

A retail photographer wanting income of $30,000 a year (before state/federal income taxes, self-employment taxes, etc) that is able to run the business so income is 20% of total revenue needs total revenue of $150,000 a year. ($30,000 / 20% = $150,000).
That's an average of 12,500 a month.

How many days a month (average) can you shoot? Or stated another way - How many sessions do you need to shoot per month to generate $12,500 in total revenue per month?
If you add in pre and post production time, a 1 hour shoot usually takes 3 hours or more.
The photography business tends to be seasonal, and more so for a home based on-location retail photography business (no studio in the home).

Lets assume you have an average sale per session of $300.
$12,500 / $300 = 41.67 shoots (average) per month that you need to generate $12,500 a month in total revenue.
That's an average of 10 shoots per week, every week of the year. (520 shoots per year).

Compare the numbers from your business to the above.

Using an online gallery is costing you money.
Retail photographers that switch to selling in person selling at least double their average sale, and most see an increased average sale of 4x or more.

Sales and Use Tax
Don't forget that being self-employed you'll need to pay Texas unemployment taxes too - Unemployment Tax Services ? Texas Workforce Commission

The next issue is that if you do increase your prices appreciably, what happens to the customer base you have already developed?
Most of those people will find another photographer that charges the low prices they are accustomed to paying.
If your price increase is incremental, say just 5% or 10%, most of your customer base will stay with you.
IMO you need at least a 100% increase in the prices for your photos, or a 100% increase in your average sale (from the example $300 to $600). 

Making 1 new customers costs about 10 times more than getting a previous customer to return.
Which is why starting with prices that are to low is often what causes the death of a new business.


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## sm4him (Dec 18, 2013)

ShootRaw said:


> sm4him said:
> 
> 
> > Your pricing really shouldn't be based on your image quality.
> ...



Perhaps the way I said it was far too much of a generalization, but what I was trying to get at was that if your image quality isn't good enough you shouldn't even be IN business, at any price. If your image quality IS good enough to charge, then other factors like CODB and your target market should really be top considerations to determining prices, but yes, you should absolutely be confident that you can produce high-end quality images if you're going to make high-end clientele your market.


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## astroNikon (Dec 18, 2013)

Braineack said:


> my IQ is only 89.  should I charge $44.5?


When I check the IQ chart, that puts you Average
Free IQ Test - IQ Score Guide

:lmao:


But pricing is an interesting thing.  Don't let some customer devalue your work and think you should be charging as much as their neighbors son who owns a P&S.  Charge what you think the market will bare, as in as high as possible.  You have the higher points of other pros in the area.   Don't devalue your work to a $99 special to compete with the low end if your work & quality is more high end.


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## hunter102 (Dec 18, 2013)

I'm definitely not a pro and only do this on the side for now - I do have a full paying job! I only shoot on Sundays at the moment and can usually do 5 sessions on a Sunday, so I make between $500 and $1000 a week. It's a good supplement to my other job (and really, my other job technically supplements my photography money).


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## ShootRaw (Dec 18, 2013)

Sounds like you have demand..Prices should go up accordingly..


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## manaheim (Dec 18, 2013)

.


Standard rule for any thread that asks a question like this... if you're asking it, then you already know the answer. 


Or, in shorthand: *YES*.


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## paigew (Dec 18, 2013)

Yep, too low 

all this for $100:
consulting with client/lining up shoot/location
driving to/from location
shooting time
culling time
editing selected images
uploading to client gallery

Plus you need to cover gear depreciation, insurance, gas, childcare (if needed), website fees, gallery hosting fees, marketing expenses....


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## 12sndsgood (Dec 18, 2013)

If your to the point of shooting 5 sessions a week and a good portion are having you overnight photos then yeah raise your prices up. probably double your pricing, then what I would likely do is take existing customers that you have. and give them discounts and slowly work them into your pricing as you add in new customers at the new rate. this may allow you to keep some of your existing customers rather then losing all of them due to the price increase.  

I will also say you should look into in home sales. you said in your other post that the travel time makes it not worth it for you but you really can increase sales by going to them and showing them why you are the expert. when they talk about ordering an 8x10 you can point to there walls and explain how a small 8x10 is going to get lost on there walls and how if they went with a 16x20 or some other size how it would be noticed and draw people to it which isn't that the point of why it hangs on the wall. I was never a salesman but it's been something I am forcing myself to do. You can take a large portrait with you or a large canvas, show them how it looks so they can see, a lot of people just order 8x10's because it's what they know. go in there, know your product and you will come out with way more sales. sell them the cd and walk away and you won't get much print orders at all. I still have print ordering on my site but I am not going in and selling them on photos and other things as well.


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## juicegoose (Dec 20, 2013)

When considering your total cost of doing business how do you generally account for gear depreciation and website costs etc? With photographers there are good and bad months so i've found it hard to calculate this accurately with all the fluctuations in shoots. Is there a good online resource tool to help with calculating these costs?


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## KmH (Dec 20, 2013)

Online cost of doing business calculators - Bing

https://nppa.org/calculator


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