You can tell that it’s getting close to year’s end as companies rush to get work done or hurry to spend any remaining budget. I’ve received nine inquiries for business portraits in the past two weeks, and each job had to be delivered and invoiced before December 31. The requests ranged from two to thirty business headshots.
One potential customer asked why I don’t offer a bigger volume discount for multiple business portraits. They wondered why the cost to shoot 30 business headshots didn’t drop to under $50 each.
Here’s why:
Little economy of scale
There is some economy of scale when photographing more than one person’s business portrait. Since the photographer is already set up for the first person, photographing additional people is easier and faster than having to come back another day. The marginal cost to the photographer is lower so a discount is offered.
But there is no economy of scale when editing the pictures. If it takes X amount of time and effort to edit one person’s portrait, then it will take 30X to edit photos for 30 people. The marginal cost to the photographer doesn’t change. There’s no economy of scale at this point.
Certainly some photographers will “batch process” large numbers of images to reduce the time and effort involved. But other photographers, including myself, always custom process each image, one at a time, to get the best possible results. These photographers think clients should always get the best rather than the fast and cheap. This means the marginal value is kept high.
Marginal value
Whether the photographer produces one business headshot or thirty, the value of each photo does not change. Each and every portrait still has the same value. The photography fee is based on this value. Since the marginal value stays the same, there’s not a lot of room for big discounts.
As more people are photographed, the company’s “consumption” of the business headshots does not decrease. In fact, as more people are photographed, the company’s use of photography increases and the corresponding benefit also increases. The marginal value stays high so there’s little reason for big discounts.
Can’t work below cost
If business headshots are discounted down to, let’s say, $50 each (and I’ve seen photographers go as low as $10 each), then the photographer is losing money. A true professional photographer simply can’t afford to work below cost. Only an amateur photographer might think, “I’ll lose money on each portrait but I can make up for it with volume.”
Pay more, get more
Photographers who charge more also deliver more. Not necessarily more pictures but more time, more editing, more assurance, more flexibility, more understanding, more expertise.
Volume increases benefit
Whether a company buys one business portrait or thirty, that company still receives the same value from each picture. In fact, as the number of business headshots goes up, the company actually benefits more since photography increases readership, enhances corporate image and builds customer trust. So one might argue that photographers should charge more, not less, for multiple headshots.
Marginal cost is not as important as marginal value.
