Joseph Pasonault’s family moved from Newfoundland to the US, circa 1882, when he was six years old. In 1896, a twenty-year-old Pasonault opened his first photo studio in Cando. He later moved his studio to a larger town in North Dakota.
Canada’s pandemic case numbers today (April 2022) are the highest than at any time in the first year-and-a-half of the pandemic when everyone was panicking and hoarding toilet paper. But no one is panicking today and, figuratively speaking, the news media is no longer reporting in all caps. What’s changed?
Vaccines have greatly reduced the severity of symptoms and the morbidity rate. But I’ll also add that we’re now “pandemic-savvy.” We know what a pandemic is and what it isn’t – it isn’t the end of the world. When the pandemic was declared in March 2020, it was as if we were suddenly surrounded by trees, unable to see the forest and unable to navigate within that forest. Today we can step back a bit and have a better view of things.
Rising Costs
Most things are now returning to some sense of normalcy. (I hate the phrase “new normal” so I won’t use it.)
But you’ve probably noticed that almost everything has gone up in price over the past year or so. Some prices have increased a small amount and some things have gone up a lot compared to early 2020 (pre-pandemic). Inflation is currently 6.7%, the highest since 1991.
(Edit: Inflation is now 7.7%, the highest since 1983.)
(Edit: Inflation is now 8.1%.)
Notice that all the prices are in cents. Today everything is in dollars. Dime stores were replaced by dollar stores and many of those dollar stores have now become two-dollar stores.
Everything to do with my photography business has gone up in price. Car servicing, auto insurance and gas all cost more. Cameras and lenses have gone up in price and will continue to rise (Nikon recently announced its intention to raise prices by an average of 20%). Camera repair prices have increased. All my office costs have gone up including computer equipment, insurance, telephone, cellphone, internet and web hosting. The price of food and clothing have also gone up.
Review Your Prices
Photographers should always review their prices every year but this year it’s critical. Don’t just think about it and don’t do it on a casual basis. Review all your costs and figure out what you truly need to earn.
It’s not wrong to raise your prices. You’re running a business and cash in must exceed cash out.
You won’t get paid more if you don’t ask for more.
But market restrictions mean that you can’t just raise your prices as much as you want. Yes, grocery stores, gas stations, the phone company, etc., seem to raise their prices anytime they want. But you, a photographer, don’t have a monopoly and your customers have other options.
The alternative to raising prices is cutting costs. Stop buying new cameras, new lenses and new computers. Use your existing equipment as long as possible. I suspect most photographers already run a lean business.
Cost cutting should be the last resort because you can’t cut your way to profit. It’s always better to boost revenue.
Some Pricing Truisms
• If you’re comfortable with your prices then you’re too cheap.
• There will always be another photographer cheaper than you.
• Every photographer has a different price for the same job.
• There are too many professional photographers. Your prices will be constrained by your market.
• Price is often viewed as an indication of quality.
• A fair price must be fair to both the customer and you.
• A fair price isn’t always the lowest price.
• More value to the customer should equal more money for the photographer.
• Profit is the goal of every business.
• Price for what you know, not for what you do.
• Never apologize for your prices.
• A photographer cannot discount their way to success.
• Most customers prefer higher quality over lower price.
• It’s not the customer’s responsibility to support you. But customers will pay more if they get more.
• Pricing photography by the hour is like pricing books by the number of pages.
• The financial level at which you start your business relationship with a customer is usually the level at which you will stay. You will never “graduate” from low-paying jobs to high-paying jobs for a particular customer.
