If a photographer wants to properly complete a job, they first have to properly start the job with a well-written estimate.
(This post is for new photographers.)
A potential customer asks you for a price to photograph something. What do you do?
What you absolutely do not do is give the customer a price off the top of your head. Not even a ballpark price.
Before you can give someone an estimate, you must know every detail of the job. You have to ask enough questions so that every step of the job is predictable.
Let’s say someone asks for three business headshots. You absolutely should not say, “That will be $800 plus tax.” If you said that and later find out that the three headshots are to be done in three different locations on three different days and the photos are going to be used in a series of advertisements, then your quoted $800 is very wrong and you’re going to lose money.
For this example, you should ask questions such as:
• Are those three headshots going to be done in the same location at the same time?
• What’s the background? A studio background or a location background?
• What’s the style of lighting, studio strobes or ambient light?
• Do the photos have to match any existing headshots? If yes, can they send a reference photo?
• How many looks of each person are needed?
• How are the photos going to be used?
There could be more questions depending on the customer’s needs.
Another example:
A company asks for some product shots:
• What are the products?
• How many products? How many views of each?
• How many images delivered?
• Where is the photography to be done?
• Are all products to be shot at the same time in the same style?
• What is the background? What is the style of lighting?
• Do they have layouts or reference photos?
• What are the pictures going to be used for?
• Who will prepare the products to make them camera ready?
I used to photograph products for a sporting goods retailer. This included photographing a lot of running shoes. Some jobs required a couple hours just to unpack the shoes, lace the shoes, clean the shoes, and later repack the shoes. On large jobs, even with an assistant, it was an extra day of work just to handle the shoes. Be sure you know how much product preparation is needed.
When working out an estimate, you have to think through every step of the job. What does each step require? List every piece of gear that might be needed. You have to factor in everything. Everything.
Creating an Estimate
Always use a written estimate. Verbal estimates are useless and, at least in Ontario, are not legal for any transaction above $50. An email, a PDF, a Microsoft Word document and an Excel document all count as written documents. But emails may seem too casual and they aren’t good for a long document. A PDF, a Word document and an Excel document can be locked to prevent tampering. But a PDF, with its embedded fonts, will look the same on every computer.
This may be obvious but your estimate must have your business name and contact information, the date, the customer’s name and contact information and, if applicable, the customer’s reference number(s).
Your estimate should describe the work you’re proposing to do. Basically you should repeat the job details back to the customer. The details should describe the what, where, when and how of the job and, if applicable, maybe even the who and why. This information should reasonably describe the entire job without leaving room for confusion or misinterpretation. Never send an estimate that says something like, “Photography services – $2,000.”
What are you photographing? When and where are you doing it? How are you doing it? What and when are you delivering? How can the photos be used?
What about cancellations or postponements? What if they want a reshoot? Who is going to archive the photos? What about copyright? What about releases and other potential liabilities?
Obviously you also need to list your prices. Some companies may require a detailed list of fees but many don’t. Large companies and agencies may require a very detailed list especially for high-cost jobs but this itemized list may be necessary only at a later step in the hiring process.
If applicable, you could include any potential upsells on your initial estimate. This could get the customer thinking about other photography they might need.
Your estimate must include your terms and conditions of business. Must include!
When should the customer pay you? If you don’t tell them, they could pay you ten years later.
It’s common practice in commercial photography to get a 50% booking fee due upon acceptance of the estimate. You could vary this a little bit up or down depending on the circumstances but make sure the booking fee covers at least your expenses. The balance could be due 14 days after delivery or even sooner. Note that some companies will refuse anything under 30 days and very large companies might demand a much longer time. But that’s not a big deal as long as you know ahead of time. You always want to be paid as soon as possible because you never want to go into debt due to a slow paying customer.
Will your estimated price be the same next year, the year after that, or even many years in the future? Probably not. Every estimate that you create must have an expiry date which might be weeks or a few months, depending on the situation.
Include a cover letter with your estimate because that’s what a business does. In most cases, this means writing an email with your estimate attached. The email should include a very brief description of the job and, if applicable, any customer reference numbers. Some companies work with many suppliers simultaneously and if you just say, “Here’s my estimate,” they may have no idea what you’re talking about.
If you included any upsells in your estimate, mention this in your cover letter. For example, “While I’m at your location photographing your new offices, it might be a good time to do some updated headshots. I’ve included a price for this in the estimate.”
For a new customer, it may help to sell yourself again in your email. Remind them that you’re the right choice for the job. For example, “I’ve done several jobs like this in the past year and I know how to work efficiently,” or whatever suits the situation. Spellcheck is your friend.
Estimate or Quote
There is a real difference between an estimate and a quote. An estimate is what you think the job will cost. A quote is what the job will cost. An estimate is your best guess and a quote is your promise.
Do yourself a favour and stick to estimates. This is not so you can change the price later but rather it’s to allow you leeway if a job somehow changes before it’s been completed. For example, the customer may change their mind and want more photography, bad weather might delay the shoot, products to be photographed don’t arrive on time, etc. Be sure your estimate actually says “Estimate” at the top and you consistently use the word “estimate” when communicating with a customer.
You are required to exercise reasonable care and skill when creating an estimate. An estimate should never be a guess or a ballpark figure. An estimate carries legal weight. Here in Ontario, and it varies from province to province, a customer is not legally required to pay an invoice that’s more than 10% higher than the estimate unless the customer agreed to the increase. If a job will incur higher costs, always get the customer’s approval.
Booking fee or Deposit
Whether you use “booking fee” or ‘deposit”, you must tell the customer what you mean. You must define your terms.
By default, a deposit is refundable because it’s a partial payment toward future services or products. If an agreement is cancelled by either party or the photographer fails to deliver, then a deposit is refundable. But a photographer can keep a deposit if a customer somehow fails their responsibilities under an agreement. Note that in Ontario, and maybe other provinces too, if there is a dispute over unclear or vague contract language, the court will always favour the customer.
If you use the word “deposit”, you must specify under what conditions it might be refundable. If you don’t say then it will be refundable.
A booking fee is an amount paid to secure a photographer’s future services. It’s not a partial payment and it’s not refundable. However a photographer’s booking fee is usually applied toward the final price and a refund could be possible if specified.
If you use “booking fee”, you must define what it means. Is it refundable? How will the money be used (i.e. will it be applied toward the final price)?
