pricing

Pricing ups and downs

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Many (most?) photographers struggle with pricing their services. Price too high and customers will think the photographer is gouging them. Price too low and customers will think the photographer does inferior work. Either way, the photographer loses.

Some photographers think that if they lower their existing prices, their business will increase. Their plan is to charge less and make up for it with volume.

But this means the photographer is going to do the same work and provide the same level of service, all for less money. Then they’ll do it many times over again, always for less money, and somehow it’ll earn them more money. But these photographers fail to understand three things:
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Who Pays What

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Who Pays Photographers? is a fairly new blog with a spreadsheet listing rates received by photographers for, mostly, editorial assignments. It’s based on anonymous submissions but looking at a few entries, the numbers do seem accurate.

Keep in mind that better rates can sometimes be had. Don’t be afraid to ask for more. In many cases, I’ve been able to get 50% to 100% more than what was initially offered by a daily newspaper or magazine. In cases where I couldn’t, the solution was to say “no thanks.”

A similar site for writers: Who pays writers?

 

Working for free

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Photographers, do yourself a favour and read this article by US brand strategist Patty Soffer:

Freebies are the scourge of freelance workers everywhere. Beginners notwithstanding (yes, we all pay our dues) many are tempted to work for free because they believe it will lead to paying work. News flash: it won’t. It leads exactly nowhere. When the un-payer decides to ante up, they hire someone else because they want to work with professionals who value themselves. Clearly you don’t if you were willing to give it away for nothing.

– Patty Soffer

 

When someone asks you to work for free, it means they think your photography is worthless. When you work for free, it means you agree.

The best situation is to charge what your photography is worth. But if you must offer a discount, rather than work for free, simply charge less than what your photography is worth but more than what it costs.

 

Why Not To Lower Prices In A Poor Economy

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Architectural photographer Brad Feinknopf explains why photographers should not lower their prices in a slow economy:

Please, do not let a poor economy bring the industry of photography to its knees by merely bending to market pressure. (…) We, as architectural photographers, bring great value and please do recognize that! (…) we are assisting our clients to sell their wares, to generate new business, to help them win awards and sometimes, even get them published. Without architectural photography, the publications would merely be words, as would be the websites. They do need us and, believe it or not, most value what we do. We need to value it, too. Do not forget the value you bring and demand adequate compensation for that value.

– Brad Feinknopf

It’s worth reading his entire blog post to understand the clothing store analogy that he uses. Although he refers to architectural photographers, the analogy Feinknopf uses also applies to other professional photographers.

 

Penniless Canadians

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Starting tomorrow on February 4, the Canadian Mint will no longer be distributing pennies. The once copper but now mostly steel coins will be taken out of circulation, melted down and the metal recycled. The last one-cent coins which were minted on May 4, 2012, cost 1.6¢ each to make.

After tomorrow, banks will not distribute pennies to their customers but the public can still use the pennies they have. Businesses which accept cash are being asked to change their pricing policy to accommodate our new “penny-less” world.
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Size Doesn’t Matter

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A potential customer asked why a business portrait would cost $500 when it’s only going to appear small on their website.

Up until the late 1990s, companies had no hesitation paying hundreds of dollars (or more) for a business portrait. Back then, the costs of publishing brochures, annual reports, and other print marketing materials were high, so a business portrait was just a small fraction of the overall expense.

Today, with every company having a website, the cost to publish has essentially become free. This zero-cost publishing has led some people to assume that photography should be equally inexpensive. The common question is: “Why should we pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for photos that cost nothing to publish?”
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It’s not the pictures

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If one photographer quotes $150 for a business portrait and another photographer quotes $800, which of them will win the customer’s business? Despite the obvious price difference, it’s not obvious which photographer the customer will choose.

There are two types of customer: the price shopper and the value buyer. Although it’s common for some folks to alternate between the two, for example: be a price shopper when buying groceries and be a value buyer when shopping for clothes.

Some people will always choose the low-price option. These customers are price shoppers and they care only about cost. What they pay is more important than what they get.

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