Wow, can I just say, when you really get into it all, (I am refering to the photography business) It is truly mind boggling. I cannot tell you how many sites I have looked at, comparing services and prices... I mean really, how does one come up with a reasonable rate, pricing, and make the profit margin, while giving their clients the best deal? It's crazy. I guess you pick a starting point and go with what sells..... I have been told it is much easier to lower your prices than raise them, so I aim for the mid range I guess..... I can go lower because I do not have the overhead of a studio, but I still have to consider insurance, incorporating, and someday, God willing, maybe even a studio of my own if things really take off. :)
It's crazy I tell you, and I need a break from all this business thinking I think! But if I slow down, I loose my momentum, sigh, whew! OK, so here is one dilema I am facing..... traditional pricing vs copyright free cd...
On one hand, a sitting/session fee and package prices with ala carte, and on the other hand I am starting to see with the digital era, alot of pros, shooting, editing and selling a copyright cd to their clients, and walking away from money from print orders...
It seems to me, that in the end, you make about as much from each shoot and the latter is much less time and cost intense. Let me explain.... I'm just picking a random fee and spitting out amounts for examples....
Traditionally, you shoot, edit, produce proof prints to the client, take and fill and order for prints, and return the final product. you have your time shooting, editing, printing proofs, time for pick up of proofs, or shipping proofs, time waitig for the order, time filling the order (back and forth to the lab or uploading etc), possible hassle from your lab, packaging, and returning the order to the client. Say a good order is $100 for sitting and $250.00 in prints ordered (OK I know it goes way up from there, or sometimes it's 70 bucks) So there's $350.00.
NOW.... If you shoot digitally and offer an "all inclusive session" Say you charge $400.00 for the session, (I am talking 8-12 proofs kinda standard, or whatever you normally shoot and give) an online gallery and a copyright free cd. You have your time shooting, upload, editing, then it's done, for the same or more amount really.... The customer has to pay for their prints from there, but... it's on their time and dime. You can recommend a lab or let them go where they love to have stuff done... If it doesn't meet their standards, they take it up with the lab.... not you. They make as many copies as they want, for as long as they want, so they win out with this really. (Up front it's a lot of money, but if you order or want a lot of prints it's cheaper real fast) How many folks limit their orders because of expense. Images they might have purchased in the beginning might get cut for the budget, this way, they print what they want when they can.
You as the photographer goes on to shoot more and spend less follow up time on each order. And cut out time packaging, those materials and shipping costs when applicable....
Of course you may loose out when the occasional customer that spends hundreds if not thousands of dollars comes your way on the print order, but for most of us, that's rare indeed.... And you can offer printing services if your customer doesn't want to mess with it or wants pro papers.
The cd method seems like a win-win situation to me, if I can just get over the photographer's ego, to hold all rights to our images... I would still retain release rights for publishing and whatever I want to do with the images under my name as well.
The customer wins, because they can do almost anything with those images short of publishing them. They can email them, websites, scrapbook, print, whatever.....
So I ask, what are your opinions, Come on, I know you have em! Let's hear it, from customers to fellow photogs! Whadda ya think?!!! Email me privately if you would like to express you opinion and not make it public please :) It's on my profile...
