Portraits Pricing?

[PIXI_666]

Hi guys

I mainly stick to the wedding forum but i have had a recent portrait request, i have done portraits before with my neices and nephews but nothing i have charged for. I have done a set pricelist that is quite inexpensive but i wanted to see what other's charged? And what sort of packges you give out?

My very basic package starts at $35 and goes to $400 im finding this is quite cheap...because it includes enlargements. Am i charging too little? I know i wont make aliving off this, it is just something i want to do as an add on from my weddings especially over winter while there arent that many weddings around.

So for pets and people portraits - what sort of packages are you guys out there doing - price wise and what is included in them?

Thanks :)

Del

[SonyaL]

From a mom point of view as long as your pricing has something for everyone then you should be fine. I want to target the middle class for pictures I started my packages at 40 and up and if you spend 40 you get a free wallet page if you spend 60 a free 5 x 7 and so on I am hoping this will help since I am just getting started.
I mean everyone hates walmarts pics and loves the good pics they see displayed in the malls and I think the key is most middle class will spend 60-75.00 on pictures but this is me just guessing. I am not pro I just wanted to tell you my opinion.

What if they ask you for the CD will you sale it if so how much?
Also do you give them a photo release to get prints made I recently came across this and was not sure about the charging for it. If so what did you put on the photo release?


Sonya

[Mike Panic]

whats included in your packages?

around here, most pro's get $75-200 for a sitting and usually 8-20 4x6's and 1 8x10.. give or take - most sittings are around 30 minutes

i wouldn't undercut your competition (not talking about olen mills or sears, other pro photogs)... because its always easier to run a coupon in the local paper for $xx off or xx% off - its almost impossible to start to raise your prices though once you have people coming to you.

[Rima]

I guess it depends on your target market and their income.My lowest package is 75 dollars I havent been at it that long but I rather have 2 customers that spend 300 dollars than 10 that spend 30.It also depends on what kinds reputation you want-The cheap photographer where we can get lots of pictures or the Great photographer I am saving up to get pictures taken by.
I mostly do children which is a large market but it may be sligtly diffrent or adults, I really dont know.

[PIXI_666]

thanks guys, well this particular shoot are 2 brothers, one is 6mths and the other 2yrs. (Hard task lol) and the $35 say gets you the sitting for an hour plus 20 4x6" the $400 one is a magazine style album with all the photo's i take. So its really "What they are getting" that i am charging for.
I didnt think of a model release, i should probably do one up and sign it just to save my butt!!!!

[R_Metzel]

I mean everyone hates walmarts pics and loves the good pics they see displayed in the malls and I think the key is most middle class will spend 60-75.00 on pictures but this is me just guessing.
I think it varies location wise. I work for a walmart portrait studio.(yes the do suck) I talk to the local photographer's and they say places like walmart are killing them. For example, this is the ad package we are running in Wausau:
1-10x13
2-8x10's
2-5x7's
4-3.5x5
25-wallets
all for 6.88 plus tax. I shoot mostly kids and the parents don't want to spend much because they come in once a month. And other trend I've noticed is the middle and upper class people spend less then the poor folks. I have familys coming in to take pics of the kids,Mom and Dad are wearing a rolex and they complain that 6.88 is to high. But when the hillbilly slobs come in the spend 150 bucks. And let me tell you, for 150 you get alot of photo's, a 11x14 canvas w/frame, 16x20 pic, a 10x13 puzzle, 20 greeting cards,and all your photos on a cd. But like I said, I think it varies location wise. I work at 4 seperate studios in my area and its the same trend at all of them. The only good thing about working for them(besides a stead paycheck) is the networking I have done. I have people ask for my card(my business) all the time to give to friends and family that are looking for photographers for stuff other then portraits.One more thing to add. Atleast in this area, people think the photos I take at walmart are great!(poor souls :lol: ) If they only knew what quality was.

[JaertX]

I don't do packages. I know it works for some, but I'm not even trying to compete with Wal-Mart. My 8x10 price is more than that entire package for Wal-Mart and I'm still pricing low...this time next year (if things go as they are) I will put 8x10's at way more. So far, my average client spends almost $300USD for a portrait session, with around 200% proffit margin. That's okay for now...I'm new! But if I stayed there I'd go broke.

Anyway, I think that is so incredibly low Pixi...I've seen some of your posts and your worth way more than that. $35 maybe for the sitting fee alone with proofs posted online...but you have to do what you're comfortable with.

[PIXI_666]

WOW Walmart are going CHEAP! We dont have walmart here in Aus....but im sure Kmart is much the same, but $6.88 for all of that...geezuz how do they make their money????? lol
But its good to see both ends of the scale....

Jaertz, thanks so much for saying what you did, it makes me feel almost worthy to hear that :) but in the same breathe, i have never done portraits, so i am doing this as a trial and then see how good they turn out, if they end up being great ill up my prices - it seems as though a free 1hr sitting fee is going well for me, the lady was astounded at how cheap i was (I dont want her to think my quality is cheap tho!) so ill stick with the free 1hr sitting for now while i am practicing...and up my prics slightly - i have been doing the same with my weddings, every new customer gets a new set of prices lol...they are only creeping up just to cover myself!

Thanks for all the help.....ill let you know how it all goes, the shoot is tomorrow and the weather is looking BAD! LOL So ill post some piccies next week :)

Del

[Photorebel]

Better to hit that midrange pricing, and not even try to compete with Walmart on price. When someone asks what you can offer that Wal-mart, does, show them your portfolio.
In other words, you can offer quality for not a whole lot more dollars.
People who value quality will pay for it. People who don't value quality will never be happy about the price.
I'm not saying price yourself out of business, but set a price that you feel comfortable with, and concentrate on delivering the best quality. After your reputation grows...you won't have to worry about pricing anymore.

[PIXI_666]

Well i took my first portrait sitting and it went great, i took plenty of photo's. I showed the kiddies mum and she was stoked and so was the nanna!! SO...she already told me she'd spend hundreds getting reprints! I think the more you take, the more they will want and the more they will spend at the end of the day. My shots turned out really nicely...and it was such a minimal effort compared to a wedding1 I think this is a quick and easy part of photography, to get your portfolio up and also make a bit of spare cash - i think i'll start advertising it for sure!!!

Thanks for all the advice...what i might do now is have a sitting fee, have my packages, but also have just reprint prices aswell, just in case someone wants to have their portraits taken and just pick a few enlargements :)

Im pretty happy with my results so i think ill do this more often :)

Del

[R_Metzel]

Glad to hear it went well!

[saravrose]

good for you. I like doing portraits, very low stress, quick easy and most of the time fun..

[mbze430]

Here in LA, most seperate and break down. sitting fee, than a package fee. sitting fee should be used consideration of your time and effort during the shoot. Package fee should be consider as your post-processing and cost of prints + percentage.