What is a decent price to charge for.....

[samckitt]

Taking some pics of someone (real estate agent) & give them the files so they can print/use whenever they want?

Thanks
Scot

[lingham]

depends on what the pics are exactly of, the size of the pics, where the pics will start life (either on their pc, on a website bla bla)

[Dorado]

"give them the files"

You dont "give them the files", you licence them usage of the files.

[samckitt]

License them usage of the files? How does that work?

[Floriantrojer.com]

You dont "give them the files", you licence them usage of the files.

Yup, it's basically that you KEEP your files, but allow them unlimited usage. No need to absolutely give them your originals, keep them, unless the price is VERY decent of course. ;)

[samckitt]

How would he use the files without having them if he is getting advertisements printed?

[Dorado]

How would he use the files without having them if he is getting advertisements printed?

Do your homework before getting into a professional situation. Research Licencing and pricing structures, this site is a good place to start. Being a photographer requires more than just buying a camera...

Here's a start:

nppa business_practices (http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/pricing.html)

[sierra_nova]

I do real estate staff shots that are for use in newspaper ads, their websites, business cards - whatever they need them for. Unlimited usage, with files supplied on disc. For this we have a special "real estate offer" for which we charge $300. It is low - it is a much lower price than we would charge normally. However, we are in a small-ish town where word of mouth is our biggest advertiser. Real Estate agents talk - a lot, to a lot of people. Not only has it brought us repeat business from the real estate companies themselves, but also studio family sittings from their staff, and follow on word of mouth sales. All for a minimum of effort and a sales price we still make money from.

Just my philosophy!

Cheers,
Naomi

[samckitt]

Thanks Naomi for an honest polite answer without slamming someone to do their "homework" & telling them "you can't be a photographer by just buying a camera." That is common sense, no need to degrade.
Thanks,
Scot

[Francis Farmer]

Wish I could get $ 300 for a simple headshot! I have found real estate people to be really cheap. We charge $ 50 for sitting fee and $ 50 for a digital image. I know it seems low, but I have found some real estate people to complain about that. Don't even get me started about aerial photos of property.

[Leo Apostol]

Wish I could get $ 300 for a simple headshot! I have found real estate people to be really cheap. We charge $ 50 for sitting fee and $ 50 for a digital image. I know it seems low, but I have found some real estate people to complain about that. Don't even get me started about aerial photos of property.

Francis,
I resent the comment you made about "Real Estate People" being cheap. BTW, Real Estate is not a nationality, it's a profession.

I am a Real Estate Agent and I am in no way cheap, however, I will always try and get a better price on anything I buy. Why? Because the simple fact that by negotiating I can most of the time get a better price.

You have to remember who you are working with. Realtors by trade are negotiators, You have to show the benefit and value of your services and sell them on choosing you to photograph them. When It comes to Photography, you are the professional, not the client. Why should you let the client dictate what your services are worth?

When running your own business, you also have to be a sales person. If you don't possess the skills to demonstrate the value in your services or product and why it is worth a certain amount, then you don't deserve to be paid that amount.

Cheers

[Francis Farmer]

Sorry if you took offense, but that is my impression dealing with them for over 30 years. I shoot a lot of aerial photographs. Now when I am shooting real estate, I usually am shooting undeveloped land that will sell for millions. So a 7% commission on a million is not chump change. They groan and complain with what we charge.

I hope you come on time for your appointments. I have found real estate agents to usually be late.

Don't take anything I said personally. I sure it is a different attitude in different parts of the country. But here we are being flooded by housewives thinking they can make easy money in the business. Kinda of like photography.

Thanks

[Jon, The Elder]

Francis...my experience also. I won't touch properties under $400,000. Below that it is like dealing with Gypsies. My apologies to any fine young Gypsies out there.

[Rubi Jane]

But here we are being flooded by housewives thinking they can make easy money in the business. Kinda of like photography.

Thanks
Are you insinuating housewives are the only ones thinking they can make easy money at anything? I know a few, make that quite a few, men that would fit that bill also ;-)

[Leo Apostol]

Sorry if you took offense, but that is my impression dealing with them for over 30 years. I shoot a lot of aerial photographs. Now when I am shooting real estate, I usually am shooting undeveloped land that will sell for millions. So a 7% commission on a million is not chump change. They groan and complain with what we charge.


The median house price in my area is 1.3 million and I agree that commissions are truly not chump change, but, people that are not in the business don't see that (in your example 7%) is split between buying and selling agent then their brokers, minus income taxes, minus the expense of running a business. And on top of that, because you are an independent contractor, you get no health insurance, no sick pay, no vacation pay, and no retirement package. You must do it all on your own.
So you really don't make 7% of whatever the selling price is.

I hope you come on time for your appointments. I have found real estate agents to usually be late.

There have been times where I have been late, but in those not so frequent occurrences, I have had the common courtesy to notify the ones I am meeting with beforehand.
Do you charge a late fee or put it on your website or in the contract that there is a charge for being late? If not, why is your time less important the agent's time?
What is your response when the agent says, " I'm sorry for being late"? The most common answer to that remark is... That's okay.

Two weeks ago I had an appointment to show four homes to clients between 12:30-2:00. I set up the appointments with the homeowners to show between a certain time frame. Well, my buyers were 45 minutes late showing up to my office without a call telling me they were going to be late. I got them in my car and showed them 1 home, which was the one I set up for that time frame; I then proceeded to drive back to my office.
When we got back to the office the husband asked, "aren’t we going to see the other homes?" I politely told him "we missed the time frames that I had set up with the home owners, but I would be more than happy to show those homes to them the following week." He was not very happy about that and told me "I'm sure we could find another agent today to show us those other homes." I told him "I was sorry he felt that way" and also that "I needed to get ready for my 2:30 appointment." So, I wished him the best of luck with his home buying experience.
He said "Are you serious, you're just going to walk away from this sale?" My answer was "Yes, when escrow is opened on a home, time is of the essence to make sure that important deadlines are met so that the escrow closes and there is no potential for anyone to loose money. If you cannot respect my time, then we cannot have a productive business relationship and in the end, everyone will just loose money." I again said "good luck."
Later that night I got a call, he apologized and told me he respected my work ethics and said he knew that I was going to get him the best deal on the home of their dreams. The next weekend I sold them a home.

Moral of that story: Don't be afraid to stand up for your self, don’t be afraid to loose a deal. If you give an inch, they'll take a mile.


Don't take anything I said personally. I sure it is a different attitude in different parts of the country. But here we are being flooded by housewives thinking they can make easy money in the business. Kinda of like photography.
Thanks

I'm not taking it personally. I just hate generalizing all real estate agents as being cheap, I'm sure there is a good hand full of them, but with any profession, you will find that.
Just like I hate it when people say that digital photographers are not truly artist, because anyone can take a good picture with a digital camera.

Unfortunately, we have the people who are just trying to make the quick buck also. It was a real easy thing to do in the last five years during the recent California Real Estate boom, you really didn't need to work for it, and it just fell in your lap. Now that the market has adjusted to a more normal one, you see those same realtors getting out of the business and complaining how slow the market is. They have no clue how to prospect and actually be a productive working Real Estate professional.

I do have a question for you... If you don't do the pictures for the agents, is there another professional photographer that will do the same job as you with the same quality and the same amount of experience you have and for the same price??

How much are your services really worth? If an agent is representing a high-end million dollars plus transaction, the last thing they want is a hokey want to be photographer taking snapshots of the property. Wouldn’t you agree? They have to put their best foot forward and display the property in the most professional and appealing way possible; he or she would be at risk of loosing that listing and thousands of commission dollars by not spending the extra money (within reason) To SHOW OFF that property properly. I'm sure that's why these agents entrust you to do the job. Are you worth the extra money? I sure would hope so after doing this for 30 years.

Increase your prices (again, within reason), demonstrate the value of your service and experience then demonstrate how your expertise and your end product would benefit them.

[Leo Apostol]

Taking some pics of someone (real estate agent) & give them the files so they can print/use whenever they want?

Thanks
Scot
I would suggest that you do a little market research and find out what your competition is charging and what they are charging for.

If your service differs in any way and there is justification for charging more, then sell your self and show the client how they would benefit by using you.

Remember, they just want to look good and have a good picture taken for marketing purposes. It is up to you the professional phothgrapher to demonstrate the difference of a $25 head shot and a $200 head shot.

P.S. Don't offer to do the Glamour RE Agent shot. It's cheesy for this business and agents make fun of it all the time.

Leo