What's your price for your service?

[staceyann]

My friend and I decided to start our photography business for the deaf community. We are working on the prices.

How much would you charge for, and how many hours?

Birthday and anniversary parties
Senior portraits
Family portraits
Class Reunion
Weddings

[amfoto1]

Hi Stacey,

You probably don't realize it, but you are asking questions that will take about 200 pages to answer, and the answers will be all over the place because people approach pricing differently (some very wisely, others very foolishly, and everything in between), plus there's a great deal of variance from one market to another.

I'd much rather teach you to figure it out for yourself, than simply quote you my prices.

First, please do yourself a big favor, go get a copy of "Pricing Photography" by Michal Heron. Probably about $20 on Amazon.

Next, survey all the other professional photographers in your immediate area, to find out what they are charging. (Hint: it's probably as dangerous or more-so to be under-priced, as it is to be over-priced in comparison to the local market).

They may not be forthcoming, if they know you are a competitor. If that's the case, just check their websites and ads and do the best you can to gather accurate info.

Finally, do a careful and detailed cost analysis for your business, to determine what you need to make to turn a decent profit. Here you need to factor that your camera equipment will be used heavily and need replacement fairly often. You also might need to have equipment that typical moms and dads don't, or they'll have little reason to use you for some types of photography. And, you need extra backup equipment for many types of shooting... weddings for example... plus special location lighting equipment, backdrops, etc. These are your capital investment items, which can be depreciated against income, but will need replacement over time.

There are many books and even some software programs to help write business plans, which often include cost analysis. These don't need to be photography-specific to bring to your attention recurring and costs like rents, insurance, business licenses, accounting and tax services, banking services and more.

You will probably find a basic hourly rate that will work for you fairly quickly, and then can calculate that portion of just about any job. Today we also have to consider post-production time, which many charge a little less for, but still hourly... perhaps 50% of their hourly shooting rate.

In some cases you will need to package final products in with price. An example of this is a wedding. Here you might offer a certain number of prints in particular sizes, or an album, or other finished product that's built into a "package" price. Most seem to offer two or three levels, maybe more. Some offer packages with multiple shooters, and/or other add-ons like engagement photos. You probably need to calculate in the cost of an assistant, possible two.

There are a number of books about the business of photography, as well as seminars conducted by working pros. Also look for small business classes at local community colleges or adult schools.

In the end, you'll be able to design your own pricing structure. When first starting out and building your business, I think some discounting might be appropriate, and is better psychologically than just using lower prices with the intent of raising them "some day".

Don't think of your price structure as set in stone, either. Things change, and it will need to change with them. Over time you will see various external pressures (inflation, competition, etc.), plus internal ones like a great new product idea that dawns on you, that require fiddling with your prices. No biggie. Actually, your entire business plan will always be a "work in progress". Plan to review everything on a regular basis.. tweak and adjust as necessary .

Hope this helps!

[Dennis_Hammer]

amfoto1 best response I have seen to a 'what to price' post and very very good advice copy and save it you'll need it often.