How do you determine price?

[jsinon]

I have a friend who wants to buy one of my photographs, my question, what to charge? This is just a hobby for me so I've not really looked into the potential business end of it. Outside of thinking about maybe setting up a booth at one of the many local craft fairs. That would be the extent of turning this into a business. I just have absolutely no idea what to charge. I haven't talked to her about size on anything and I think she will be handling the framing. Any tips would be great. I must say that I'm pretty psyched that someone would actually want to pay real money for my work:D

[tim]

Friend = free + cost of goods. Do you really want your friends money? Have them buy you a bottle of something.

[jsinon]

That's exactly my feelings, and what I'm planning on doing. I just wanted to get a feel for how to determine pricing should I do any "non-friend" selling. So I guess the question still applies for future reference.

[tim]

Images are worth what you can convince someone to pay.

[Sanja]

I would suggest you make a price list with different sizes
Maybe something like this:
6x4 $5
5x7 $7 etc.
Just have your price list and all the services you offer printed on a4 paper or something like that. But since she or her is your friend you might want to be easy on them for the first time as if they happy with your photo I am sure word of mouth will apply here :)

[sandpiper]

Images are worth what you can convince someone to pay.

That pretty much sums it up.

Many use a formula around "cost of print / frame / mount X 3" if that helps at all. However, that assumes that the content is primarily the physical aspect of the picture and not the 'art' factor.

If a picture really grabs someones attention and they want it on their wall, they will pay thousands for it, although this sort of money generally goes to 'known names' of course.

I saw a recent note in the news section of Professional Photographer about a shot across the aisles of a 7-11 store selling for over a million (can't remember if that was in US$ or UK£, but I don't think that's too important here). It wasn't even a unique piece as someone else bought a copy of it previously for a similarly substantial sum.

Personally, I didn't think it was a great photograph. But then, I look at a lot of paintings, sculptures and other art and don't think much of them either. In the art world, a picture is worth whatever you can make someone THINK it is worth.

A good line of patter, an exhibition with a bit of bling, and the cojones to price your work at 20 grand a piece, could just make people believe that you are a true 'artist' and the pictures are a good investment. I have seen many pieces priced at that level which would get ripped apart if put on here for C&C. But who can define what is 'art'.

[Mark1]

Other factors are...how much it cost you to make the image. Is it an image of something the average person does not have access to? Or only available for a short time each year? Everything about the image plays into the cost.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

I just sold a 16x20 print of this barn for $75, and an 8x10 of this windmill for $20 to a coworker. I have set prices for print sizes when it comes to weddings and portraits - so I just used those for her as well. You dont always have to give someone a deal because before you know it, everyone will be "your friend" and you wont make crap.

Anyhow, here are the images:

http://blog.jeffreyallred.com/images/barn.jpg

http://blog.jeffreyallred.com/images/windmill.jpg

[bildeb0rg]

Friend = free + cost of goods. Do you really want your friends money? Have them buy you a bottle of something.

I'm with Tim on this one, but with a twist.
Make sure it's a bottle of something you LIKE.
Anyone else HATE that melon (Midori?) stuff ???

[tim]

Anyone else HATE that melon (Midori?) stuff ???

Nope, I like it, but if you have a bottle you don't want Moppie will take it off your hands...

[jsinon]

Thanks for all the input, it all really helps. My initial gut instinct is cost of print and maybe, and it's a big maybe, an additional 20% to cover my time. She is going to take care of framing. First and foremost this is just a hobby for me, and she is a friend. The only reason she even knows about the picture is because my wife was showing her her MySpace page and my wife has a bunch of my pics on it. The farthest I could ever see myself taking this would be the "booth at a craft fair" route and even that would take a pretty big investment. My wife and I went to one last weekend and I was just trying to guess how much the photographer must have had tied up it framed prints, matted prints, tent/awning, tables etc.

Anyway, thanks again for all the advice. If I ever do decide to take my photography to the next, money making, level your responses will be very helpful.

[black_z]

20% on top of a print cost is not even worth worrying about!