Wedding price on site....

[CanonGolfer]

Alright so here is my dilemma. After reading countless threads about putting prices on your site, I have gotten 2 sides of it.

1-You should put your prices on there because if you don't you may be losing out to a lot of customers because they think you are too expensive. Kind of like the whole 'if you have to ask you can't afford it' mentality.
2-If you put your prices on your site you risk the chance of being consistently undercut by other photogs and you are also going to be window shopped by potential customers, which in turn can turn them off from you because of the price. It is best to have them like your work then inquire about the price later.

Now I have my price for my standard photo shoot. Not a big deal because it is comparable to pretty much every other photographer in the area. The wedding price on the other hand is a different beast. I like the idea of the bride/groom being able to customize their wedding package to fit their needs/budget. I know not everyone is going to be needing all day coverage, 20 8x10's and 500 thank you cards. Some don't want a fancy photo album.
So in essence I don't have any 'packages' so to speak. Now I put on my site that we will sit down 1-2 hours and create the perfect package for you to ensure that you get everything you want and nothing you don't. Is this wrong and or bad? Should I create some generic packages for people that don't know what they want?

[Shockey]

If your work is good and you are charging a reasonable price for good work and want your phone to ring a lot mostly with people who don't want to pay that much don't put your prices on there.
If you want people who cannot afford you to not waste your time and theirs by calling you and only want calls from people who can afford you and are serious potential customers then do at least put a starting price on your website.

If you are just starting out and your prices are really cheap you should put your prices on there so no one predisqualifies themselves by thinking you might be to expensive.

No one is going to sit down with you for two hours unless they know the price at the end is going to be in their ball park or they can stretch to get it in their ball park.

[sixtwo]

Just a thought from a complete outsider, but in my world (retail) if you want to sell something, you put a price on it. First rule of merchandising is you put something on the floor for sale, you immediatly price it. Maybe its just me, but if i am anywhere and see something I want, that I know I can shop around for, I keep walking if I don't see a price.
Just my opinion, everyone is different.

[CanonGolfer]

Alright so here is what I put.

"Now while we do not require a minimum investment for your wedding you should feel comfortable with at least a $1250 investment for this special day of yours. Please keep in mind that this price will vary depending on the options you choose but we promise to work closely with you to ensure that nothing is left out and that your package fits nicely into your budget."

So that pretty much says a minimum but is still flexible.

[Mhappy]

If your work is good and you are charging a reasonable price for good work and want your phone to ring a lot mostly with people who don't want to pay that much don't put your prices on there.
If you want people who cannot afford you to not waste your time and theirs by calling you and only want calls from people who can afford you and are serious potential customers then do at least put a starting price on your website.

If you are just starting out and your prices are really cheap you should put your prices on there so no one predisqualifies themselves by thinking you might be to expensive.

No one is going to sit down with you for two hours unless they know the price at the end is going to be in their ball park or they can stretch to get it in their ball park.
I totally agree!

When I was looking for a wedding photographer for my wedding, most websites that didn't have a price, I went on to the next site - but like Shockey said - some I did e-mail about price because I was very interested in their talent. (but for the most part I moved on.)

This was also true for those that said "Each wedding is different, call me and I can customize to suit YOUR needs"... I saw that popping up a lot - that's something else I moved on from, because my view about that was, 'I don't care how anyone wants to spin it - you're not putting your prices up for a reason'. Whether you say that, or put nothing at all, the end result is still me having to call and ask for a quote. And I didn't want to call anyone without A) Seeing their work and B) Knowing their prices. Everything else I'd ask at a meeting. I didn't want to take the chance and end up talking to some aggressive, slick, salesmen-type that before I knew it, I was locked into a wedding package I can't afford!

I was a bride that wanted to know what I was looking at price-wise (being on a tight budget like many couples) before I contacted the person further.

Hope that helps! :)

[Karl Johnston]

Alright so here is what I put.

Weddings starting at ~$1245.

So that pretty much says a minimum but is still flexible.
I edited it for you

[Mhappy]

Alright so here is what I put.

"Now while we do not require a minimum investment for your wedding you should feel comfortable with at least a $1250 investment for this special day of yours. Please keep in mind that this price will vary depending on the options you choose but we promise to work closely with you to ensure that nothing is left out and that your package fits nicely into your budget."

So that pretty much says a minimum but is still flexible.

That sounds ok! For brides like me, I'd probably call (again depending on how much I liked your work) because you at least gave a ballpark price! (Even though I'd prefer to have what I'm getting and for how much in front of me before I call)!

[tim]

Putting prices on your website stops people calling who have a tiny budget. If you don't have packages put something like "coverage from $x, albums from $x, images on CD from $x". Or make up packages and say "packages can be customised".

Personally I expect prices for every product and service to be on the web, and if there's a choice between using providers with prices online and the ones I have to call, i'll use the ones I find online unless the other one is exceptional. This is the general attitude of people in the age group getting married now. Some customers have told me they didn't even consider people who didn't have prices online.

[Jimconnerphoto]

I have a starting price and a form that emails immediately my pricing.
That way I get their information before they get my prices.