Had a clueless guy accuse me of taking away his business

Shhh. Or they wont let you sit at the back of the bus anymore. Have to sit up front with me cause you wont listen to the smart people.

I think OP has not calculated the cost of staying in business well enough, and I agree with his competitor. He is 'whoring' out the industry a bit by under pricing.

He'll soon realize he isn't making enough money to be where he wants to be and he'll raise his prices, and customers will no longer want to buy because the only reason they came to him was not because they necessarily preferred his images, but because they were cheaper.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
THIS

DanielFotografie wrote in post #12334407
the only reason they came to him was not because they necessarily preferred his images, but because they were cheaper.

I see and hear this all the time, no matter what I was shooting, that I should lower my prices to the other guys level. I always asked the folks that wanted me to lower my prices, what they did for a living. I then asked them to supply me their product or service at a rate that was equally as low as the other guys rates are compared to mine.

I then made the sale at my asking price.

To a certain extent though, youth sports photography is a commodity. There isn't much artistic expression to it and there's not a lot of post work involved so playing the price game isn't as damning as the high end artists would have us believe.

Prints aren't that costly. We're not fooling anyone if we pretend that they are. That's why my print pricing varies with the service attached. A portrait 8x10 costs my customer more than a basketball 8x10. I need to carefully set up and then retouch the former in detail. The latter needs practically nothing beyond showing up and plunking my tush down behind the net.

I had a gal I know tell me she was paying $40 for an 8x10 of her son playing hockey, and she would buy two of them, one for the kid and one for the grand parents. So ya think that tog is gonna be happy if some guy shows up wanting to sell $7.00 prints?

There is a dirt track near me, where the track tog shoots for free, and that is now and always will be the price the track tog will get paid at that track from now on. I'd have to turn down that job if they offered it to me, as it is a 140 mile round trip, and with the price of gas, I need $20 just to drive there and back.

It is a slippery slope as you undercut yourself into paying to go to work.

cdifoto wrote in post #12334518
To a certain extent though, youth sports photography is a commodity. There isn't much artistic expression to it and there's not a lot of post work involved so playing the price game isn't as damning as the high end artists would have us believe.

I believe I said earlier that there are some things that it really doesn't pay to do professionally anymore. The artistic requirements are low and modern cameras handle the technical requirements. It's going to happen.

DanielFotografie wrote in post #12334407
I think OP has not calculated the cost of staying in business well enough, and I agree with his competitor. He is 'whoring' out the industry a bit by under pricing.

You missed the point where the OP has a good paying day job--not everyone has to struggle to stay in business when you have no real overhead.

If you wash your own car, mow your own lawn, do simple household repairs, and the list goes on--you are cheating a professional out of their livelihood--'whoring' out their profession.

I did the weekend warrior bit for several years while the daughter was in sports--and the competitions cash flow was just not one of my problems.

dave kadolph wrote in post #12334811
You missed the point where the OP has a good paying day job--not everyone has to struggle to stay in business when you have no real overhead.

If you wash your own car, mow your own lawn, do simple household repairs, and the list goes on--you are cheating a professional out of their livelihood--'whoring' out their profession.

I did the weekend warrior bit for several years while the daughter was in sports--and the competitions cash flow was just not one of my problems.

The way it was explained to me by the pro's, is even though the weekend warriors prices are ridiculously low, the pro's have nothing to worry about because the weekend warriors will eventually play themselves out and the pros quality of work will prevail. But for some reason, it pushes their buttons.

TGrundvig wrote in post #12333455
The last time I checked Wal-Mart was a very successful business. All the heirs are billionaires. Yet, you act like that is a failure of a system. If someone can make a lot of money with this system how is that not successful?

I know there are photographers that charge more than me and they spend a lot more time in PP then I do. Yet, they consider a good year to be one where they shoot 100 homes. I shot over 400 homes the last two years. Unless they are charging 4 times what I am charging, they are no more successful than I am, financially speaking. The ones I am thinking of also tell me they can only shoot 2-3 homes a week, max, because of all the time they spend doing PP. Being stuck behind a computer 30 hours a week is NOT my idea of fun. I would much rather spend my time in the field. Sure, I have the occasional client that will order the high end package and it takes me a while in PP, but that is NOT the way I would prefer to spend my time. I do not want to be stuck behind the computer processing photos for days on end. That just does not appeal to me. Therefore, not only does my business model work for me but it also appeals to the way I would prefer to spend my time. In the end, it is a success for me, both financially and personally.

No argument that Walmart is successful. But who's the guy working smart? The guy shooting 4 times and doing 4 times more work of the guy shooting 4 times less and making as much or more. Burnout is real and also the more volume you do the less time you have to really be creative. Then theres the act that once you've established a price point and a clint base its hard to move up. What looks great at 25 might not look so good at 38 with a family and a lot of expenses. I learned early on that volume wasn't for me and I'm grateful that I don't have to work like that now.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #12334919
No argument that Walmart is successful. But who's the guy working smart? The guy shooting 4 times and doing 4 times more work of the guy shooting 4 times less and making as much or more. Burnout is real and also the more volume you do the less time you have to really be creative. Then theres the act that once you've established a price point and a clint base its hard to move up. What looks great at 25 might not look so good at 38 with a family and a lot of expenses. I learned early on that volume wasn't for me and I'm grateful that I don't have to work like that now.

So Wallyworld became successful by not being smart.

cbknight wrote in post #12332828
Is Zack Arias a pro? Its his advice I am taking. I know your more sought after than he is, but he's the pro I am listening to today.

His day rate is $2500 per day. What is yours? Do you want to be walmart? A cheap whore? If not, you might want to raise your prices.

So apparently Zack respects his work and his price reflects that he indeed values it. And isn't he in suburban Atlanta?

You have no idea where my prices are so how can you comment? If you look back my comments were never directed at anybody but those that have little or no value in their.

Either you value what you do r you don't. To many photographers have little to no value for what they create.

cbknight wrote in post #12334943
So Wallyworld became successful by not being smart.

Can you read?

Do you want to be the say the wedding photographer that uses the volume plan (walmart) and because of his pricing he has to book 100 weddings a year to make it work or do you want to be the guy that books 25 weddings a year and makes more than the guy shooting 100 wedding a year? Who's the smart guy?

does anyone know where the popcorn eating smiley is?

fivegallon wrote in post #12334973
does anyone know where the popcorn eating smiley is?

Yep