Newborn session quote; only wants CD or downloads

Just wanted some quick opinions on this request after receiving this contact tonight.

"Newborn photo session quote. Would prefer results on cd or downloadable from online. Due Aug 5 would like to have this done within one week of birth."

Not sure I even want to go down this road.

Why not? If this is what the client wants, why not work with them to figure out how to provide this service.

If you're in the business of providing tangible results, then tell them that's what you do and explain your pricing for your packages and services. If they want a full-resolution jpg from which to print - how expensive will that be per image? A pretty penny I'm sure. Provide them with both options and see which they'll take. Very likely not the one where one image is a few hundred $$$.

I don't even respond to incomplete sentences. Yeah it's probably an assh0le thing to *not* do, but if they can't take the time to sound moderately intelligent then neither can I. Yes, I judge my prospects the same way they judge me. If I responded, "CD 200 bux. Want? When?" I guarantee I would not be hired.

$100 session fee, $100 per retouched image with basic retouching included.

DD974 wrote in post #14726820
"Would prefer results on cd or downloadable from online."

This doesn't mean "Only wants CD or downloads", this means they'd prefer it.

If this isn't your business model, explain that to them. You might be able to get references from them, though they're going to be the kind that expects to get a CD or download, if that's what you allow them to do.

I'm struggling with a similar mindset, where I've done a bunch of shoots for friends where I've provided the CD - if I'm going to make it a small business, though, I've either got to charge per digital image as Tim suggested, or only provide prints below a certain price-point.

Keep this in mind, too: After I shot the wedding of a friend of mine as a gift (And gave him the CD), he went to a professional photographer for baby shots. I don't mind at all, because I fully explained that it's not my expertise. He found that digital files were $200 a pop for a 5x7 size file, and prints were $50 for 8x12, so more attractive.

You can explain it to them that the only way you can control the output is to do the printing yourself, or you can just accept that this customer is looking for the cheapest possible photographer, which might not be you.

I'd rather control the printing of the images...who wants to produce quality images, white balnce, color correct, etc. only to have them stop off at Wally World and see them butchered. Granted, I think most people not in the trade don't know the difference between a bad and great print. If I do this I'll definitely put it in writing that I prefer they use a pro lab and give a few suggestions, just to CMA.

tim wrote in post #14728039
$100 session fee, $100 per retouched image with basic retouching included.

For the area I live in I'd never get $100 per image.

cdifoto wrote in post #14728020
I don't even respond to incomplete sentences. Yeah it's probably an assh0le thing to *not* do, but if they can't take the time to sound moderately intelligent then neither can I. Yes, I judge my prospects the same way they judge me. If I responded, "CD 200 bux. Want? When?" I guarantee I would not be hired.

I noticed the incomplete sentences too...not a big deal to me. I got the jist of what they wanted.

There is a price for everything. I would suggest that if you have packages and people ask for digital files, only offer it as an add on to the top package at a costly price (because you want to edit the hell out of each and every image - so you have to charge for final edits on each image.) Charge for the disc and a minimal number of files, then add a per file charge on top of it.

If you are running a portrait business for profit, cheap files is the quickest way to bankruptcy.

DD974 wrote in post #14728410
I noticed the incomplete sentences too...not a big deal to me. I got the jist of what they wanted.

I've found over time that the more intelligent sounding the correspondence, the more likely they are to be a good paying client instead of a tire kicking cheapskate.

Yes, communication really is representative of personality.

Easy solution--sell them low res digital images that are suitable for facebook and sharing via websites etc, and if they want prints they can buy them from you at whatever it is you charge.

Clearly you need to speak to them either on the phone or in person--and you need to speak to the mother. If you can't get them to communicate more completely on the next attempt, I agree with cdifoto that you don't want to go further with them. Newborn sessions can be complex and a lot of information should be shared between you.

And you want to talk to the mother--if the mother is not involved, run away.

At this point in time, I'm still finding that the average private consumer says "I only want a CD" because he doesn't want to pay much. Despite all the high-falutin' mumbo-jumbo about "they're paying for my art," the fact is still that private consumers persistently peg price to product.

That's silly, for sure. It's like going to a hair stylist and expecting to pay only for the spritz of hair product he uses. But that's where people's heads are at right now. I can easily get $1000 for a single wall portrait...but I can't get $800 for a single digital image, which represents the difference in my costs subtracting the cost of the hard copy product.

Yes, you can provide information as to what YOUR services are. If you don't provide a CD or digital download then you don't., or what is your price.
If I asked for $$$ per image, we wouldn't get it in our area either with a photog on every corner that gives CD's / services like that for various prices.
We do, however, charge a session fee, which includes 5 images on CD. Additional images may be purchased individually or the entire "gallery" we prepare for them may be purchased on CD at a separate cost. You could do this and price it accordingly.

I do provide a cd, but also upload the images to a local professional printer and set up an account for them. They can order prints and I know they will be correct every time and the printer also drop ships.
I also specify on the printing release to only use "x" printer or else I will not guarantee results. This coupled with the fact they get an account already set up has proven 100% effective for me.

Maybe it's just me, but I read the email you gave and had zero issues with it. The way people use smart phones these days, they don't tend to write novels - quick and easy. One of your mandatory fields should be a phone number so you (yes you) should call them. The way a person writes does not necessarily reflect their personality or how much they are going to pay for your services....it's thinking like that, that looses clients.

It's your business. Grow and adapt or clients will move one. Tim was one the right path with a session fee and so much per retouched image. There are many other models to use, figure out how long it takes and what you want to make and charge accordingly.

By the way this took me over 10 minutes on my iPhone to compose and write this due to the shifting writing box size and how the keys sometimes covers the words...it was a pain in the ass...probably the same for the person who contacted you.