Itemize your quote when bidding for a job?

I itemize additional cost factors.

For instance, walking into my studio or meeting me at a location in town, taking a certain kind of picture, getting a certain kind of product, working for a certain block of time--those have relatively fixed prices.

If the job takes more than that, those are the factors I itemize. Going out of town will add an itemized travel cost. A need for special make-up or hair is going to be an itemized cost.

Some of those might be negotiable, some might not. I will have a bottom line on how I'll travel, for instance, and where I'll stay. I'll have a bottom line on the additional talent--MUA, hair stylist.

Good advice. The more items the better. Never charged for a usage fee but moving forward, I will now for any corporate jobs.


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Chuck Dee - AKA Chris
"My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain." - Helmut Newton
Houston vet
Dallas wedding photography

chuckdee wrote in post #15679641
Good advice. The more items the better. Never charged for a usage fee but moving forward, I will now for any corporate jobs.
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Chuck Dee - AKA Chris
"My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain." - Helmut Newton

Understanding usage is huge, you should buy John Harrington's book immediately.

Presenting a package cost to a non-consumer client (commercial, editorial, corporate) puts you at a terrible position to negotiate.

So if you want 3,000 for a job, and you're throwing in all these "freebies," then what do you do when they don't want those extra things? Do you cut your price by 2/3? How do you justify the cost? At the same token, if a client decides they want to license or commission more photos than they originally thought, how do you decide the extra cost? Just make up a number?

If you are worried about hitting a bottom line, come up with a scale (ie. $200/image for 10 images, $150/image for 20+, etc.). You are effectively giving a bulk rate, but you're not giving away the farm if they don't commission or license as many pictures as your "package" entails.

Packages are great for weddings and portrait sittings, and consumers, but have no place in the commercial photography world.

kenwood33 wrote in post #15666383
When providing a quote to a prospective client, do you find breaking your quote (instead of providing a final price) a good strategy to increase wins? If so to what level of details you find it useful?

e.g.

8 hours x rate (100) = 800
travel 100 miles x 2 = 100
usage license = 400
2 hours editing/organizing/del​ivering = 200

total = 1500

Being one of the people who hires contractors at the office, we require itemized quotes. However, there is downside to that and it gives us the ability to negotiate down. To nickel and dime someone so to speak.

In your case, I would list the travel as an item, (not uncommon for vendors to have service call fees or travel time fees) the usage license as a line item, and include the editing fee in your day rate, but make it known that your editing time is included in the day rate. Don't mention organizing or delivery.

kenwood33 wrote in post #15666383
When providing a quote to a prospective client, do you find breaking your quote (instead of providing a final price) a good strategy to increase wins? If so to what level of details you find it useful?

e.g.

8 hours x rate (100) = 800
travel 100 miles x 2 = 100
usage license = 400
2 hours editing/organizing/del​ivering = 200

total = 1500

It's also important to get your math right.

I always itemise, it might give them negotiation room, but if they come back and say I need to save $1000 or something I can so "OK, let me have a look". I'll then come back with a revised quote that takes out things that do not affect my fees but makes it less comfortable for them.

I am itemizing a quote right now because the owner has absolutely no idea how much time it takes to do stuff. He was thinking just a couple hours and its literally hundreds of items with a cost per item and style and I am breaking it down so he can understand it better.

We all seem to make this part of the process more difficult than it should be. The shortest distance between the two points is:

Here is EXACTLY what I will deliver and when.

Here is EXACTLY what it will cost you and when.

Clear concise communication on both sides of the equation is necessary.

Itemizing basic service components can only lead to asking for discounts on your hourly rates and other items.

dave

^ Quite frankly if I submitted a quote for a shoot without itemising it I'd be laughed out of town. I recently did a stock shoot for a consultancy. It involved 72 days of travel and shooting, over three continents and twelve cities. there was 2 days of pre production on logistics alone. I'd never dream of just telling them it was going to cost £xx thousands.

Like many have said, clients and agencies need to know what they are spending the money on. It's how they work. I've never known it to be different in 26 years.

The biggest difference is who you are shooting for. And what market you are in.

I shoot in a small town. A job has yet to take me out of the county.... no less out of the country! All they care about here, is the bottom line. Divide it up all you want, or not. I will line item anything that is something that is needed only for the shoot. Be it a rental... extra warm body for whatever reason.. set construction...etc..et​c.. But 90% of my quotes are not even on paper, they are over the phone. And a lot of the time I am talking to the company/shop owner, not an agency.

When you have all itemized, put one price up, so you can make another item "for free". Yay!

juicedownload wrote in post #15666482
I don't need the photos heavily edited, so don't spend more than an hour. That might be an example that I've heard before.

Damn so true!

mikeinctown wrote in post #15688079
Being one of the people who hires contractors at the office, we require itemized quotes. However, there is downside to that and it gives us the ability to negotiate down. To nickel and dime someone so to speak.

In your case, I would list the travel as an item, (not uncommon for vendors to have service call fees or travel time fees) the usage license as a line item, and include the editing fee in your day rate, but make it known that your editing time is included in the day rate. Don't mention organizing or delivery.

I always include travel on the corporate gigs but not the editing rate. I will add that as well. Thanks.


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Chuck Dee - AKA Chris
"My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain." - Helmut Newton
Lifestyle photography

I always want to itemize so I can tie the number of shots to certain costs - licensing fees, digital capture fees, retouching fees, etc. This both so that the client can understand that when they start asking for other shots than on the shot list it is going to ring up the bill and the fact it is fairly standard in the commercial world
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