Please HELP {Trying to find where we stand}

My wife and I have been doing our photography business 3 years, this is our 4th year. We are having a debate about whether or not to up our prices for the 2014 season.

As it stands now we charge 1500 for 5 hours, 2000 for 8 hours, and 2400 for 10 hours. Each wedding my wife and I are both at. They get a DVD with print quality edited pictures. A hand made cloth CD case and a business card!

We currently book 10-13 weddings (had to turn down more than 10 for conflicting dates and a month where we are having a baby) and we like that amount, its an nice extra little income boost that doesn't have us pulling our hair out.

We are looking for your help. Are we good enough to up our prices say roughly 400 to 500 dollars each package? We don't want to undersell ourselves but we don't want to rip people off.

this is a link to a gallery of our latest work,

http://lukeandleephoto​graphy.com/blog/galler​y/

I am worried we may not book as many weddings if we are too expensive, my wife is worried that we are underselling ourselves. Any help would be amazing!

Thanks

Markets are local, and if "Ottawa" means Canada, then few in this forum have much concept of your currency value.

You need to examine the competition in your own market and figure out where you fit.

By providing a DVD and a see you later, you are missing out on sales after the wedding. You also have no quality control. As Curtis said, markets are local so it is difficult to provide a comparison but I can pretty much guarantee that if you are getting bookings at your current price you are leaving money on the table by giving away a DVD and not closing the sale with prints. Not everyone is a salesman so maybe that wont work for you.

There is more to pricing than just how your pics look in a portfolio. Any idiot can get a handful of nice shots if they shoot enough.

I looked at your site and the fact that when you click on pricing, it takes you to a page that has absolutely no pricing probably turns a lot of people off. If I was shopping for a photographer, that would make me close the tab.

Your site is nice, and work is too. But that has little to do with pricing and I agree with what thomas said that theres more to pricing than portfolio.

Do you keep statistics on conversion?
Do you keep statistics on your sales?

You want to keep your closing and conversion high, and if they aren't that high, I'd work to get them up and then raise the price. With that said you mentioned you had to turn down 10 assignments.
If you are busy enough that you are turning away work It probably wont hurt you to raise your prices.

As with everything you'd want to keep track of conversion, statistics and overall profitability in your decision. (ie you can do 1 wedding at $35,000 or 7 at $5000 to make the same $.. this is just an example, but you know what I mean)

Normally the pricing is listed on our website. We took it off for a short time while we decided to raise prices or not.

Many photographers in our area are giving digital photos to their clients. Some photographers, which we believe are not as good as us, are cheaper than us. Others are more expensive than us by $500 or more with the same business model, and we think we take as good if not better photographs.

Our conversion rate for booking is 100% if we meet with them in person. When we have space we book I would say roughly 75% of inquiries that we are available for the date the person is choosing. We are actually having a few people that want to book with us and are choosing their date based on our availability.

I think part of the problem is I am a humanitarian before I am a business man.

spesmeadeus wrote in post #15734389
Normally the pricing is listed on our website. We took it off for a short time while we decided to raise prices or not.

Many photographers in our area are giving digital photos to their clients. Some photographers, which we believe are not as good as us, are cheaper than us. Others are more expensive than us by $500 or more with the same business model, and we think we take as good if not better photographs.

Our conversion rate for booking is 100% if we meet with them in person. When we have space we book I would say roughly 75% of inquiries that we are available for the date the person is choosing. We are actually having a few people that want to book with us and are choosing their date based on our availability.

I think part of the problem is I am a humanitarian before I am a business man.

Purely from a business standpoint this screams "charge more". Your wife if correct. Just like mine always is.

if i were you, i'd kill the 5 hour package and raise the 8 hour to $2500 and the 10 hour to $3000. if you've booked the amount you want to book this year and you're still in high demand, raising your prices only makes sense.

but that all depends on your market. if everyone around you is charging $4k for an 8hr day, then you need to raise your prices to compete.

spesmeadeus wrote in post #15734389
[..]

I think part of the problem is I am a humanitarian before I am a business man.

You see a virtue as a problem?

The real question is 'why do we want to up the prices'? You don't have to answer that here, not to me anywise; but you have to ponder whether the reason is sensible (e.g. we're not making enough to provide for the one that's coming) or frivolous (e.g. just wanting more (which usually ends up being spent on tarradiddles you have no need of)).

From a customer's standpoint, wedding photography is already expensive; and it's hardly the only expense for a couple getting married. You need to take your client's needs into consideration when devising your pricing.

mpix345 wrote in post #15734770
Purely from a business standpoint this screams "charge more".

agree!!!

if you're turning away as many clients if not more as you're booking, and your competition is charging more than you are, sounds like you need to raise your prices to be at least on par if not higher than competition. That way you aren't a low cost leader.

spesmeadeus wrote in post #15734389
I think part of the problem is I am a humanitarian before I am a business man.

You aren't doing anyone any favors if the client who can afford your level of service must be turned away because you already booked the date with someone who liked you because you're cheap.

You will do the most good for the most people if you price your services competitively, and refer those who can't afford you to someone who will do it for less.

You can raise revenue without raising pricing by offering more products. High end prints, photo albums, online photo albums, canvas, photo gifts, guest disposable cameras, photo booths, and videography are additional sources of revenue for many high end wedding photographers.

It sounds like you could get away with raising your prices. However if you are taking better pictures then the next expensive guy, but your charging $500 less, you may start to see clients go to the other guy if your prices are the same.

If you are happy with what you are bringing in for extra income stay put. If you wanna give it a shot then go for it, you can always run a special if your lacking bookings and drop the price for 2015

mpix345 wrote in post #15734770
Purely from a business standpoint this screams "charge more".

+1

Totally agree with this!

sspellman wrote in post #15735392
guest disposable cameras,

You mean those things that guys take into the restroom to get a shot of the beer recycling process?