Pricing for commercial use of product photo

I have limited experience with commercial shoots. A small local (NH) company wants me to shoot some product photos for use on their website and in their marketing materials. I think most of their business is local. The shoot itself is only going to take an hour at the most, and they're looking for maybe a half dozen or so pictures. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to charge. Any help would be appreciated!

there are a lot of recipes for this soup. some say charge only for the usage and not the shoot. some say charge for both. some only charge a measly hourly rate and don't charge for the usage.

i say find out exactly how they are going to use the images, then use a stock calculator to come up with a usage fee. then add to that your shooting fee. this will be what you should charge.

once you have that number, ask the client what their budget is. it's not a good sign if they don't have one. if they do, but it's a lot less than what you calculated, you've got some work ahead of you, getting them to come up to your number or accepting less in order to get to their number. or you can decline the work. or you can let them establish the fact that you'll work for unsustainable rates.

the most important thing is to not devalue your work by thinking that it's not going to take that much of your time. your time really has NOTHING to do with the value. the value is that you have the skill, expertise, and equipment to get the job done, and that you can be counted on to show up, do the work, and deliver the goods as expected. THAT is what you're being paid to do, and THAT has value. just being able to produce a half dozen images in an hour isn't the point, especially when they're going to be using those images to make money...

good luck!

Thanks, Skip. That's great information. I'm not a registered member (yet) for using the stock calculator because I haven't really needed it before. Before I sign up, I'm wondering how useful it would be for cases like this where the information is kind of vague. I know it's a small, local company, but they advertise on the web and may sell well beyond the immediate area. They intend to use the pictures on their website and their marketing materials. I don't know anything about those marketing materials. Nor do I even know what questions to ask. I don't have this job yet. We're in the initial stages of talking about it. So I don't want to undervalue the work, and I don't want to give him a number that sends him running for the hills! Will the stock calculator help me in situations like this to come up with a reasonable number, or will I need a lot more detail? I have no problem paying the fee if it's worth it. Thanks.

sdipirro wrote in post #15885921
Thanks, Skip. That's great information. I'm not a registered member (yet) for using the stock calculator because I haven't really needed it before. Before I sign up, I'm wondering how useful it would be for cases like this where the information is kind of vague. I know it's a small, local company, but they advertise on the web and may sell well beyond the immediate area. They intend to use the pictures on their website and their marketing materials. I don't know anything about those marketing materials. Nor do I even know what questions to ask. I don't have this job yet. We're in the initial stages of talking about it. So I don't want to undervalue the work, and I don't want to give him a number that sends him running for the hills! Will the stock calculator help me in situations like this to come up with a reasonable number, or will I need a lot more detail? I have no problem paying the fee if it's worth it. Thanks.

the good news about the stock calculator is that it is free and it will get you close. i use it to give me a starting point. if you play with it, it will give you an idea as to the questions to be asking. another place to check out is getty; play around on their site as if you were a buyer, plugging in various usages, and you'll learn even more questions to ask.

it takes getting used to, asking the client questions. quoting is usually a three-part process: you gather information, you work through the numbers, then you present your proposal.

there are two things the make the difference in asking for the numbers necessary to support sustainable rates: credibility and confidence. credibility comes with a portfolio that proves you deliver usable images. confidence comes when you feel that you can consistently deliver what clients are expecting. of course, both of those things take time. however, if you do your homework and develop a clear understanding as to what's involved in all aspects of producing a commercial shoot (the meetings, the planning, the equipment, the setup, the processing, the deliver, the usage), you will be able to talk with clients like you know what you're talking about - and that will give them the confidence to believe you are worth more than someone who is just going to show up with a camera and snap some pics. it's all a matter of how you present yourself, and how much you believe in the numbers you are presenting.

it takes practice, and you'll lose some along the way. believe me, though, it is better to lose those that can't pay you what you need than to just take anything that they'll throw at you.

Very good advice...I have the credibility and confidence but just haven't worked much in the commercial sector. Determining the value of my work there is trickier than figuring out what to charge in the non-commercial sector. So am I missing something, Skip, or is the stock calculator no longer free? I don't see a free option there when I look...only a couple of paid options. Thanks.

sdipirro wrote in post #15886681
is the stock calculator no longer free? I don't see a free option there when I look...only a couple of paid options. Thanks.

i think all you have to do is register; just scroll down to the very bottom of the home page. i have a login, but i haven't paid (probably will at some point), and i'm able to use the calculator.

There's no such thing as "an hour at most."

You've already put an hour or two into this project - talking to the client, looking at the price calculator, typing up this thread.

As for the shoot, if you're going to their location to shoot, how long is it REALLY going to take you? Prep your gear, load the car, find directions, drive there, unpack, set up, DO THE SHOOT, tear down, load up, drive home, unpack, put away your gear, recharge batteries, cull and process photos, run backups, deliver images to the client, call them and make sure they got them all, make sure they're happy, maybe do a couple of re-edits and resizes as needed.

Half day, minimum.

If you've already got a tabletop product studio that stays set up at home, then this time is reduced. You've still got to get the products to the studio, shoot/process/deliver, and return the products.

When I mentioned the one hour, it was just to do the actual shooting, based on what I know at this point. After talking to them more, it could be two hours of actual shooting. I understand that all the other stuff adds up to a lot of time too. I'm just trying to quote them a fair price that works for both of us. I don't think the price calculator is free anymore. Looks like a minimum of $7 to use it at all now, unless you happen to already have an account. Anyway, I'm starting to run some numbers by them, and we'll see how they react.

Here's another one to try: Advertising Photo Price Calculator It's much more basic, but still gives a decent result.

So I've been looking at the various stock photo prices. Keeping in mind that I'm coming from the non-commercial sector, I'm having a hard time accepting what I'm seeing, with prices like $250 or $500 or even more per picture. Stepping back, we have a small NH company that wants some pictures of their product that are higher quality than what they have now. These will replace what they have on their website and in their marketing materials. I suspect these have limited reach as well (I don't live very far from this company and had never heard of them before). It seems crazy to think a company like this would pay this kind of money when they could go on Craigslist and find someone with half decent gear and skill to do the pictures for almost nothing. I'm not trying to undervalue the work or compete with the low-end photographers, but at the same time, I know an outfit like this is not going to pay stock photo prices. It's hard for me to believe you guys would go in with a bid that high for a job like this. That's what I'm struggling with.

Then cut to the chase. Ask them what they had in mind for a budget and see how that feels to you.

i've been there and i know what you're going through.

the thing is, it all comes down to a number. a simple number that both sides feel is fair and reasonable. it doesn't matter how you get there, as long as you get there.

however, for you, from a business perspective, you need to have an idea as to what that number represents, especially if it is less than what you should be charging in terms of production + usage. otherwise, you'll end up rationalizing yourself out of business, constantly justifying taking less than sustainable rates. if you are going to cut the number and justify it on the production side, then you know you'll need to sharpen your production skills in order to be much, much more efficient. if you are going to cut the number from the usage side, you need to have a clear understanding as to why and how. otherwise, you'll either be simply giving it away.

i haven't had the need, yet, to buy a photo quoting system, but i imagine the better ones offer a lot more variables, as well as a higher degree of localization (as opposed to "North America"). as such, i use these various calculators to come up with a base number that is probably on the high side. then i tailor it to the situation.

granted, if the photography is really commodity work that won't fetch more than a couple hundred bucks no matter what, even though it should be more like $1500, then you have to decide if that's the type of work you want to do. no different than shooting low-end real estate photos for a cheap agent that only pays $25 for drive-by photos, vs working with a high end agent that will pay $2k+ to produce a portfolio of a high end mansion.

if you use a freelance calculator and determine that your day rate should be $800 and a half-day rate should be $500, and then add a usage of $100/image for 2 years on the web, that should put you around $1100. if they want to use them in print, you can quote them when you have specifics and charge them at the time of use, or you can cut them a deal by paying ahead of time. maybe even offer the images at $75/image and deliver only low-res, web-ready files.

the one thing you have to do is not put your head in the head of the client by "suspecting" what they can afford and thinking that it would be "crazy for a company like this to pay that kind of money". until you ask them, you won't know. they might surprise you. this is what i meant in my original post about "credibility and confidence". if you have credibility and confidence and you tell them that this is a $2k job, they will trust you. if they tell you that you're crazy, then it's up to you to explain to them why it's not. when you show them that it's a lot more involved than just showing up with a camera and taking snapshots, and can show them online examples of the difference between companies that care and companies that don't, you can raise their perception of what you are offering. and, if you can't, then you are probably better off passing on the work.

Thanks for taking the time to provide all this information, Skip. So I actually quoted them a number that's a little less than what you mentioned above but in the same ballpark. I haven't heard from them since, but they might just be thinking about it. We'll see.

I usually quote a little high. If I get it, great. If not, they will respond and I'll know where I can go from there.

Try http://www.shakodo.com​/ and/or FotoQuote Pro. I use them both.

Jeff

If you are professional, an average shoot per hour should be at least $500 per hour. Don't sell yourself for less!