I'll pay if I like your photos...

Well. This is a new one for me.

I was contacted yesterday by a gal looking for immediate engagement photos for this weekend. I told her I was available, and she came back with this :

I talked to my fiancé a bit more about your services. We had a poor experience with a photo session before so we are just a bit cautious. We are willing to pay full price for the session if we are 100% satisfied with the photos. However if we are not satisfied maybe then we can talk discounts. Does that sound fair? We are getting my ring sized this Friday so I think next weekend would work best for us. Please let us know if you are still available. Thank you so much!

Best,

I am literally stumped.
I want to reply back something professional, while I really want to reply back with some choice words about how ballsy of a request this is…

Instead though, I’m coming to you guys for some help on how to approach this in the most professional manner.

Thank you!

I would reply simply saying that all prices are fixed and not subject to your approval. You dont want to get started with these people.

I show a LOT of photos on my site. There really is, therefore, no reason to doubt that I'll provide similar work on my next shoot. If you don't show a lot of work (I haven't looked at your site), I can at least understand their perspective.

My moderate amount of experience tells me that these are clients to avoid.

That said, if you are building a portfolio (again, I don't know your background and haven't assessed your work), it may be a worthwhile experience.

I don't do this kind of photography but I would show her my contract and pay no attention to hers.

Yeah there's plenty of work for them to view on my site for sure.
Ok.. that does give me something to go off of.

People like this are probably NOT who I want to be working with, that is quite true!

I would as nice as i could decline, they are upfront telling you they will want a discount. Not something I would want to walk into knowing what you know up front.

Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #16588045
I would as nice as i could decline, they are upfront telling you they will want a discount. Not something I would want to walk into knowing what you know up front.

Good point !

If you're in a position where you do not want to turn away the business, I would offer a fixed price to do the shoot, and an additional cost for the images (show her 1 or 2 images heavily watermarked). That way you don't waste time in PP if she says she doesn't like them. Otherwise, steer her towards craigslist where she'll find the deal she's looking for.

I strive to be as straightforward in my exchanges with clients as I am in my exchanges with friends. I'm not sure there really is a good straightforward response to their request--unless you wanted to get snarky, which would be really easy. I think I generally respond to these situations by just not replying back.

I wrote he back with a combination of some of the replies above.

Hi ______

I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with an unprofessional photographer. That said, there is plenty of work on my site to showcase my skills and style. There is no reason for you and your fiancé to doubt that I’ll provide anything less on my next shoot. My pricing is fixed, and it is not subject to approval.

If you are seeking photograhy that may be more in your budget, Craigslist is a great place to look for photogrpahers who are still building their portoflios and may be at a cheaper cost.

Best of luck.

int0xicatedxluv wrote in post #16588021

I talked to my fiancé a bit more about your services. We had a poor experience with a photo session before so we are just a bit cautious. We are willing to pay full price for the session if we are 100% satisfied with the photos. However if we are not satisfied maybe then we can talk discounts. Does that sound fair? We are getting my ring sized this Friday so I think next weekend would work best for us. Please let us know if you are still available. Thank you so much!

Best,

Dear ______;

I thought about your ideas. I've had several poor experiences with customers in the past, and as a result, I'm more than a bit cautious. I would normally allow you to pay full price when the terms of my contract are fulfilled, but, in light of your preposterous belief that I should work at a discount because you hired a cut-rate photographer once, I would prefer that you pay full price before I agree to shoot a single photo. If I'm really impressed with my own work from that day, I'd like to charge you more than full price after the shoot is over. Does that sound fair?

Sincerely,

Matt M. wrote in post #16588106
Dear ______;

I thought about your ideas. I've had several poor experiences with customers in the past, and as a result, I'm more than a bit cautious. I would normally allow you to pay full price when the terms of my contract are fulfilled, but, in light of your preposterous belief that I should work at a discount because you hired a cut-rate photographer once, I would prefer that you pay full price before I agree to shoot a single photo. If I'm really impressed with my own work from that day, I'd like to charge you more than full price after the shoot is over. Does that sound fair?

Sincerely,

LOL.
brilliant.

Confident, strong, clear and not even rude. Well done.

int0xicatedxluv wrote in post #16588105
I wrote he back with a combination of some of the replies above.

Hi ______

I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with an unprofessional photographer. That said, there is plenty of work on my site to showcase my skills and style. There is no reason for you and your fiancé to doubt that I’ll provide anything less on my next shoot. My pricing is fixed, and it is not subject to approval.

If you are seeking photograhy that may be more in your budget, Craigslist is a great place to look for photogrpahers who are still building their portoflios and may be at a cheaper cost.

Best of luck.

Matt M. wrote in post #16588106
Dear ______;

I thought about your ideas. I've had several poor experiences with customers in the past, and as a result, I'm more than a bit cautious. I would normally allow you to pay full price when the terms of my contract are fulfilled, but, in light of your preposterous belief that I should work at a discount because you hired a cut-rate photographer once, I would prefer that you pay full price before I agree to shoot a single photo. If I'm really impressed with my own work from that day, I'd like to charge you more than full price after the shoot is over. Does that sound fair?

Sincerely,

Awesome!!!!

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #16588121
Confident, strong, clear and not even rude. Well done.

Whew! mission accomplished

I'm getting better at stepping back, and not letting my immediate emotions rule my responses lol