UK South-East Skiver's and Fishwife's Gossip Thread (3)

Ouch. And you gave a good price too. We paid £1600 for our coverage + album!

Pete wrote in post #7638725
Ouch. And you gave a good price too. We paid £1600 for our coverage + album!

My very top package is £1200 including album!

bubbawillums wrote in post #7638709
I had a phonecall from someone i kinda know from a job a few years ago today and it went:

hi Dan how are you, not seen you for ages, We should get together for a beer sometime soon.

Yea, Sounds good, so how u been?

So, Can you do some photos for my wedding?

Yes, Shall i send you my price list?

What, You mean i'd have to pay, thought we were mates?

I dont do pics for free, I'm running a business now but i can knock 10% off.

Ok how much would it be for the full day and reception?

£800 mate..

Sod that, i can get them done for that price elsewhere!

Ok mate, good luck with it all....

Thought you were a mate and could sort me out....?

I am sorting you out at that price but im not going any lower..

Ok, thanks for nothing mate.

Hangs up..

I get that sort of thing quite often and everyone wants to be your friend then they ask for photos!

Grrrr. That kind of attitude just winds me up so much.

bubbawillums wrote in post #7638742
My very top package is £1200 including album!

Which I still think is pretty cheap.

bubbawillums wrote in post #7638742
My very top package is £1200 including album!

I guess we're victims of our area.

In any case, I didn't really want to have someone I knew from POTN to do the job - it just gets messy with "mates rates" and it's difficult to work with expectations - if someone gave me a discount would they work with less professionalism, would they try too hard and give me a load of "artistic" images, etc...

It was just far easier to choose a pro on personal recommendation and put my faith in someone who knew what he was doing.

Which is what we got and we're happy with the result.

michaelgreen78 wrote in post #7638704
Yup, I get that kind of thing too.

I had someone introduce a possible wedding client to me a few weeks back and she said "...I told her you'd knock your price down as I've introduced you..." and my reply was a flat out "No!". I was a bit annoyed by that one! The bride to be told me yesterday that she still wants to book me so I'm glad I stood firm on the price!

Thats another really annoying thing is when you offer a discounted rate to friends/family and you ask them not to mention the price to anyone else if they see the pics and ask who did them. Yet those friends and family never listen and just tell people 'Oh yeah he'll do you a good deal like he did for me'.

Erm...... no the good deal was intended for friends/family not everyone they know down the pub as well.

EllJam wrote in post #7638805
Thats another really annoying thing is when you offer a discounted rate to friends/family and you ask them not to mention the price to anyone else if they see the pics and ask who did them. Yet those friends and family never listen and just tell people 'Oh yeah he'll do you a good deal like he did for me'.

Erm...... no the good deal was intended for friends/family not everyone they know down the pub as well.

Yup, i get that too.. "i told my mate u would do them a deal as ur my mate".

bubbawillums wrote in post #7638709
I had a phonecall from someone i kinda know from a job a few years ago today and it went:

hi Dan how are you, not seen you for ages, We should get together for a beer sometime soon.

Yea, Sounds good, so how u been?

So, Can you do some photos for my wedding?

Yes, Shall i send you my price list?

What, You mean i'd have to pay, thought we were mates?

I dont do pics for free, I'm running a business now but i can knock 10% off.

Ok how much would it be for the full day and reception?

£800 mate..

Sod that, i can get them done for that price elsewhere!

Ok mate, good luck with it all....

Thought you were a mate and could sort me out....?

I am sorting you out at that price but im not going any lower..

Ok, thanks for nothing mate.

Hangs up..

I get that sort of thing quite often and everyone wants to be your friend then they ask for photos!

That REALLY sucks!! Not much of a mate then.

bubbawillums wrote in post #7638835
Yup, i get that too.. "i told my mate u would do them a deal as ur my mate".

I kind of expect people do go and tell others they got pics done cheap if I don't ask them to keep it to themselves, but when I explicitly tell them that the price they are getting is a special rate for them and not their friends, I expect them to respect my wishes and not broadcast the deal they got.

EllJam wrote in post #7638873
I kind of expect people do go and tell others they got pics done cheap if I don't ask them to keep it to themselves, but when I explicitly tell them that the price they are getting is a special rate for them and not their friends, I expect them to respect my wishes and not broadcast the deal they got.

I did a wedding for a couple last year and charged them £800 and the year before i did a wedding for their friends for £600. After the wedding they found out i only charged their mates £600 and were livid!

I said that i had spent £7000 on photo equipment in that year and i was only doing it as a hobby back then.. I told them i did not have to justify it as i had a contract with them and the price was agreed but they still wanted me to "Price match"!

Come to think of it, almost every job i have done for friends has had problems!

bubbawillums wrote in post #7638933
I did a wedding for a couple last year and charged them £800 and the year before i did a wedding for their friends for £600. After the wedding they found out i only charged their mates £600 and were livid!

I said that i had spent £7000 on photo equipment in that year and i was only doing it as a hobby back then.. I told them i did not have to justify it as i had a contract with them and the price was agreed but they still wanted me to "Price match"!

Come to think of it, almost every job i have done for friends has had problems!

I think one day I'm going to end up offering my camera to someone and telling them to try it themselves and see how much they struggle.
Then when they end up with crap results, I'll ask if they now understand why I don't do pics for free or ridiculously low prices.

Anke wrote in post #7638848
That REALLY sucks!! Not much of a mate then.

How's your wine? Polished the bottle off yet?

EllJam wrote in post #7638973
I think one day I'm going to end up offering my camera to someone and telling them to try it themselves and see how much they struggle.
Then when they end up with crap results, I'll ask if they now understand why I don't do pics for free or ridiculously low prices.

I got told once.. you cant be a professional if you dont have a photo studio!!

I just smiled

bubbawillums wrote in post #7638933
I did a wedding for a couple last year and charged them £800 and the year before i did a wedding for their friends for £600. After the wedding they found out i only charged their mates £600 and were livid!

I said that i had spent £7000 on photo equipment in that year and i was only doing it as a hobby back then.. I told them i did not have to justify it as i had a contract with them and the price was agreed but they still wanted me to "Price match"!

That's the trouble. I raised my price and people bemoan that fact. I don't feel I have to justify the rise - more gear bought & more experience with the end result being better service and better photos. But people still want last year's prices!