Would you pay $2,000 for a book?

I notice the contempt is a lot of people cannot afford or see the value in buying the book, but consider this...the amount of work that goes into a book. The amount of planning, the amount of marketing, the amount of actually writing and creating the book, the organization.

In relation, we have photographers on here who accumulate 50 grand kits in gear...$! I have prints I've spent thousands of dollars buying, and creating, of photographers and painters I really like.

We have wedding shooters who charge 2-3k a wedding and call that "average" or cheap.

We also have other photographers, who sell their prints at 3-6k and they may sell 3 or 4 a year but they still sell.

I see no issue with spending 2 grand on a book created by a fellow photographer, I think that's quite respectable he's actually able to command that price in a world where most photographers are so undervalued. Whether it's worth it or not is irrelevant, only relevant to you.. will you buy a Mercedes SLR McLaren just because you need a ride to commute with? Probably not, but I bet if you saw the value in it and the practicality fitted your lifestyle ...and your budget, you probably wouldn't even think twice.

no.

Play nice people. No name calling necessary.

Karl Johnston wrote in post #11664825
I notice the contempt is a lot of people cannot afford or see the value in buying the book, but consider this...the amount of work that goes into a book. The amount of planning, the amount of marketing, the amount of actually writing and creating the book, the organization.
.

Not sure that is entirely relevant. Are you implying that a $50 national geographic coffee table book does not take significant effort? Lik is simply trying to create high-end branding through exclusivity.

Simple fact is the cost to affordability ratio.

A person making $100k a year vs a person making $30k a year would drastically change what the person sees as affordable and not affordable.

Since so many of you have brought up his galleries in Vegas, here's a real story and an analogy of what's going on.

I was at the $15 minimum craps table at Encore. I was playing roughly $40-$50 a round based on my bankroll.

I see this tall Russian man join the table putting down $2000+ on the table with very little hesitation. That's when I realized he was Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz. He was putting down my entire bankroll for the trip on 1 round while I was trying to stop myself from playing more than $50.

This whole $2k book is just like that. If you have to contemplate on making this purchase, you can't afford it. Saying you wouldn't buy it because it's not worth it, more or less means you can't justify spending your hard earned money for this book, not because his work is bad. Now there's nothing wrong with not being able to afford it but to slight his work because of that just isn't fair.

He markets himself to the rich and markets well. I'm sure there are people here who can take pictures like him and there are probably some who are better but they don't have connections or can't market themselves in a way that Peter is able to do.

I'm not going to say these are the best photos I've ever seen but they're definitely awe inspiring and I can see why people who are rich can/will buy this book with no hesitation.

This really has nothing to do with talent because we all know he has it. He's just created himself a high end brand not many would be able to afford, which in favor put him in more demand.

Lebron James can make a living off of $40k a year. Does he really need $6 million a year to play basketball for less than half a year? No. The reason behind it is, he can justify his value with his talent and the money he brings in. Peter Lik's photos, I believe justify the price for the people who can afford it.

To answer the question;

At $2000, No.

If it was priced at $500, Yes.

If I had enough spare money, then Yes to $2000. The "Enough" is a variable number with every single person here.

You could write an entire book (ha, whatta pun) on the human psychology related to this topic, but it will all boil down to the fact that there is no winning the value/talent/ridiculou​s/expensive/etc argument.

Essentially it seems as if Peter Lik markets investors more than anything else, and in his niche he is by far the most famous and successful I've ever seen. Nothing more, nothing less.

So really you are investing in something that happens to be of a photographic nature instead of say... precious metals.

tkbslc wrote in post #11667213
Not sure that is entirely relevant. Are you implying that a $50 national geographic coffee table book does not take significant effort? Lik is simply trying to create high-end branding through exclusivity.

It really doesn't take nearly the amount of work because NG's brand is alreadyhighly exclusive. Where you have a brand that merits' exclusivity is the tricky part in creating a piece of work that merits the value. IMO. But that's an arguable stretch on its own. Not a book you or I could create of the same materials, of better photos, will make a difference even if we do price them at 5k each. We're just simply not national geographic and we're not Peter Lik (two massively different brands, too massively different business models - keep in mind). The nature of my reply was simple microeconomics and marketing.

Like Intolight said, and Nick Simcheck - it's not a question of worth or value or whether or not you're able to afford it. It's about whether you want to see the value in it and then afford it. Joe blow may not know or like Peter Lik to begin with, so the book has no value at all to them. Then again Sara Jane may be completely enamored by his work and career and be willing to not only pay 2k but maybe even more, if she saw the value in it. Microeconomics. The context of the thread rings to me like it's unbelievable - a book for 2 grand. Well, similarly to some a Mercedes SLR at 400-600 000 $ (a car, generally something you use to get to place to place) is an unnecessary expense compared to something like a ford escort, at 15 000 (or less). But people buy them. The market is there. It's just his positioning is largely a luxury one.