pricing the prints that you sell to clients.

Hello,

Curious to know how photographers are pricing their prints that the clients decide to purchase?..

4x6

5x7,8x10

11x14

etc.

I recently did a family photo session for some friends and they want prints.

I may do them on my own with epson 3880 which is more expensive than a local lab, but either way, I'm just trying to get a feel for how photographers hand that part of the job. Any thoughts would be great.

 

 

Thanks

Owen

 

.

I have no idea what current professional printing costs are, but I do know that you HAVE to consider what are called "indirect costs" if you do this professionally.

 

Equipment, maintenance, depreciation, and such like are all part of the very real costs of doing business (I was a financial manager for a while). John Kenneth Galbraith once called small vendors who didn't include indrect costs (antique dealers and such) "philanthropists". You can sell everything you've got and still go broke that way.

I recently did a family photo session for some friends and they want prints.

Definitely not a philanthropist, but when I've made photos of friends, I've given them prints. I make money elsewhere, currently from the Social Security Administration. :)

 

Seriously, though, my advice would be to discuss cost per print when you set up the shoot, so everyone knows what to expect. The price you charge should be proportional to an honest assessment of the quality of your work, among other things, like your own costs. Your cost should also factor in the likelihood that friends might recommend you to others who you might want to charge more of a going rate, and a little good will never hurts both in terms of the world at large and your own self-interest.

. . . I recently did a family photo session for some friends and they want prints. . . I'm just trying to get a feel for how photographers hand[le] that part of the job. Any thoughts would be great. . . .

 

How did you arrive at the price for the photo session?

 

The answer to that question would allow me (and perhaps others) to give advice as to how (I) would price the supply of prints.

 

WW

Thank you for your responses. For some reason, i wasn't getting notifications on your responses even after ticking the button to have responses send to my email?

I ended up contacting some reputable portrait/family photographers in the area and they shared their current pricing setup. They all seemed to be similar figures. I came up with my pricing for the shoot by what others who were charging as well. Those figures were listed on the sites.

According to a British pound to US dollar conversion I found on the internet:

 

4X6 $9.10

5X7 11.70

8X10 19.50

11X14 32.50

 

My only sales are in a gallery, only 2 sizes, framed with glass: 11X14 ($55), 16X20 ($75)

I hope the OP charges a session fee in addition to print prices. I don't see how anyone could make a profit off print prices like those.

According to a British pound to US dollar conversion I found on the internet:

 

4X6 $9.10

5X7 11.70

8X10 19.50

11X14 32.50

 

My only sales are in a gallery, only 2 sizes, framed with glass: 11X14 ($55), 16X20 ($75)

Here is a good guide that tells you what to take into consideration when charging for prints How to Price Photography Prints « 9Mousai that you might find useful. Me personally after I have charged for a shoot i charge as follows

4x6 £7

5x7, £9

8x10 £15

11x14 £25

 

This pricing structure seems to work for me

thanks Steve. This is actually close to what i ended up charging. Believe it or not many of the High-end local photographers that specialize in this type of photography charge around $35 for 5x7's. That's in addition to the fee for just the shoot which seems to range between $300-$500 in the Baltimore area. It's amazing what parents will pay for photos! Not a bad markup. I'll check out the link. thank you

According to a British pound to US dollar conversion I found on the internet:

 

4X6 $9.10

5X7 11.70

8X10 19.50

11X14 32.50

 

My only sales are in a gallery, only 2 sizes, framed with glass: 11X14 ($55), 16X20 ($75)

Thanks for the conversion.....Pricing for "fine art photography" and "portrait/ family" photos seem to be on two different pricing scales, probably because customers are already paying a pretty hefty fee upfront for just getting the family photos taken. My pricing is dramatically different (higher) for the landscape photos I sell.

I hope the OP charges a session fee in addition to print prices. I don't see how anyone could make a profit off print prices like those.

 

Agree.

 

I think that Owen appreciated the question in Post #4, and I drew significance (i.e. 'assumed' significance, which is always quite silly to assume anything), nonetheless I assumed some significance in his choosing to not answer.

 

In any case, and further to Post #10:

 

There are basically two structures two pricing structures for Portraits -

> one is to charges a sitting fee and then if prints are required, charge per print (or to have some included in the sitting fee). In this situation the majority of the profit should be made at the time of booking, when the sitting fee paid.

 

> second method is to charge a nominal fee for the service and expect to make the profit on the sale of prints. In my opinion this latter model has served its run and is rarely a substantive or sustainable model, nowadays.

 

WW

Thanks Will. I did respond in post 5 "I came up with my pricing for the shoot by what others who were charging as well. Those figures were listed on the sites."

Thanks for your responses. OD

. . . I did respond in post 5 . . .

 

Thank you. My error entirely, my error was caused by my misread. Sorry for any inconvenience, I appreciate your response.

 

Accordingly I withdraw the comment "I drew significance (i.e. 'assumed' significance, which is always quite silly to assume anything), nonetheless I assumed some significance in his choosing to not answer."

WW

no worries

I do notice that the OP said "friends".

 

Depending on how close friends were, (though I am not a professional photographer)

I might do them free.

 

But for some friends, it might make sense to do them at cost.

I'd do them for free, unless you really feel you would take a hit printing them. It sounds like you are not a professional. If you had been then your friends would probably not have agreed to the photo session, although of course I don't know. It is one thing to ask for a few prints which is no issue for you to provide free, but asking for 50 for their relatives would probably be too much. Money and friends don't mix well unless agreed in advance and even then. Another approach is to give them full res JPEGs and suggest they get them printed themselves at COSTCO, Snapfish etc etc.