CD pricing

<p>I'm doing photography for a large company's (late) Christmas party. There are 200+ people expected to be there. They want a flat rate for pictures on a CD. What should I charge for the CD + my time? I don't normally offer pictures on CD so I have no idea. I charge normal prints: $2 for 4x6, $6-7 for 5x7, etc.<br>

Thanks</p>

<p>Do they want a copy of the disk for everyone attending?</p>

<p>Hi Sara</p>

<p>I have done similar work in the past for companies and organizations and it worked like this:</p>

<p>I go to the event and photograph it however they want me to and then they get a CD of images for the company to use in a newsletter, on a web site etc. but not for them to make prints or copies of the CD for the people attending the event.</p>

<p>If the attendees want prints then I upload the event to an online proofing site, such as collages.net where they can see the photographs and order prints without me having to really get any more involved. I charge something like $7.50 for 4x6, $10 for 5x7 and $30 for 8x10. With a full-service event I don't have to do anything else.</p>

<p>For the service itself, I usually charge $250 for an evening's work, including the preparation of the final CD.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

<p>Depending on where you're located I would think you could charge as much as $600 for the time and files on the CD. I know in the Boston area that is reasonable but it might not be someplace else.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses. I'm in St. Louis, MO. The company just wants one disk total so they can print their own prints. I worked at this company for 5 years, so they are still considered friends. I will be there for 6 hours, doing event photography. 200+ people are attending. I was thinking either flat rate for my time and 1 CD of $400, or should I ask $500? I'm afraid they will think it's too expensive, but as far as I know I'm the only photographer they've picked (simply because I worked there).</p>

<p>Six hours for $400-$500?<br>

You should be thinking in terms of at least $100 per hour. You should also think in terms of your time for post processing.<br>

Bear in mind that after you factor in ALL your time associated with this project the income is modest.<br>

People get confused when they hear an hourly rate from contract workers. They think that a plumber actually takes home $50 per hour for his or her work. They have no concept of overhead etc. In addition you do not have 40 hours a week at that rate.<br>

The most important thing to remember is that if you actually want to go into business, you do not want to be chosen because you are the cheapest.</p>

<p>A question for Nigel - With your prices as shown, how often do you sell 8x10's? An 8x10 is perhaps a dollar more than a 5x7 from most labs, so why are you charging 3 times the price? Is your intention to drive your customers to purchase the 5x7's? I'm quite curious...-Aimee</p>