Eccomerce Photo Editing

I know this isn't directly about photography, but I do a lot of work nowadays as a photo editor for online fashion retailers and I am wondering if anyone else has any experience in what they charge for jobs like these? Each job I do is typically around 300-500 images and I correct the lighting/color and retouch the skin/hair (most of that can usually just be done in lightroom) the companies sometimes will want image manipulation (make the model thinner, change her expression, remove tattoos, etc) and I typically charge a bit more for those. I also charge by the image instead of by the hour. Right now I charge about $1.00/$1.50 per image, does this seem like a fair price or maybe too low? I just cant seem to find much information online about people charging for this type of editing. Thanks for any insight you all have!

You (of course) need to do what works for you, but due to the variable nature of what one photograph needs versus another, I would suggest charging an hourly rate instead. That way, if they give you an amazingly complex request, you'll get paid more for that work.

 

I was once told "If they don't try to bargain with you for a lower price, you charged too little." Photographers often fear the loss of a client if they ask for too much, but by asking too little they end up devaluing themselves. There is also the "Perception of Value" to consider. The more you charge, the more the editors will believe you are worth. Unless the fashion retailers are new at this, they know what they have paid in the past. If you gave them a rate and they said yes right away, you probably just undersold yourself. It is probably too late to jack up the price too quickly on your existing clients, but I would start testing out that ceiling with new clients.

I don't know what the rate is for this kind of work; however, to help you understand if this is something that you want to keep doing, calculate what the $1.50 per image convert to dollars per hour, including all of your administrative time to get the files, bill the client, etc. If it's $15 per hour, that would equate to $30,000 per year, if you could do it full time. If it's $10 per hour or less, you have to question why you'd be willing to do it for less than "minimum wage." If it's $20 per hour or more, then you might want to figure out how to scale up and do even more, assuming that you enjoy it.

 

Don't forget to factor in what you're spending on software and computing power, including things like Dropbox charges, calibrated monitor, external hard drives, high-speed connection, etc.