How much to charge for event photos?

<p>I got into photography last year after purchasing a Canon 7D, some L lenses, etc. To promote myself I decided to show up at local events and my kids school functions and start taking pictures of everyone. Many people asked if they could get a copy so I had to start collecting email address to send them their photos. It finally dawned on me to upload my pics to SmugMug and start selling them by handing out business cards with my URL where they can buy their photo. But I'm not sure how much to charge people per picture download or print?<br>

I was thinking $10 per image download. Or I could charge them per print, $5 for 3x5, $10 for 5x7, $20 for 8x10, etc. But I figure most people want the digital download.<br>

Is that a fair price?<br>

I could also give them the option of ordering more artistic versions of their photos for an extra $20. For example I could enhance the picture in Photoshop to make it look like a painting or drawing, or I could add borders or titles, etc.<br>

I was also thinking of just randomly going to public events and tourist attractions to take portraits of people and giving them my card so they could purchase and download the image online.<br>

Has anyone else done this before? Curious how this approach has worked for others. Tips and advice appreciated.</p>

<p>Paul,</p>

<p>Well, first of all, good luck. Whatever works for you, is what you should do.</p>

<p>But I can make a few comments on your business plan as you outlined it. As long as you are having fun, that's great, but I predict you will work hard and spend a lot of time taking pictures, processing them and uploading them—and make very little money. It takes time to copy photos, process them even minimally, export low-res versions for display online, then upload high-res versions when someone orders a print. If you upload high-res versions, then you will end up spending a lot of time uploading files, even over a fast pipe, because you won't sell more than a few of the photos you take. If you photograph 100 people and give away 50 business cards, you'll get MAYBE 15-20 people visiting your galleries to see what you've got, and you may make a couple of sales. Lot of variables here and your success rate could be better—or worse—than I'm predicting. But as a rule, it's hard to convince people to buy something they weren't shopping for in the first place, especially on a delayed-delivery basis. </p>

<p>And most of the few sales you make will be 4"x6" prints. If you charge $6 or $7 for them, and you pay SmugMug's wholesale cost (which is small, but not zero), you maybe make $5 on a print. But remember the customer has to pay for shipping too which discourages them from buying. </p>

<p>Some people do very well selling photos at things like fairs and sports events—but they offer prints for sale on the spot, and that means bringing printers, having an assistant, etc. </p>

<p>I did something similar to what you're doing for several years, as I was getting started. I made sales, but not a lot. I think it's certainly not a viable business model. I did it initially for fun and then for practice and I regarded the money I made now and then simply as a small bonus.</p>

<p>Don't mean to be discouraging. Perhaps you are a terrific salesman. If you are, then raise your prices. ;-)</p>

<p>Will</p>

<p><em><strong>"Tips and advice appreciated"</strong></em><br>

I don't think it will ever work to turn a net profit for you. Many (but not all) reasons are outlined by William Porter - one fundamental being: <em>"Some people do very well selling photos at things like fairs and sports events<strong>—but they offer prints for sale on the spot".</strong></em><em> </em><br>

<em> </em><br>

I add – OR they have an association with the specific group to which the sales pitch is offered, but even then usually the sales are made on site, even if the subsequent selection is done via a web page.<br />A similar situation to research is for you to ask how many EXTRA print sales are made to Friends and Relatives who access a Wedding Photographers website.<br>

<br />There are several previous threads on this topic you should use the search function to read them.</p>

<p>WW</p>

<p>Also, people may start to wonder why you are taking so many photos of their kids without waivers. You don't want to get into any legal trouble!</p>

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<p>I agree with both Williams that this is going to be difficult as far as making money. Even delivering photos on location requires a fairly aggressive approach to print sales given that they didn't know they were being expected to buy. It's different for a wedding or similar type of event where there is an expectation that people will be photographed and potentially want to be buy them.</p>

 

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<p>You don't want to get into any legal trouble!</p>

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<p>What legal trouble is that?</p>

<p>I would not worry too much about legal trouble. If you are worried, ask the school principal. Otherwise, don't sweat it. Most private schools (with which I have more experience) will already have gotten parents to sign a photo waiver at the start of the year, saying it's okay for kids to be photographed while involved in school events. And look around at any event. You may be taking MORE photos than anybody else but half of the rest of the parents in the crowd will have their cameras out too.</p>

<p>If somebody comes up and says "Stop taking photos of my kid!", then you stop. VERY unlikely. If somebody says, "Please remove that photo of my kid from your web site," you remove it. Also unlikely. </p>

<p>One thing, though. If you do post photos on a web site that is not the school web site, don't post any personal info or for that matter much info at all. I never posted names of children, not even first names. And I usually didn't even post the name of the school, instead, using initials, for example, SJS might stand for "St John School." Odds of info on your web site being misused are 1 in a billion, if that. But posting names makes some parents nervous and I understand their nerves. Of course, most of the parents don't realize their kids are posting their names, cell phone numbers, schools, dates of birth, even addresses, on their Facebook pages, but that wasn't my problem. I have enough trouble keeping an eye on my own kid.</p>

<p>Will</p>

<p>Welcome to P-net. The "how much should I charge" type of question gets asked fairly frequently and there isn't any real simple answers. You might want to do a search here under pricing, profits, etc... and you'll see lots of prior threads. What you're suggesting is "shooting on spec", speculating that you'll make any sales or enjoy much of anything in profits. It's generally a pretty tough way to make some money but if you're just looking for a little pocket change to help supplement your photo hobby then it could be worthwhile. The other benefit is that you can pick up some practical experience shooting people while developing a sense of what sells and what doesn't. I could probably take my guitar downtown and play near a corner with my hat on the ground and get a few bucks....the money can be secondary if you appreciate being able to "Sing for the Song".*</p>

<p>*Shel Silerstein reference</p>

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