Wedding Albums - Cost and Mark up Advice needed

I was curious about a few things; what kind of prices you folks pay for the various albums for provide for your

clients. I want to provide an album for my clients and I have a few places in mind but wanted to know what kind

of mark up there is. What is the quality of the albums in your experience and the ease of the interface as well

as the turn around time once the order is placed.

thank you.

There are a lot of decent companies. We use Art Leather, Learther Craftsmen, and one company called White Glove for the rich folks. Prices start around $250 to $1200, sometimes more with White Glove.

most pros won't tell you their markup for a couple reasons:

 

[1] their clients could find this thread on Google if they search for their photographer's name

[2] competition is intense in a lot of markets. giving your competitors info like that could lose you clients in the end.

 

 

my suggestion would be to price out what albums cost clients in your area, and then look for an album manufacturer whose prices would calculate out to a reasonable markup. I'm sure there are dozens of threads about good, reputable album manufacturers out there too... hit up the search box. ;o)

Determining the markup on a wedding album is like determining the markup on prints, and very different than determining mark up on most other retail items.

 

Most retail items are mass produced, wedding albums are unique, commissioned pieces. As such, it is not just the price of materials and time you should take into consideration, but also how much you value the 'artistry' of your work. You could have an album that costs you $100 in time and material. Following a standard retail model you would mark it up roughly 100% - for a $200 price tag. If you take the same $100 album and charge for your artistry (of the images and the design) you could conceivably charge whatever you would like - say, $10,000.

I didn't give you a price for mark up because every studio has pretty much a set price.It also varies depending on the editing involved, lab fees, and of course that fuzzy word called "Creative Design." Whats that worth to you? Some studios, it could be as much as $10,000, others $300. Both are extremes, so pick a price that works in your area.

I'm always pleased when an album is not part of the package however I agree with LE. Some albums are very creative and artistic, demanding many hours of tedious work. My partner Marc Williams has logged countless hours into the design and construction of beautiful wedding albums, many of which are breath taking. The price of the album is rolled into the wedding package which really turns out to be a value for the bride & groom because of the amount of time involved in its preperation.

Just search for what photographers in your area charge for albums and then sign up with album companies to find out what they cost. If you have a bridal show coming up, go scope it out. Introduce yourself to other photographers and network with them. Join PPA and your state association, photographers share all the time, just not on open public forums.