todd1664878707 Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I live in New England where there are very distinct differences between the seasons. I find that it gets very busy in the spring and especially in the fall because of the foliage. On the flipside, the winter is very slow. Offering "off season" discounts was something I never considered, but I just received an inquiry about a January wedding asking if I offer a seasonal discount because "a lot of local photographers around you do". Do you offer a seasonal discount? If so how much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kari douma Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I don't offer the off season discounts. I figure if some one is getting married, they are not going to plan a Jan wedding just because my photography is $200 cheeper. Either they want me or they don't. Maybe sometime I will change my mind, but not now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olaf_siebert___zagreb__cro Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Also here winter is low season and in january I was fully booked because I indeed offered some discount (about 20%, to be more concrete, I offered my 2005 prices instead of 2006 prices). I rather book a wedding for a bit lower than that I do not book anything, however, this is only for the last minute bookings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conraderb Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I'll do 5% for an off-season or a Sunday wedding if I like the couple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I offer 5% for December-March and I'll do another 5% for Friday and for Sundays (if it's not a 3 day weekend). I also offer discounts to active duty military & vets. If a couple has portfolio potential and I'd really like to book them I might offer additional services (such as a location engagement shoot). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd1664878707 Posted February 22, 2006 Author Share Posted February 22, 2006 Can I assume that most of the people not commenting in this post don't offer a discount? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurenm Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Todd, I have no idea what the percentage is around here of photog's offering discounts. I do know that a lot of people choose to get married in the off season because it is cheaper in general as many other vendors offer "off season" rates. As some others said, maybe its better to work at a discount than to not have a wedding booked at all? Sometimes I think myself, I'd rather get married in off season as the honeymoon is a good excuse to get the heck out of this freezing cold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anner Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 It's common for reception/ceremony sites around us to offer seasonal discounts in order to entice brides & grooms to book in the "off season", and some photographers have joined in those efforts, but not all. Some photographers offer a standard discount for a Friday or Sunday wedding in order to encourage couples to book on the "off days". I don't offer a discount. My prices are discounted enough, and it's no less expensive or time consuming to process in the winter than it is to process in the summer. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stacy Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I offer a discount for non-Saturday weddings- 10%. We stay pretty busy in December and January so we don't offer an off season discount. We're dead right now though- I wonder if I could offer a February/March discount :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.m. Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I don't offer a discount, but I do allow the 5 hour package to be booked on a weekend during the off-season. Best, Reina. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vladimir_pcholkin___washin Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I have a separate price list for off season weddings. In my experience most people who get married in Dec, Jan, Feb and March have small weddings with small budgets. They do it because they can get lower rates for all other services, besides photography. When I had "summer" prices year around, I had very few bookings, now I have at least 10-15 off season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susan_flewelling Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I do offer discounts for winter and off Saturdays. I have been rethinking the off Saturday discount. I offer 10% off. I have sold so many Fri and Sat weddings because not many give the discount, and while I still make very good money people like the idea of getting a good deal. I say go for it but make sure your prices can sustain a discount and you can still make what you need to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kari douma Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 I'm not sure this off season thing makes much sense to me. (I am not critisizing, just thinking.) Lets say my price is $2000 year round. If I offered a seasonal discount of 10%, that is $200.00 off. Now I am at $1800. I don't think anyone will get married in Jan instead of June for $200 difference. Now, if the cateror offers a 10% discount, on $10,000 (I'm clueless to how much catering costs), that is a $1000 difference. Maybe it would be worth thier while. Now I would not be their deciding factor to get married in Jan, but since they want to because of the cateror, they still need a photographer. Now, there are many photographers out there ranging from $500-$5000. Is my 10% off going to influence them to go with me vs the next guy? With such a price difference in photographers, I cant imagine it would. If I am in the same price range as another photographer, (say they are looking to spend $1800-2100), would the $200 make a difference, or would the style of the images and the personality of the photographer make the difference? I would hope the latter. Or, are people so smitten with getting a "good deel" that nothing else matters? It doesn't matter that my price is $2000, and the next guy is offering 10% 0ff a $2200 package, making it $1980. Would they go with the other guy, just because they are getting an off season discount? I uderstand price shopping... I do it all the time. But this is baffeling me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Or, are people so smitten with getting a good deal that nothing else matters? It doesn't matter that my price is $2000, and the next guy is offering 10% 0ff a $2200 package, making it $1980. Would they go with the other guy, just because they are getting an off season discount? I uderstand price shopping... I do it all the time. But this is baffeling me. In my area, weddings dwindle down to almost a standstill during the winter months, altho February tends to be good for one or two around Valentines day.....everyone has spent alot of money on the holidays and the Catholic church kind of frowns over people getting married during Lent. Winter driving can be unpredictable for out of town guests, etc... So, supply and demand factors at work. People want a good photographer and people want a good deal, alot of it has to do with perception. When you are surrounded by other photographers who also offer off-season discounts I think it makes good sense to do so as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotografz Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 No discount. I agree that it probably won't make a difference. The only discount I offer is through a wedding planner I work with to build my business with her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discpad Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Put yourself in the customer's place: They may plan to get married to pick up discounts for off-season travel as well as for the reception hall/caterer/restaurant; so they are already keen on looking for off-season discounts for other services... Like photography. Also, it varies by region: Bar/Bat Mitzvah's are (almost) never in June, July or August, so you may have enough of those jobs to keep you busy and not need to offer winter discounts to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd1664878707 Posted February 23, 2006 Author Share Posted February 23, 2006 Just to give you an update, I decided against it. I contacted the client and told her I did not offer a discount. I went on to tell her that I believe if someone has their heart set on me to photograph their wedding because they love my work, they aren't going to go book a different photographer because that photographer offers a $200 discount. It has been almost 24 hours and I haven't heard back. Hope I didn't offend her... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olaf_siebert___zagreb__cro Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 But what if, if the B&G has f.e. a budget for $1750... with $2,000 you are out of range, with the 10% discount your might be in range and therefore in question... Pricing is a difficult thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kari douma Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 But what if their budget is $1600, if you give them 20% off..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd1664878707 Posted February 23, 2006 Author Share Posted February 23, 2006 I can understand everyone's thought on the whole consumer saving money thing. Yes, when I have the opportunity to save $200 I take advantage of it. However, I would think that wedding planning is different. I would think that when someone is shopping around for photographers to photograph their once in a lifetime event, they wouldn't settle for their second best photographer because their first choice photographer was $200 more. Think about it, what does the average wedding cost? 15k? 20K? 25k? Do you really think the B&G would choose you because you offer a $200 discount? $200 is nothing compared to the entire cost of the wedding. I just don't get it. That doesn't make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Well, $200 is $200 and to working people it makes a difference. Brides can be funny about how they spend their money...I had one bride that got into a bidding war on Ebay over a cake topper and ended up paying $225....later she came accross the same topper in an online catalog for about $50. When brides are looking at prices what they see is a huge variation in what's out there, with all the options, upgrades, etc...it can get very overwhelming to the average bride. Offerring a 5% discount is not a whole lot of money and I have a cieling of 10%, so that if the person was a veteran (5%) and they were having a Friday wedding (5%) then they have maxed-out at 10%, and if it were a January wedding, they wouldn't get another 5%. If the person is active duty military then they've qualified for 10% so additional discounts wouldn't apply. The demand for a Saturday wedding in mid-October or June is no where close to the demand for a Saturday wedding in mid-December or March. Budget-conscous brides will pick Fridays and Sundays over a Saturday to save money and sometimes it'd due to the availability of the venue. If a photographer wants to treat them all the same that's certainly their perogative. Since my packages put me somewhere in the middle in my region, I'm not worried about capturing the extreme budget conscous bride who is looking for "cheap" and I will not engage in (or certainly ever win) a bidding war for a job. Perhaps it might be a good move to see what the competition is offerring in your immediate area............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 BTW, the profit from reprint sales for a wedding that you didn't shoot is $0.00 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kari douma Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 I think there are two different photographers out there. The first photographer is trying to do everyghing in their power to make sure they are booked to the fullest, they might want to offer a discount if that is the trend in their area. If this photographer wants every job that he/she can get, then they need to be willing to make comprimises just to get the job. Maybe they need every job to be able to pay the bills. The other photographer is pretty busy anyway, and doesn't necisarrily need every job that walks throug the door. This photographer doesn't have to try to bend over backwards to try and meet the negotiations of the client, because otherwise they might go to the photographer down the street. This photographer can show what they have to offer, and leave it up to the client. This photographer doesn't want to give discounts just for the sake of getting the job. He/she can stay home on a Sat in Feb, and it wont break his/her business. What kind of photographer are you? I think that being a photographer is a lot more personal of a job than say a catoring hall. The person who owns the hall is not most likeley the one in there cooking the food or hosting. The owner has employees to do that, and they are just earning the owner money. Therefore, the owner hires a manager who will fill the catering hall 24/7 if they can. The owner makes the money if the hall is full of guests. If that takes offering a seasonal discount, or an off day discount, then that shall be done. They will just hire the employees to work the hours, and make the money for the owner. It is a win win situation for the owner. He doesn't care if he makes $90 to every $100 durring slow times, as long as he is makeing money. Maybe I am wrong about this, but this is my perception on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discpad Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Kari, that may work for wedding photogs who work from their home; but if they have a studio or storefront, then the overhead keeps piling up whether you shoot or sit at home and mastur... Well, you get the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 Kari, the truth is that there are a lot more than two types of photographers out there and I think you are over-simplifying this. There is a big difference between someone who shoots as a hobby and charges next to nothing, to a kid that lives in his parents basement and offers "Destination weddings" coverage for upwards of $10,000 a pop. Doing this work to provide for your family, pay the mortgage, and make a descent living at it is another thing. What do the established, professional studios in the area charge? A 5 or 10% discount is not "bending over". Over 95% of my brides contact me cuz they've seen me work a wedding and liked me, were referred by another vendor who assurred them that they could trust me to do a good job, or visited my website and "liked" the photos. If I have a bride or a bride's mom who love my work, they're sold and $75-$200 isn't going to make a difference. But most brides in my area can locate dozens of websites that serve the area with images that they "like". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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