Holiday Pricing

[emeryfoto]

Hi, A client of mine asked me how much I would charge to allow her to use one of my images (of her

children) on her holiday cards, which she will design digitally.

 

I'm still fairly old-school and usually sell bulk 4x6 prints for people to use in their cards, so I'm at a loss

on how to price this fairly.

 

I think it's great she even asked, as most people (I assume) would simply scan in their copy of my photo!

(She doesn't have any copies, yet, though - she only received her proofing website from me last week).

 

What do you think?

 

Do I charge her the same price I would have gotten from a client if they had bought the photos?

Right now, I'm charging $50 for 25 bulk prints, $75 for 50 and $125 for 100. That seems a little steep for

what she's asking....?

 

Thanks for your input!

[kiro]

I had a client ask me the same thing and was at an equal loss. The way I thought about it, the client was taking a lot of the hassle in dealing with the setup and delivery out of my hands, so I gave her a break, and charged her $20 (my price for 2 5X7's)

[d_s31]

I would ask how many times they want to use the image. Then take the fee you would charge for image use when selling the prints. To back track the number, take the selling price of your prints, minus the printing costs, minus the markup you charge on top of the printing costs to arrive at the license fee per image - that's assuming you don't know and you've been ball parking the fee per image all this time. Don't forget to add any fixed costs you have: utilities, insurance, and any other business overhead yo may have.<p/>of course, you can always just guess.

[emeryfoto]

Thanks, Kier & DS.

 

I DO have an exact formula for calculating my per print price, DS, so your advice is helpful.

Thanks.

[karen_lippowiths]

I price my proofs really high -- $125 per shot in 5x7 (or 4x6 if they wish) at 300ppi in

color and b&w on disk with a "permission to print" letter. The cost drops to $75 per shot

as part of my "preferred pricing" rates (after you purchase a collection or qualifying

session plan a second tier of lower rates becomes available). I want people to know I take

the value of my work very seriously and I want them to value it as well.

 

I initially thought no one would jump at that rate. That was kind of the point in a way.

Surprisingly, I've sold a lot of proofs. I just had an order for 14 proofs on top of a myriad

of other pieces -- total sale around $2,000. Not bad for a portrait session. I wish they

were all like this (I average around $500 - $800) but I'm fairly new and I hope to go up in

time.

 

I hope this helps. Good luck :)

 

Karen