apoligies for yet another how much do i charge thread.....

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chris_tim

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Chris
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alright

basically i have been asked to submit some "test" shots for A sign company for potential brochure shots as they are looking to create a new brochure and want me to do the photos.

this is my first proper (proper as in paid) job and they asked me to come up with a price. as this is my first major photo job i dont want to take the micky and ask for to much.

they have offered me 25p per mile i travel but they want a daily rate and a rate for photo usage.

i was thinking 35 pounds for the day and 5 pounds for unlimited usuage of a photo per photo.


does this sound reasonable to you people out there??


many thanks :-)
 
I would say £35 a day is pretty cheap to be honest. It's always hard to value a cost for 'time' and 'knowledge', but I personally wouldn't charge anything less than £50-£100 per day depending on the client etc (by that I mean if it is a friend or a charity or someone who obviously has a small budge I would charge less to make sure I got the job etc....a big corporate client who have a budget and just want to get the best price I can I would charge my "proper" fee.

£5 per photo is also fairly cheap for a completely unlimited use agreement. If you are using you own kit you need to bear in mind wear and tear etc and what the images 'worth' is. Again I would say it depends on who your client is and how many photos you are taking I guess. If this is just say 5 shots for the brochure then for £25 are you covering our outlay and the profit for yourself? As a ball park figure I don't think I would really offer an unlimited license for anything under maybe £50 at least. Obviously less for stricter licenses (IE not worldwide, or limited print run etc)
 
chris_tim said:
i was thinking 35 pounds for the day and 5 pounds for unlimited usuage of a photo per photo.
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How many hours a day would it be?

If a full days work, would you accept a fullt time job at £175/week before tax and insurance ?

If the answer is no, then it's too cheap.
 
Still to cheap in my opinion for a semi-professional photo service.

Bear in mind that although they are asking for you daily rate, they might only employ you for half a day and thus you have to watch out for this being pro-rata'd.

I would go with £200 a day plus £9.95 a pic. (excluding copyright). This will still be considerably cheaper than them hiring an experienced professional photographer who could charge £100 per hour.

If it's too expensive for them, you have an opportunity to negotiate downwards. If it's too low, they will never tell you and ask to pay you more money.
 
This is a difficult one - and there is no 'right' answer...

Are you capable of producing professional quality results? If the answer is 'No' then my advice would be to get more experience/expertise before taking on paid work (the quality expectations for commercial work are MUCH higher than for social photography).

If the answer is 'Yes' then why charge any less than a professional would charge?

Apart from the viewpoint that it's morally wrong to undercut the prices of people whose only income is from photography, there's an argument that clients should pay the going rate and can afford to do so.

I'm in the Bradford area, where services are relatively cheap, and I charge £500 per half day or £850 per day, which is about average for the area. In some areas, London for example, day rates are MUCH higher. My minimum charging unit is a half day and I charge 50p per mile which, according to the RAC, is much too low for my car.

As for usage charges, I take the view that if they're paying me to do the work they can use the shots as they see fit, without any extra charge.

Of course, there will always be some clients who are never willing to pay the going rate. My answer is to let them get on with it, charging less than the going rate does nobody any good and no supplier, regardless of the business, will turn all of the enquiries into jobs.
 
£35 a day?! You cant get an 18 year old unskilled laborer in for that!

I would charge more than that. Much more than that.
 
cheers for the advice people, in return to what Gary Edwards menioned i feel that i am able to produce the goods so to speak, and they company is quite large.

i wasnt too sure what a pro would charge, i though 35 was reasonable but obviously the client would be laughing as their quids in. they have asked me to quote them a price and they are willing to talk about it,which is good.

thanks again!

ill let you know how it goes
 
chris_tim said:
alright

basically i have been asked to submit some "test" shots for A sign company for potential brochure shots as they are looking to create a new brochure and want me to do the photos.

this is my first proper (proper as in paid) job and they asked me to come up with a price. as this is my first major photo job i dont want to take the micky and ask for to much.

they have offered me 25p per mile i travel but they want a daily rate and a rate for photo usage.

i was thinking 35 pounds for the day and 5 pounds for unlimited usuage of a photo per photo.


does this sound reasonable to you people out there??


many thanks :-)
Click to expand...


This looks way too cheap to me, putting into perspective...

If you work 8hrs that day & you've only charged them £35 you've worked for £4.38/hr - not even minimum wage, as you are providing your services in a professional capacity I'm certain the company would expect to pay substantially more.

simon
 
You must factor into your cost, that although you will be there for the day, what work will you do afterwards. That is how long will you spend post processing your pictures.
 
natjag said:
You must factor into your cost, that although you will be there for the day, what work will you do afterwards. That is how long will you spend post processing your pictures.
Click to expand...

Aye. Rule of thumb is that you'll spend 100 days per year actually snapping, so your day-rate is 1% of your turnover and your turnover might be double what you pay yourself. However, you are no doubt being considered as a cheaper option to whatever quotes the company has already obtained, so provide good value. As you're being asked for test shots, make sure whatever you provide is heavily watermarked and maybe offer a lower rate with adjustment for any usage and details of your usual rates.
 
£35 a day:eek:
our day rate is £300.and were considered very cheap by some.
i,d go for something nearer defiance's suggested rate.
ok. maybe a litle less if your looking at it as a "way in" . but WAAAAY more than £35.
thats not even close to our HOURLY rate.
 
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