how much to charge for a Jpeg file?

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Hi

Can anybody advise on how much to charge for Jpeg files? A rough guidance would help...

I did a shoot for a childrens sports event and have received some orders from the parents for prints and Jpeg files.

I have never 'sold' a jpeg file individually, and am not sure how much to charge. They have ordered 10 in total. Do you think 10GBP reasonable?
The files are 300dpi and range from 3-5mb each, depending on crop.

I checked NUJ site and they recommend 15GBP per file.

What do you think...can anybody help or advise?

Thanks
:-)
 
When I get asked for a JPG I ask why? .. If its so they can print multiple copies then no.. I do the printing.. if its for a website then they can have a small unprintable version. I would charge depending on what theyw ant to do with it
 
I was also asked today about a price for a file, so it could be used as a desktop wallpaper on a pc!

I suspect it may be so they can print it on their own though.

I'm just going to supply a price for prints only I think.

Dave
 
I sold prints only, but got too many people asking for JPEGS, so finally succumbed! So I sell 3 different sizes, longest sides 800, 1200 and 2400, and I charge £7.50, £10 and £15 respectively. (Note, I'm not selling them at their full size).

I don't think I mind people printing them, but that's why I charge quite a lot for them (or at least I think I do). I may think about going the route KIPAX does, and sell low and high DPI versions, and charge appropriately.

:)
 
I recently added an extra option to my price list of a Limited license email file for £30 - I thought this was reasonable as they could want a large print and I don't see why I should lose out all my income from this. No one has taken me up on it so far but I am showing willing by making the option available
 
In all fairness, what are you going to do with a picture of someone else's kids?
You can't sell it, unless you sell it to them.
I would charge them £10 for each jpeg.
£100 is pretty good imo for a day's work at a sports day.

If it was a beautiful landscape, or a car, or something that could be sold to a wide audience, then fair enough hanging on to it.

Obviously my 2p's worth.
 
foodpoison said:
In all fairness, what are you going to do with a picture of someone else's kids?
You can't sell it, unless you sell it to them.
I would charge them £10 for each jpeg.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately clients tend to play to this. Why order prints if you can get the jpeg for a tenner? Wedding togs will say the same about clients who say that they don't plan on ordering extra prints so can they have the jpegs cheap.
 
I used to think this was a difficult subject, but it is actually very simple. Because anyone who has a business selling ‘stuff’ to people really needs to sell them the ‘stuff’ they want.

If our customers are asking for JPEGS, then we probably have to sell them JPEGS.

Markets change and we have to change with them or I’m afraid we’ve had it. Look at what’s happened to camera shops in the last few years. There are loads of examples of businesses having to change because of outside forces. I friend of mine used to sell ladders and new(ish) health & safety rules decimated his business in a matter of a few months.

So I say sell them the JPEGS they’re they want. If they want to print them themselves, all well and good I say.

On the bright side....

Just look at how the same technology that is enabling our customers to print their own photos is working in our favour.

• The money we save not having to buy or process film.
• Shoot in colour and B&W at any ISO all at the same time.
• The ability to take hundreds of frames (at little or no cost) to give us a better chance of getting the perfect shot.
• No more hours spent farting about in the dark.
• The ability to review our efforts immediately - no more worrying for hours waiting to see if ‘they’ve turned out’.
• The ability to ‘fix’ images that go wrong - Photo Shop etc.
• No more filing cabinets full of negatives and trannies.
• The opportunities for more work brought about by website photography.
• The ability to e-mail images to customers saving us time and money.


So if I get asked for a JPEG, I just say yes. E-mail it over to them and it’s the quickest, easiest way to earn a tenner I’ve ever find.

So I say...

Don’t be a dinosaur, go with the technology and give your customers what they want, or there is a real chance they’ll find someone else who will.
 
All well and good - but why sell it cheap? If it is what they want, they will pay a fair price for it. You are NOT going to sell more because the price is lower, you will just earn less.

Margin is where your living is, not volume.

A huge volume at no profit is worth damn all. But the arguement is - "you will sell more". Correct, which means you will simply lose even more money.
 
Lensflare said:
All well and good - but why sell it cheap? If it is what they want, they will pay a fair price for it. You are NOT going to sell more because the price is lower, you will just earn less.

Margin is where your living is, not volume.

A huge volume at no profit is worth damn all. But the arguement is - "you will sell more". Correct, which means you will simply lose even more money.
Click to expand...


Who said anything about selling cheap?
 
The £10 mentioned was for Illustrative purposes.
 
Ah. So how much do you think then is a fair price? for say a portrait or wedding pic?
 
A known photographer in the commercial.editorial business has this on one of his business sites:-

IMAGES and RETOUCHING:
£20.00 Digital Retouched File on CD
£25.00 for retouched file on CD and 12x10 Print.
We have some great online companies which can supply all your portfolio printing requirements overnight if required.

You can print, email or use these images in any way to promote yourself online, upload them to Facebook or Myspace, use them in your book or with your agency. The images, however, cannot be used for any commercial use unless you have got written permission from PleaseDoNotBend.com.

I will add, that to my best knowledge these have the photographers main business name across the middle, so if they are printed by external companies, they will have this on them. Printed in house or via the business has no business name on them.
 
I suppose that a lot depends on how much you've charged for the session itself. If you charge a reasonable rate for your time, the price you get for the images (whether JPEGS or prints) should reflect that.
 
As well as my usual print prices I offer JPEG's for £20 per image, for this they get a full size version for printing and a web ready version for their website/e-mail etc. I didn't think they would sell that well but I've done a few over the last month at the equestrian shows for clients that run studs etc.
 
It's interesting - we have gone for a wedding photographer that charges twice what everyone else does, but then says "here's the prints, and the files on a CD [or two??]".

This means she earns a decent wage for the days work, but then doesn't charge a small fortune for 30 photos that she decides she likes, and instead [presumably after sensible weeding] just says "here ya go". This works well for us, and yes, we may well print them off afterwards, but that's our choice. What she gets is a damn good wage for a days 'togging preceded by a couple of short meetings, and a bit of effort afterwards doing weeding.

Upshot is, there's two pricing methods - sell yourself cheap, and your photos dear, or vice versa. Probably the only method not worth doing is a reasonable price for both!
 
Snap_Happy said:
What she gets is a damn good wage for a days 'togging preceded by a couple of short meetings, and a bit of effort afterwards doing weeding.
Click to expand...


The couple of short meetings - say half a day with travelling?
The day's shooting
One or two days going though the shots and preparing them

Say a minimum three days plus cost of equipment, insurance etc etc along with accumulated skills and paying any staff and the stress of shooting weddings (which is worth a fortune in itself :p ) and everything else I have not thought of. Does it still sound like a good wage ? :D
 
Kerioak said:
The couple of short meetings - say half a day with travelling?
The day's shooting
One or two days going though the shots and preparing them

Say a minimum three days plus cost of equipment, insurance etc etc along with accumulated skills and paying any staff and the stress of shooting weddings (which is worth a fortune in itself :p ) and everything else I have not thought of. Does it still sound like a good wage ? :D
Click to expand...


Whether it's a good days wage obviously it depends on how much one charges.

But we should all remember that photogrphy has become much easier in reacent years and there are more oportunities than ever to make a buck.

Althought there are some difficulties from time to time, in general, photogrqphy (even weddings) is a great way to earn your dosh.

There are plenty of much tougher and much less enjoyable ways to pay the rent!
 
Kerioak said:
The couple of short meetings - say half a day with travelling?
The day's shooting
One or two days going though the shots and preparing them

Say a minimum three days plus cost of equipment, insurance etc etc along with accumulated skills and paying any staff and the stress of shooting weddings (which is worth a fortune in itself :p ) and everything else I have not thought of. Does it still sound like a good wage ? :D
Click to expand...

At £2k for a day's togging plus a few extras? Yes.
 
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