Images for Holiday Cottages Brochure

Gilly B

Gilly B

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Gillian
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I have been asked to price up taking some images of stunning barn conversions into holiday lets here in Mid Wales. They will want to use them on their website and in marketing literature.

How would I go about pricing such a job up? I know one or two of you peeps photograph interiors and I thought you could give me some sort of a guide. Do I provide them as Tifs/Jpegs on CD for them to forward to their marketing people? If so, then I need to charge for my time and the CD. It is always this part of the work I find most difficult - the pricing up. :thinking::shrug:

All comments welcome - thanks
 
Id simply start with how long does it take you to do the shoot, and process the work ...minus the time it took you to get things right because your new to that particular type of shooting ( I'm more taking about my thoughts with that last bit, I have no idea what your capable of, excuse me)

Everyone has a minimum profitable wage, usually based on their last job/carrier ..or more realistically what they need to pay the mortgage , feed the family, and have one holiday per year etc.

...so based on that amount per hour ... say £10-£30 per hour how much more can you charge for your talent? ... Or, putting it another way, how much more can you away with.

It's important to know what your minimums are, If you can't charge reasonable fees, then you can't do that job.
 
Someone did post a linkle to a site that had just such information but I can't find it now!

You could try having a look at some images on alamy and pricing them up like that?


We work an odd pricing structure that depends on the amount of photo's and the length of appointment. Just for a guide, after the company I do the work for take their cut, I can get anywhere up to £120 per property. I can be in and out in about 3 hours depending on the state (tidiness) of the property, that includes drawing a floorplan as well for a property up to about 4000 square feet. The agents will get a selection to choose from a selection ofabout 50 images, they will then be allowed up to 20 to use.

You need to base it on how many images they want and how much you charge for a day/half day etc. remember to include processing time too. We have image processors in the office so I don't have to do any post-capture work.

I'd make sure I take plenty of images, Pick the best ones so you have about double the number they actually need. Give them a Cd or web-address where they can proof them from and then let them make the final selection. You may make extra sales this way that you can then charge extra for when they go --oooh wow, they're great, can't make my mind up!--
 
i have to smile at threads like this, all the high prices start floating around, and what they think they should to charge.
Gilly, just decide how much you would like so as not to be out of pocket, and put a small but reasonable profit on the top, that way they will probably use you again instead of saying 'sorry your too expensive'.
good luck to you..
 
Boon said:
i have to smile at threads like this, all the high prices start floating around, and what they think they should to charge.
Gilly, just decide how much you would like so as not to be out of pocket, and put a small but reasonable profit on the top, that way they will probably use you again instead of saying 'sorry your too expensive'.
good luck to you..
Click to expand...

Good point Boon.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I will take on board them all and let you know what happens when I get the phone-call to quote. Gillian
 
Hey Gillian - I am with boon on this one, apart from just the one point. Never under-sell yourself... perception IS reality.

If you feel you are capable (and looking at your excellent gallery on clicpic there's no reason to suggest you are not) and you feel comfortable about the job, them paying etc... then go for whatever you feel is right.

Good luck Gillian.
 
Its always difficult to price work because unless you are buried already you naturally don't want to lose the job through over -pricing especially when it might lead to more work. If 9 years of running my own business has taught me anything its that it is not worth under-pricing to get work. You'll make a loss on the job and set a precedent for future work.
I would suggest that you calculate what you need to earn per day . Work out what your overheads are going to be then add a reasonable daily salary for yourself and then add a small profit . I would imagine most self employed folk now would struggle to survive on less than £120.00 per day salary plus expenses as a minimum. That assumes that you can get 5 days work a week of course which is probably unlikely.Most companies now pay 40p a mile travel as a minimum which should be charged as an expense.

You could charge by the day or half day, plus expenses, plus a price for the images used plus printing costs if any.Allow an hourly rate for digital editing work so you don't get caught out by doing lots of extra work for free
 
Know how you feel, I charged for my first commerical shoot a while back for half a days work, which included the PP.
That rate included up to 10 shots, each shot thereafter cost them XX.
Travel was local to me, so I included that in the rate.
The images wer sent low res for them to choose and I then snet on the full res version on a CD job done.

Not sure if that is the right approach but it seemed to work....They paid in less than a week :)
 
Brilliant advice! Thanks guys. Based on this information, I can sit and work something out before I get the call for a quote (imminent). :thumbs:
 
Good luck Gilly. Peanuts is absolutely right, it is a balance between not selling yourself short or setting poor precedents for later work, either with this client or a referral, and not being unrealistic. The NUJ guide rates are there for a reason: very few of us work 5 days a week.
When they call for your rates think about either faxing or emailing your rates, including an actual fixed cost,plus expenses, and ask them to sign it off and return to you by post with a deposit. This sets out your stall to them and they can reciprocate professionally.
Under my terms I state a 20% deposit is required with the booking and that balance payment is due within 14 days (I've always found if you give 28 day invoice terms they take 28 days to begin processing the invoice etc). Always charge expenses after the event with the invoice.:)
 
I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I'm going to disagree with almost everything said here...............

I always charge above the average rate for what I do, and often I'm one of the most expensive. Am I better than everyone else to charge these high rates? Maybe, maybe not, but I am good............and my rates say I'm good.

Look, there are many sort of different clients out there, some looking for a good photographer, some looking for a cheap photographer. You can have one or the other, not both. So if you are cheap then you are not good.........

I'm not saying you're not any good if you don't charge a lot but the client might think you fit into the cheap 'slot' and not the 'good' slot if you don't charge a lot.

My clients know there are others out there who are cheaper than me. So why do they use me? Am I better than they are? Maybe, but the important thing is the client thinks I am good because I charge more, and they come back.

Hold your head up high, quote a real figure based on 'real' rates and not just on what you personally need to pay your bills, and you'll be suprised just how much work you do get.
 
:agree: Although it really depends on the type of client. The old saying "You get what you pay for" comes to mind. So clients who want 'the best' will know that to get the best they will have to pay over the average to get it. Others may want a cheap and cheerful approach. I know it's hard to gauge your own ability but you should really price yourself accordingly. If you price yourself as 'the best' but fail to deliver top notch stuff then you're pretty much screwed and labeled as a rip off. If you do deliver then people won't mind paying the extra. I know that when my wife and I picked our wedding photographers we went for the most expensive one. After seeing their work it was an easy choice especially for something so important.

Edit:
JumboBeef said:
the important thing is the client thinks I am good because I charge more, and they come back.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this. People aren't mugs and wouldn't assume that you're great because you charge loads, they'd want to see previous work or some kind of evidence to back up your price before committing.
 
Garry79 said:
Edit:
JumboBeef said:
the important thing is the client thinks I am good because I charge more, and they come back.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this. People aren't mugs and wouldn't assume that you're great because you charge loads, they'd want to see previous work or some kind of evidence to back up your price before committing.
Click to expand...

OK, I should have said:

the important thing is the client thinks I am good because I charge more and produce pictures at least as good as my competition, and they come back.
 
That's better! :lol:
 
well, since it's bubbled to the top again

how did it go Gilly?
 
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