And my previous post didn't get posted, apparently. I was asking if anyone had good advice for how they priced photographs and how they decided what is fair to ask. It seems that everyone has the charge for their time and equipment (sitting fee) and the charges for prints.
The average sitting fee for pet photogs is about $100.00 based on my research. Do you find people willing to pay that? Did you charge less when you were starting out? I know that pricing depends very much on expenses- what do you have to charge to get back what you put into your business.
Here are some of my numbers: (Estimated monthly expenses to run a photo business on a very LEAN budget).
These numbers assume that I am working 2 jobs a week 52 weeks a year, so about 100 jobs/year. Is that a reasonable average? I'm basing it on what I've done so far - about two shoots a week. Remember, I'm PT semi-pro, not full time at this point. I am crunching numbers based on the idea that I will use equipment that I already have, so I haven't worked additional cameras, glass, and computers into this.
Paper and Ink (biggest expense) 172.00/mo
Advertising/Promotion: 40.00/mo
Postage 25.00/mo
Office Supplies: (Cds, etc) 60.00/mo
Monthly Expenses Total: 297.00/mo
If I do 6 jobs /mo (slightly less than 2/week, to err on the cautious side) I need to make $50.00 per job to cover the expenses that month.
Is my math right here? The sitting fee covers expenses, and you make profit on prints? Or do you work some profit into the sitting fee?
Thanks for any advice.