At this year's Rottweiler National, I'm going to offer a pre-paid discount for folks on their first 8X10 print which will extend to all their other products when they actually place their order later after they've reviewed their proofs. The objective is, obviously, to generate cashflow and obligate as many people as possible to order by offering a fairly strong financial incentive.

How strong you might ask? Well, that's my question too. I don't believe that there is a huge difference in terms of incentive between a 20% discount and a 25% discount. My standard original 8X10 pricing is $30 so at a 20% discount, that would be $24 and at a 25% discount, $22.50. At the 25% rate, I'd have to generate a 33% increase in sales to break even on pricing. However, the fact that I'd have cash in advance is a primary incentive to offer the pre-paid discount and might very well pay for the trip to and from Greeley, Colorado. So, beyond profit motives, the increased cashflow might be enough to warrant the discount for those who take advantage of it.

My question to the forum is: would you offer a 20% pre-paid discount or a 25% and why.

Thanks in advance for your opinions.

Jim

I think I might skip the discount on a single print in favor of a discount on a package. Kind of a "reward" for a bigger purchase but I may be the wrong person to ask since I only do in-person sales and don't shoot at dog shows. The market is certainly different!

This is probably a topic for a separate thread but whenever I photograph dogs for a Breeder my sales are much smaller than when it's a family coming in for a dog portrait. It seems odd to me -- since some of the breeders spend THOUSANDS of dollars on their show dogs -- yet they seem to balk at spending money on portraits of them.

Teresa,

I experience the same thing. I think that for pet owners the photo session is more like a wedding, whereas with breeders it is more like a birthday. The pet owners may only do one or two sessions over the pet's lifetime, but breeders will bring me a different cats every season.

Jim,

I don't think people will feel much difference between a 20% and 25% discount. I like the idea of charging full price and giving away a freebie as the incentive. Maybe like a free small JPG for their Facebook profile.

Preston
while I appreciate your point of view, the whole idea is to get them committed to purchasing at the point of when the photo is taken so they can't simply decide to wait until the image is posted on the ARC website and right-click on it to save it for their own website. Last year, the multi-winners had lots of photos taken but they bought only one or two because they could get the others off the site and then could wait for the ARC Newsletter which publishes all the major placements. So I spent a lot of time and energy taking pictures for use in media for which I receive no compensation and, because they are a contract item, I have to provide them regardless of whether or not I've been paid for them.

So, by offering a discount at point of photo, I hook the buyers on their first "win" and I get a pre-payment which is good for my cashflow. If they get more wins, they most likely would take advantage of the discount as well. So, if someone had the Best In Futurity dog and they bought at the discount rate -- and then went Best In Sweepstakes -- they would be very likely to purchase that photo at the discount as well.

BTW, I agree that there's not much more incentive between 20% and 25% so I'm going with 20%. Unlike most show photographers, I tend not to punish folks who are very successful at large shows like the National and I usually provide a discount to those folks "under the table" when I proof the images. Most photographers just charge their top rate and get as much as they can. In doing so, I believe they get less than they should because folks are limited in what they *perceive* they can afford in today's economy. A discount makes it easier to rationalize.

The product "throw in" works well for private portraits but it really doesn't work well for show formals. That's a totally different animal.

Jim

I have heard that 20% is the breaking point where it is enough to get people to act. I get email coupons from wholesalers offering 7% discounts, which, is almost offensive. Why even bother. Not enticing

Teresa, the motivation for breeder/show photography is very different than the motivation for a pet person. I couldn't make a living on dog show advertising photography. I don't even do it unless I get a commitment of 4 clients at a time.

Pet people are looking for portraits the same way people with children are. To capture memories. And they have 1-3 very special dogs. With show dogs, there is not the same emotional investment in photos. They get them done all the time and the photos only are to serve a purpose. They do the very rare pet portrait type shoots, but, those tend to be for their very special dogs

Never mistake having money, with spending money. Many of the show dog people really do not HAVE a lot of money. What they do is funneled into campaigning it.

The biggest motivator for spending is emotion. I have found that my sales are less driven by the person's financial status and more by the value they place on what I have created.

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Teresa, the motivation for breeder/show photography is very different than the motivation for a pet person. I couldn't make a living on dog show advertising photography. I don't even do it unless I get a commitment of 4 clients at a time.

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Julie, while I agree with your comment about what motivates pet people vs show people I don't quite understand this comment. Are you saying you will only accept an advertising client if they bring you 3 others or if they commit to 4 ads?

Teresa, we deal with both our puppy owners and our advertising clients and while the motivation is different with each, they will both order and both pay. The advertising clients *need* new images for their advertising and they are constantly looking for them; the puppy owners *want* images of their puppies as they are growing up and will pay for them on a recurring basis.

The key with advertising clients is to find the ones with the good dogs that are nationally competitive and be able to both capture good images, develop good ads and know where to place them and how to get decent placement within the publications. I'm not sure I'd make enough with the photographic piece of the advertising clients alone but together with the ad development and placement, it pays some of the bills.

Pet portraits are definitely an emotional purchase and therefore tend to be more lucrative. You can make some $$$ on that 16X20 canvas wrap but you won't get an order for that from most of the show folks. A few. But only a few.

Jim

Raise your prices $5 and then offer 25% off

To the buyer 25% sounds like a lot more than 20% when they start thinking about 1/4 and 1/5, etc. I offer 10% early bird and another 10% for repeat customers.

Jim,
people don't perceive that 25% is all that much more than 20% according to the marketing studies. Logically, you'd think so but it just isn't so. Plus, raising prices to give a discount is something a Wall Street Investment Banker would do. Not my game .

Jim

LOL. I didn't figure you would

I've been contemplating prices again lately too. I've gotten a few "I really get all those images for that price?" from my dog sport folks. Makes me think I aimed a bit low.

I raise my prices periodically so I can stay in business. I just raised them. Not a ton, but, I think I was underpriced.

I won't travel to do advertising clients unless there is 4 for me to do, because it is too expensive and too time consuming to do so otherwise. If they want to come to me, its another story. Pet people are more likely to travel to me than show people.

I agree with Jim G that the difference mentally between 20 and 25 is negligable, but 20% is the point that makes people act. I gave a discount to all orders placed by a certain date at the whippet national.