On-site proofing for portriats is a real pain unless you have a staff of four to do it that can work independently of you.
Still, if you don't take advantage of the impulse buy by selling on-site, your sales will be much lower.
I shoot rescue fund raisers for 15 different groups in my area and through trial and error have found what works best for me. The prices might need to be adjusted a little, but the structure is the same.
I charge $25 per sitting and donate 40% back to the rescue. At $10 per sitting they get more than if I do a lower percentage of total sales, plus tracking the online sales and figuring the donation is a pain. People will wait months to order and then you are forced to make multiple donations or set a deadline.
To get the on-site sales, I offer pre-paid packages at a discount plus free shipping. So far, only two people have asked "What if I don't like any of the proofs?" I tell them that they will get a refund of the print order (not the sitting fee), but that I'm sure they will like what they see.
All my packages are "mix-n-match" and if someone purchases a package at the event, they get at event pricing in the web gallery too (but I don't say this at the event to keep everyone from buying package #1 and "upgrading" later.)
My packages are set up in such a way that 80% of folks buy the middle two and about 10% each buy the lower two or package # 5. Package # 6 is in there just in case someone really wants to spend money. I started including it two events ago and have sold one package #6 at each of the two events.
My rescue pricing is totally different from my dog sport pricing as well as my private sitting pricing. Here is a screen capture of the price list I use at rescue events. The "Save $xx.xx" includes the savings of free shipping.
At my most resent rescue fundraiser we had 27 sittings, 25 pre-orders and two "I'll wait for the proofs." Of the two who waited, one ordered and one hasn't. We sold on Package #6; 18 package 2/3, and 6 package 1/2.
On including a free image:
Including one 5x7 print for free will cut into your profit and add a lot of time. You still have to pay for shipping unless your going to do a mass delivery for folks to pick up.
For a while, I included "one digital 5x7" which could be downloaded from my shopping cart. I don't do that anymore unless the rescue asks me to.
