As a photography freelancer, there is nothing worse than not knowing what to charge.
Are you afraid of uncharging or overcharging a client? What is normal product photography pricing?
Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.
Here is a guide to helping you quote the right price every time for those product photography photoshoots.
Let’s get started!
Know What The Client Wants
Good Photos: Your client wants high-quality, good-lighting product photography photos. If you do not have good lighting equipment, invest in it. You won’t regret it. Depending on what you want to photograph will depend on what lighting equipment you get, so do the research.
Tell a Story: Your client will also want a certain feel/mood for the photos. For example, depending on which bridal company you shoot for, one may want the models to look super happy and cheerful, whereas another wants the models to look more sexy and serious. Know the brand you are shooting for and pull those emotions when you shoot.
Allow Re-edits: Make sure you include one free re-edit in your packages. Product photography has to be perfect. If they notice something wrong with the photos, you want them to feel comfortable in telling you to fix it. Plus, this is always a great opportunity for you to become better. It overall creates a better relationship between you and the client.
Good product photography pricing: They want a good, fair price.
Be Easy to work with: Finally, your client will want a photographer who is easy to work with. Be kind, generous, thankful, direct, and organized. Even if the photos aren’t perfect, they will come back to you because you were easy to work with.
Know What You Can Offer
When it comes to this part, be honest with yourself. Know what you have and what you lack. Be fair in your product photography pricing.
Here are some questions you can ask yourselves:
Do you have multiple years of product photography experience?
Do you have high-quality indoor lighting?
Do you know how to position the subject and the product to get the best out of both?
Do you know Photoshop?
Do you know Lightroom?
Are you good at paying attention to detail?
Do you know what cues to say to models?
Do you have the backdrops and props necessary?
These are the questions you need to be asking so you really know how much you are worth. Once you’ve done your self-evaluation, get better where you lack. Then once you feel confident, talk yourself up to the client. Most clients do not know how much work goes into product photography, so make sure you mention it. Really tell them the time and effort it takes and how are you happy to do it.
Establish Your Base Pay For Your Product Photography Pricing
First, you will want to create a base pay so that you are covering your time, travel, and equipment expenses. Your experience and equipment factor into this amount.
Hourly Rate
Now, this is the time you are at the photo shoot. Most photographers like to give three different options for their hourly rate:
Full-day: 8-10 hours
Half Day: 4-6 hours
Hourly: amount per hour
Here are some example hourly rates for product photographer pricing (you can adjust these):
Beginner:
Full-day $500
Half Day $275
Hourly $75
Intermediate:
Full day $1000
Half Day $525
Hourly: $125
Professional:
Full-day $1,500
Half Day $750
Hourly $175
Travel for Product Photography Pricing
With travel, you will want to be very specific. Some photographers do not charge for travel and others do. So you want to be very clear with your client upfront about this.
Most product photographers will create a radius around where they live where they don’t charge travel. For example, they will say, if the location is within a 50-mile radius of my house I will not charge travel, but as soon as it goes out of the boundary I will charge like $1 a mile. Create the system you are most comfortable with and stick with it.
Establish Your Rate Per Photo
There are two ways to do this: bulk photo edits or customer selection. Both have their own pros and cons, so decide what works best for you.
-Bulk Photo Edits
You decide with the client how many edited photos they want and how much it will cost upfront. For example, you will say, you will get 75 photos from this photoshoot and that will cost $300. You end up choosing what photos are edited, the client knows exactly how many they are getting, and they pay this cost upfront.
-Customer Selection
This is where you give all the raw photos to the client and they choose which ones they would like you to edit. You give them an edit rate per photo. In other words, you could say that for every photo you want me to edit, it will cost $6. If they want a total of 23 photos edited then you would receive $138 for those edits. You decide what you want the rate to be. This is beneficial because you can change the price for the different types of photos you will be editing. For instance, jewelry product photography can be harder than dress product photography.
Example Product Photography Pricing
Now, how do you present all of this to the client?
I like to break it down to them and answer any questions they have. You can make a cute form on Canva or Google docs and send it to them.
Here are some examples:
Example 1:
4-6 hours: $525
Travel: $30
$8.50 per edited photo
Total upfront: $555
Editing will be charged later
Example 2:
Full day: $1,500
Travel: None
$500 for 150 edited photos
Total upfront: $2,000
Example 3:
2 hours: $300
Travel: $40
$6 per edited photo
Total upfront: $340
Editing will be charged later
Be Confident in What You Quote!
Once you have decided on your base pay and your photo edit costs you can present it to the client with confidence! You know what you are worth and stay true to that. The worse thing they can say is no. But “no’s,” make us stronger and help us become better. Don’t be afraid of ghosting clients. In the end, you always want to work with people who want you there.
Keep Practicing
The biggest flaw in photographers is getting comfortable. When you think you’ve made it, you are just sliding backwards. Always keep learning and you will always be the best in the industry. This is an art that is always adapting and changing. To keep up on all the new tips and tricks follow here: makenzistarrphotography.com.
We’ll see ya behind the lens!
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