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Question from Mollie: “When ordering prints or albums (etc), do you adjust the price to make a profit? If so, how much? Does it vary printer to printer? This is just one aspect I’ve never quite understood.”
Jess: love this question.. I know a lot of photographers raise the prices a lot.. so I am interested to see just how much
BP4U: I adjust my prices on prints, I normally will double it. However with albums, they are so expensive anyways that I will make my packages and my time/editing services compensate for the additional money that i would have wanted to increase the albums for. Let me know if that makes sense, I think I just confused myself. LOL
Amie: I just double mine
Jayne: How I explain it to my clients that a 4×6 print costs <$0.50 to print. But when they order a print from me, it’s not the paper they are paying for. It’s the image on the print they are paying for. Just like if you buy a painting it’s not the canvas you are buying, it’s the image on the canvas.
Jayne: Same goes with albums. What would probably cost me $100 to print I will charge roughly $300-500 for. But I’m not selling the album itself, it’s the images and design of the album that the client is paying for.
Lars: i think it makes sense adjusting/doubling prices if all you’re doing is one or two (or a limited run, autographed or something else special) prints and selling them to compensate for the work. if you print in volumes, you probably make a peso or two in the long run anyway?
E Shay: I got great advice from some of the best photogs in the nation: triple the cost. Covers your cost, your overhead, and gives you a paycheck after all that.
Suz: Most of them time double or triple the costs
Kelly: Yes, you definitely adjust the price for clients. Prints & albums are a big part of profit. Adjust the price according to industry averages. You obviously can’t charge something outrageous otherwise you won’t have very many clients returning. I know my printer has a conversion worksheet built right into my profile. I just plug the numbers in & it tells me my profit on each size print.
Kelly: Example 4×6 cost me cents, but clients pay $3 per 4×6.
Kerry: It also depends on if you are charging shoot or sitting fee. If Yes, you would want to mark up a bit. If NO and that is the only way you are making money you would need to mark up a lot more.
Geneva: Oh yes I do! My books are art. I spend hours poring over them to tell the story for the event. I may use a template to start but I adjust all of them so no two books are ever the same. People understand that the books cost but they don’t balk at it because of the quality we use and the end result.
Stacy: PPA recommends taking your base cost (price of album + your creation time + packaging, etc) and multiplying by 3. That way you are covering the cost to create it, you can pay yourself for your time, and you have the rest to sock away and save for your business. If you’re not charging enough…well, there’s a reason roughly only 15% of new photographers are still working after 3 years (According to Fast Track Photographer). =
Mollie: Thank you all SO much! Now to just transition to ordering prints too instead of just giving the disc!
Kendall: I charge quite a bit more than 3x the cost for prints- they’re paying for my time, talent and art to take home and enjoy forever and it’s a professionally printed and archival print. For example I think it costs me $2.10 for an 8×10 and I charge $50 to my clients.
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