Comments on: T4P – Pricing

By: Dawn Stephens

Dawn Stephens — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 05:22:17 +0000

Thank you. I appreciate the input.

By: Tom Welsh

Tom Welsh — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:32:08 +0000

Dear Stacy,
I am an expert wedding photographer with 33 years of experience, (I started at 16). The last few years I have been banging my head trying to figure a new pricing strategy. This resource should be required for any photographer applying for a business license. This has been done very well and is much needed for our industry. Thank you and best wishes.

Tom Welsh

By: Amie Geyer

Amie Geyer — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:06:01 +0000

Excited to read this!!!
Thank you!

By: Ben Makinen

Ben Makinen — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 03:23:27 +0000

Nice work here Stacey. I will recommend this to band leaders who shortchange themselves and their musicians.
All the best!
Ben

By: stacyreeves

stacyreeves — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:29:56 +0000

Juanita, with all due respect, you seem to be casting judgment and making assumptions about people that aren’t fair. First of all, I had no clue about the college students’ situation until after they booked me. It was only after the contract was signed and the deposit was paid that they told me their original photography budget and their overall wedding budget. Second, even if I had known, it’s not my place to babysit my clients and manage their money. Would you have had me tell them “No, I’m sorry, I can’t take your money, I think you’re too poor”? How rude and inappropriate would that have been, not to mention insulting to my clients. The point of sharing the anecdote was to show photographers that you can’t judge someone based on their job or socioeconomic background. Different people have different financial priorities, and we should treat every bride like a high-money bride, because they might end up being one. Furthermore, the PPA study was done to educate photographers about the reality of life in the industry and is completely fact-based. It wasn’t some article written based on opinions of how things work or judgements about business models or suggestions on how to make money. It’s purely a collection and publishing of user-submitted data. Even though you would expect people to say they’re actually making more than they really are, the results showed that most photographers are losing money or barely breaking even. Before the study came out, no one would have believed that statement, because the only press you hear is about rockstar photographers who bring in five-digit wedding packages and live the high life. By surveying hundreds of studios across the country from all genres and business models, PPA was able to give a realistic look at what’s really happening in the industry financially. I’m not sure how or why you could see that as some kind of negative activity.

By: Juanita Ramirez

Juanita Ramirez — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 22:05:31 +0000

Stacy,

I read over your guide, and I thought it was well-thought-out, and you made some great points about charging what you’re worth. Nevertheless, your story about selling the $5500 package to the two poor college students is a little bit disturbing to me. Do you think that independent photographers have a responsibility to clients not to charge them more than we know they can reasonably afford? This seems to be like what the mortgage sellers were doing before the meltdown.

Also, I hesitate to cite the PPA guidelines for anything regarding pricing. Their responsibility is to prop up the industry so photographers can make money. They are a trade association (cartel :) ) and they could put any arbitrary number out there.

In the end, though, I thought it was a great guide that provided valuable information and I’m grateful for that. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

By: The kindness of {virtual} strangers. » Kent Wedding + Boudoir Photographer London

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:22:02 +0000

[...] thank Stacy Reeves for her blog post from yesterday – she’s produced an amazing price guide for wedding photographers which is going to help me in my pursuit of a successful business. Stacy is so kind and generous, [...]

By: Dee Dee

Dee Dee — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:50:12 +0000

WOW – Thank you SO much!!

By: Chasity Furse

Chasity Furse — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:26:53 +0000

hey stacy. it is amazing that you took the time to do this and offer it up to so many. i can’t seem to access the link though. i can get the spreadsheets but i get an error message when trying to access the pricing guide. is it just me?

By: stacyreeves

stacyreeves — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:01:03 +0000

Hi Jen, since we don’t charge our clients for our editing time, nor do we pay ourselves hourly, there’s no real point in calculating the time you spend editing into your price. The only reason you might calculate editing in is 1) if you pay someone else to edit the photos, or 2) you’re pricing a specific type of editing, such as album design, major retouching, etc., something you wouldn’t normally do for the average wedding. Hope that helps!