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This is the blog for professional photographers, and those who aspire to be. Our aim is to help professional photographers build long-term, sustainable careers.
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Don't shoot, it's just a suggestion!
"How much for that album?"
If you ask us that, and you have an approved account, we're happy to tell you.
But in 40+ years, while we’ve often offered guidance, we’ve never ever told customers how much they should charge.
Well I'm going to be brave and make a suggestion. Then I'm going to ask you. But first, some background... For decades many photographers charged really high prices for their products (albums, prints, framing etc). They did this to avoid asking a reasonable fee for their
services
. You can see why. Even our wealthiest acquaintances think photographers charge way too much (they have no idea what you do for your money). A few photographers backed up these high prices with some pretty dodgy selling techniques. For example I knew a guy who would tell people that unless they bought now the prints would go for recycling (true!). Another would ask his customers, do you like this photo? If they said no he ripped the print in two. They soon got the point. Well you just can't do that any more. So...
1. You need to charge for your services
. You must also be clear what those services are (the shoot, travel, consultations, image editing, artwork, album design etc). If they're included in the price of the album, you need to make that very clear too.
2. You need to charge a reasonable mark-up on the product itself.
So what is a reasonable return on a Queensberry album? Our attitude is that you can charge
as much or as little as you like.
If you can charge way more than I'm about to suggest I'd put it down to your reputation, and to your craft and sales skills - congratulations! But there's no point complaining if other people sell our albums too cheaply by your standards. We know people who cover their costs only, because they make their money in other ways or because they're getting started and want to build their business with a following wind from world class products and beautiful presentation.
But I'm just putting off telling you how much!
How does 100% markup on the wholesale album price sound as a starting point? That's a fairly normal retail markup in this part of the world, and it's for the product only, not the services I mentioned. Apart from your sample(s) you have no up-front investment in stock, and I'm assuming your customers have already paid for the photos through your shooting fee. For years people selling all-inclusive packages would suggest taking your costs and multiplying them by 3-400%, as if that number was carved in stone. But that seems wrong today unless you're making very clear that the price covers the photography and a lot of services. If it's just presented as a markup on the album it probably looks alarmingly expensive. But as we've been saying, I don't think you should focus on the percentages, but on the
extra revenue
you could earn from the gig, and on the
marketing benefits
(differentiation and word of mouth). Price it to be tempting. The real choice may be between making less than you'd like on the album, and making nothing at all. I think 100% markup is pretty reasonable as a starting point, but what do you think? Is it ridiculously cheap, about right or just too ambitious?Please do tell us what you think. You can be anonymous, and we'll publish the results. Thanks for reading, Stephen
Ian Baugh
on
September 13, 2013, 6:59 am
said:
David that's an excellent question. I think if you are doing the work yourself you definitely need a good return for your time. You can only spend it once. That's why we made such a big point of distinguishing between the product and the services that go into creating it. However it gets harder to make a return if you're marking up external costs (already marked up by the provider) and freight. More on this sort of thing when we have the survey results.
 
Reply
Ian Baugh
on
September 26, 2013, 9:21 am
said:
Hi Marlon, I think what you're saying about selling albums being "an expectation of service that has to be met from the onset" is interesting and probably correct. The results of our survey will be out next week, and I'll try and draw some conclusions about that from the data. Yes, the Musée is expensive. However that's a function largely of the amount of handwork, services, expensive materials and "added extras" (especially the Solander Box) that go into one all-inclusive price. Maybe we need something between Musée and Duo...
 
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Marlon Richardson
on
September 26, 2013, 7:28 am
said:
Selling albums is more of a business approach than a post sales item in today's market. It's an expectation of service that has to be met from the onset. If it's a priority of the photography it's not too difficult to sell 100%-300% markup on albums. Unless we are talking about the Musee. The next time you write an article about "charging for albums" maybe take into account that Queensberry's best option is so outrageously priced that the vast majorities of it's clients can only dream about selling one.
 
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Marlon Richardson
on
September 26, 2013, 10:20 am
said:
It's just in this market to really set yourself apart you have to offer a very high-end product. This is true because more than ever before consumers have access to rather nice album options on their own. I did a google search for "wedding albums" and found this company that markets directly to brides. Which has become all too common nowadays. http://www.bridebox.com/wedding-photo-album It may not be as amazing as Queensberry's entry level albums but to a consumer doing just a little research online it looks on par with what they feel their photographer might offer. Our industry is bombarded by "shoot and share/burn" photographers and photographers who simply offer modest products with a high markup. My message to Queensberry is to offer a selection of products as amazing as the Musee but at rates that will allow photographers to mark up 100% or more. Otherwise it's only going to get harder if we don't all up our games.
 
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davidmedinaphotography
on
September 13, 2013, 4:12 am
said:
Great article, as always. :) Pricing is one thing I have always struggle with. I agree with you that a 100% is a good starting point. I do have a question. Do we place a markup in other expenses we incur for the album? Like if we outsource album design or what we pay to ship the album to the client? It seems to be the common wisdom that we should, but I have never felt comfortable doing so. Yes, I do include it in my costs, but I am afraid to apply a markup to it. While I can see passing the cost to the client for shipping the album to them and charging a fee for handling, but I cannot see myself adding a markup to that cost. Am I wrong? Any thoughts? Thanks
 
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