08 January 2013
one of the questions that we regularly face is - 'what is a photo product?' .... well, to give a proper answer to this question, we need to give a brief overview of our pricing policies... this can explain a lot about how we do our pricing and why we do so.... we have received almost too many words about we being expensive... perhaps after looking at these explanations you would think otherwise....
how did we end up with "session fee + photo product" pricing policy?
so, why did we switch to this complex "session fee + photo product" pricing policy? .... its simply the choice of our clients.... we used to have a straightforward package-type policy whereby there was a single fee amount that would cover costs of photo session, editing and products... e.g. a client would be paying "x" amount for photo-shoot and editing of the photos and in the end, would get a specific number of printed photos of some specific size at the end of it without any extra cost.... that means, the client pays "x" amount for everything.... simple enough... but why did we move away from this?.... demand for customization... we received requests for photos of various sizes, which means photos that would be displayed in a variety of ways... some would like the photos displayed on the wall, others would want them on their desk, while others would like to keep their photos within albums.... this customization demand forced us to redesign our packages... yet, it wasn't enough.... people needed even more customization options.... so, we started to look for a different option that would bring the maximum amount of flexibility into our pricing.... the current pricing offers literally innumerable possible combinations....
why do we charge "session fees"?
lets now talk about session fees..... how do we justify that?.... we have invested a substantial amount of money behind equipments, props, and other stuff.... and most of these things need to be replaced within 2-4 years... so, its quite obvious that we need to recover the cost of all those stuff.... and we never have 365 days to recover that cost... why?.... think about it... which days of the week would you give us for a photo-shoot?... for a viewing session?... or for receiving the photo products?.... our experience says that it would most possibly be a weekend or a holiday.... how many weekends or holidays do we have?.... if one client needs one weekend day for a shoot, a second weekend day for a viewing session and a third weekend day for product delivery, you can do the math yourself....
now comes the quality of work.... does it come out of nowhere?.... certainly not.... photography is a technical thing and you need to study and learn it before you can say that you are ready to become a professional.... mastering this craft requires a lot of study, practice and time.... and the more experience someone gains through this process the more demanding he/she would be..... simple math.... think about it... if an entry-level executive works for one hour and gets "x" amount for that, a manager-level employee with a lotta experience would certainly cost "x + another certain amount"..... and then also add the creativity, complexity, and uniqueness of work.... the simpler the work, the less time requirement; so, less expensive...
"photo products"?.... what are those?
now comes product development.... increased demand of customization pushed us to look for better value addition.... we started to invest time and money behind new products... we designed them, piloted their productions and made them ready.... the products are finished items that you put to display on your wall, on your desk, in your bag or any other place.... its ready for display..... so, where are those products?... why can't we see them online?.... well, thats a question we would answer only over phone.... so, please give us a call (+8801711-055524)....
do the "editing" cost anything?
think hard..... a single photo may need an average of 10-15 minutes of editing time.... so, if a session produces 20-30 photos, how many hours of editing work would there be?.... simple math.... well, you may say that you need 1-3 photos, not more than that.... but wouldn't you ask us to produce 20-30 photo options from where you would like to choose 1-3 photos?..... that means all the photos need to be edited..... and someone has to learn that editing, isn't it?.... you just can't bring someone and tell him/her to edit a photo.... you require certain skills to do that.... that means you need a person with certain skills to spends hours behind your photos after they were taken in the studio.... now, you don't think its worth some cost?.... oh, don't forget the high-end editing equipment required to edit high-resolution digital files.... those need to be replaced every 2-4 years.... the editing cost in embedded in the "photo product" cost.... so, if you think our photo products are expensive, think of the whole story, not just a part of it....
and "overhead"?
how can forget the "other" costs?.... ufffff..... yes, there are more costs.... think about the marketing costs.... the cost of reaching you, the cost of maintaining communication with our clients.... advertising, Internet bills, phone bills, courier bills, delivery costs, website subscriptions.... think about the administrative costs.... house rest, utility bills, equipment maintenance, etc. etc..... if we forget these costs, we wouldn't be here to provide you with our services....
after reading all these, you may still say that we are expensive.... but perhaps at the corner of your heart, you may say that we have some justification.....
thanks for reading!! :)
one of the questions that we regularly face is - 'what is a photo product?' .... well, to give a proper answer to this question, we need to give a brief overview of our pricing policies... this can explain a lot about how we do our pricing and why we do so.... we have received almost too many words about we being expensive... perhaps after looking at these explanations you would think otherwise....
how did we end up with "session fee + photo product" pricing policy?
so, why did we switch to this complex "session fee + photo product" pricing policy? .... its simply the choice of our clients.... we used to have a straightforward package-type policy whereby there was a single fee amount that would cover costs of photo session, editing and products... e.g. a client would be paying "x" amount for photo-shoot and editing of the photos and in the end, would get a specific number of printed photos of some specific size at the end of it without any extra cost.... that means, the client pays "x" amount for everything.... simple enough... but why did we move away from this?.... demand for customization... we received requests for photos of various sizes, which means photos that would be displayed in a variety of ways... some would like the photos displayed on the wall, others would want them on their desk, while others would like to keep their photos within albums.... this customization demand forced us to redesign our packages... yet, it wasn't enough.... people needed even more customization options.... so, we started to look for a different option that would bring the maximum amount of flexibility into our pricing.... the current pricing offers literally innumerable possible combinations....
why do we charge "session fees"?
lets now talk about session fees..... how do we justify that?.... we have invested a substantial amount of money behind equipments, props, and other stuff.... and most of these things need to be replaced within 2-4 years... so, its quite obvious that we need to recover the cost of all those stuff.... and we never have 365 days to recover that cost... why?.... think about it... which days of the week would you give us for a photo-shoot?... for a viewing session?... or for receiving the photo products?.... our experience says that it would most possibly be a weekend or a holiday.... how many weekends or holidays do we have?.... if one client needs one weekend day for a shoot, a second weekend day for a viewing session and a third weekend day for product delivery, you can do the math yourself....
now comes the quality of work.... does it come out of nowhere?.... certainly not.... photography is a technical thing and you need to study and learn it before you can say that you are ready to become a professional.... mastering this craft requires a lot of study, practice and time.... and the more experience someone gains through this process the more demanding he/she would be..... simple math.... think about it... if an entry-level executive works for one hour and gets "x" amount for that, a manager-level employee with a lotta experience would certainly cost "x + another certain amount"..... and then also add the creativity, complexity, and uniqueness of work.... the simpler the work, the less time requirement; so, less expensive...
"photo products"?.... what are those?
now comes product development.... increased demand of customization pushed us to look for better value addition.... we started to invest time and money behind new products... we designed them, piloted their productions and made them ready.... the products are finished items that you put to display on your wall, on your desk, in your bag or any other place.... its ready for display..... so, where are those products?... why can't we see them online?.... well, thats a question we would answer only over phone.... so, please give us a call (+8801711-055524)....
do the "editing" cost anything?
think hard..... a single photo may need an average of 10-15 minutes of editing time.... so, if a session produces 20-30 photos, how many hours of editing work would there be?.... simple math.... well, you may say that you need 1-3 photos, not more than that.... but wouldn't you ask us to produce 20-30 photo options from where you would like to choose 1-3 photos?..... that means all the photos need to be edited..... and someone has to learn that editing, isn't it?.... you just can't bring someone and tell him/her to edit a photo.... you require certain skills to do that.... that means you need a person with certain skills to spends hours behind your photos after they were taken in the studio.... now, you don't think its worth some cost?.... oh, don't forget the high-end editing equipment required to edit high-resolution digital files.... those need to be replaced every 2-4 years.... the editing cost in embedded in the "photo product" cost.... so, if you think our photo products are expensive, think of the whole story, not just a part of it....
and "overhead"?
how can forget the "other" costs?.... ufffff..... yes, there are more costs.... think about the marketing costs.... the cost of reaching you, the cost of maintaining communication with our clients.... advertising, Internet bills, phone bills, courier bills, delivery costs, website subscriptions.... think about the administrative costs.... house rest, utility bills, equipment maintenance, etc. etc..... if we forget these costs, we wouldn't be here to provide you with our services....
after reading all these, you may still say that we are expensive.... but perhaps at the corner of your heart, you may say that we have some justification.....
thanks for reading!! :)
