Are you wondering how best to set your commercial photography pricing? Commercial photography can be the right way to make money as a photographer since almost every business and organization will require your skills. However, figuring out the right amount to charge for your services can be challenging, with every client expecting you to have a good reason as to why you have priced your services at a certain amount. This piece will take you through the considerations to outline when pricing your commercial photography services.
Consider your Photographer Hourly Rates
For most commercial photographers, pricing their services based on an hourly rate has always been a better option. However, to get the most out of this option, it is essential to consider your experience, time is taken for editing, and geographical location. An average rate in New York will undoubtedly be higher than that of Poland, and so is your target annual income.
It is important to note that your hourly rate has to remain the same regardless of the kind of client you are dealing with. It is not advisable to drop prices since you still have to make a living wage. Do not worry; you still have a lot of options when it comes to adjusting the overall quote depending on the client’s budget and size, but the hourly rate must be consistent across all quotes.
The Number of Commercial Photos Required
The commercial photography price fixing also has to take into account the number of images you are expected to deliver by the client. This also applies to billable hours. In the real sense, it takes more time to shoot and edit 200 photos when compared to shooting and editing 15 photos.
Many professional commercial photographers will go with the option of pricing every photo. However, this will depend on the photography type you are working on. A photographer working on a ton of product photos published on an e-commerce website will most likely not have a lot of editing once the shooting is over. You can apply the same editing to all the photos meaning that the price per photo for such a job should not be as high as when you are required to deliver six highly edited large print-ready files.
The Intended Purpose
Here you have the option of adjusting your price depending on the client and how the client plans on using the photos. If you are a food photographer and have been approached by a cool startup brand that does not have the best commercial photography budget, McDonald’s. As long as you are not going at a loss and your hourly rate is covered, there is no reason why you should not consider the budget and size of the client.
Understanding the right commercial photography pricing will set you to the direct client through gaining the trust of your customers.