Hello everyone, I haven't had anything to post for some time and haven't been able to get out to make some new images, but I find myself in need some some thoughts and opinions. I lost a few of my most recent images when my hard drive fell apart last month.
I'm presenting several of my images to the owner of a new, farily large medical office who is interested in using several of my images for their office decor.
In short: I'm clueless. I've sold prints to individuals, but not on a large scale like this. I have no idea what to charge per print. I can produce my own printgs up to 16x36, but larger prints would have to get printed by someone else (Mark Hudon?). I've told them what I can give them in the way of prints, but not framing, and they are still very interested.
So, I'm running into this a bit scattered as it came up very quickly. I'm trying to put together pricing, so I'm checking out several web sites, and trying to put together a presentation for them they will really like.
Any input would be greatly, greatly appreciated.
Posted by Rick Dunn on February 7, 2008 at 4:48 PM
Congrats on the opportunity, Ryan. A few thoughts....
1. Don't assume that medical office = money to spend. I've been involved in several multi-image opportunities that collapsed because the client thought that purchasing from a "hobbyist" and from the web meant that prints would be unrealistically inexpensive. I'd start by asking what their budget is; you could give them a ball-park price for certain sizes of prints to set their expectations, but I wouldn't go to much trouble working out the details without first making sure that you and they have reasonably close pricing expectations.
2. If you can display your contact/website info with your prints, that might be worth a discount if you think you're likely to generate incremental business that way. But I wouldn't go into it only trying to break even in the hopes that you'll get additional business down the road.
3. Prices for my prints are on my website. I print my own up to 13x19; anything larger is sent out. You can see that I've priced them separately. Ultimately, you need to define pricing that makes sense for your time, effort and quality of product.
4. When I get inquiries about framing, I explain that I'll be happy to do it, but that I'm not setup to do it. Buying framing materials at retail necessitates charging the customer more than retail, so it will cost consdierably less if the customer does it themselves. I give them the info and let them choose. If you're not set up to do it, it can be a pain. I did it once for a 75-print order, so I felt compelled to accommodate the request, but it was a monumental hassle.
Good luck.
Posted by Mark Windom on February 7, 2008 at 5:06 PM
"Just having my images up in a large medical office with my name could be more beneficial than the original sale..."
I wouldn't count on that. Make your money now and anything else that may come as a result of the display would be icing on the cake. In my experience people usually have other things on their mind when they go to the doctor than interest in purchasing a copy of a print they see hanging on the wall.
They are probably going to want larger pieces. You might want to consider printing a couple of images (one horizontal, one vertical) at the largest size you can do yourself and then meeting with this person at the medical office so he can get an idea of how the size might work on the wall space he has. Once you narrow down the sizes and number of images he wants you'll be in a better position to offer some quotes.
Since you don't do any framing do you know someone who does? Someone you can work with on this project? If not you might want to consider just selling the prints and let them deal with the frame shop side of things.
Posted by Rick Lamb on February 7, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Ryan first off go buy fotoquote. It will help you price out these kind of purchases.
Second - Go to the websites of known photographers. They will usually list pricing for various image sizes with matting and with matting and framing. (sorry I haven't done this on my site...lame I know)
Third - Since you are in the Portland area Mark Hudon in Hood River can help you do the printing you need. He has an Epson 7800 and is VERY reasonable on his pricing and an all around fun guy to hang out and do some yacking on all things fotografie whilst meeting your printing needs.
Fourth - On this forum due to legal reasons (anti-trust) we are quite limited on our ability to talk pricing of our work. So don't feel hurt if you don't get a lot of hard pricing feedback. Instead do your own market research.
Fifth - Don't go cheap on the framing/matting! Get good custom framing/matting and you will not regret it. It will add both class to your final product and add to the final price. Deliver quality and your work will generate new business all on its own. ALWAYS use archival quality materials!!!
Sixth - Write up a professional quote to present to the client. This will protect you legally and eliminate assumptions. It will also make you appear to be the professional you ARE.
Seventh - Price out your cost for time & material then add a CODB (Cost Of Doing Business) charge PLUS a profit margin. Remember you are in this to turn a profit! So don't price too low!!!
Eighth - Have FUN with this!! Creating the images we all strive for sure is fun all on its own. But finding ways to market and sell our work is just plain COOL!! It's also full of disappointments and frustrations but when it all comes together it sure is fulfilling!!
Ninth - Buy this book and read it - all of it: "Best Business Practices For Photographers" by John Harrington. It takes what we do passionately and applies business sense to it all.
Email or print up a price range and explaination of services and benefits of hot press mounting, archival inks and mats, Sturdy frames and museum glass, sizes, etc. The range could be tens to thousands of dollars. You never know. They might want the deluxe lucrative package.
Email or print up a price range and explanation of services and benefits of hot press mounting, archival inks and mats, Sturdy frames and museum glass, sizes, etc. The range could be tens to thousands of dollars. You never know. They might want the deluxe lucrative package.
Thanks for the input. I appreciate all the thoughts. I've got billions of things running through my mind, but I'm not counting on anything. My thoughts range from, "my stuff is good enough for this" to "why would they want my photographs?" So, as you can imagine, I'm trying to get things organized so I can make a professional presentation to them.
Thanks again for the input! It's all very good stuff.
Posted by Jack Graham on February 7, 2008 at 6:42 PM
Ryan,
Mark does a great job on printing--he did one for me last month that turned out wonderful. Ricks ( both L & D's) thoughts are extremely accurate.
I have mt matting done professionally since it;s important to me to have a quality product sold ( we my blog for a past article on matting, mounting etc). If you want, call me for a referral. They are over in Raleigh Hills, about 10 minutes from here.
Lets get out and do some shooting too?
JG
Posted by Rick Lundh on February 7, 2008 at 9:33 PM
All the information here is great. I'll just add that custom framing WILL price you out of the ballgame, especially if you are selling multiple prints. I've tried to be loyal with local custom frame shops, but you can get quality frames up to 24x36 at other places around town for 1/5 the price.
Mark H does all my large prints (doing a few for me tomorrow infact) and I wouldnt trust anyone else.
I hope they are buying these from you and not playing that good ol card..."think of all the exposure you will get!" thing and "letting" you hang your work there. That's up to you if you are OK with that...but its a crap shoot which I wouldn't recommend.
Excellent advice from all, Ryan. Yes, your photographs are more than good enough to command the respect of proper pricing for all your work, investment in equipment and expertise! Please do not discount the worth of your art! I heartily second the recommendation to get a copy of fotoQuote, an excellent resource. Much good luck. And it's nice to see a post from you.
Posted by Mark Hudon on February 8, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Third - Since you are in the Portland area Mark Hudon in Hood River can help you do the printing you need. He has an Epson 7800 and is VERY reasonable on his pricing and an all around fun guy to hang out and do some yacking on all things fotografie whilst meeting your printing needs.
Yup, hard to disagree with that. Ryan, if you showed up on a Saturday we could print them all, and you get to look at 8x10 proofs before we do it. All in all, you get the print exactly the way you want and you don't have to pay shipping. I can give you some great tips on framing also as I just sold 10 largish prints to the hospital in the Dalles.
Fourth - On this forum due to legal reasons (anti-trust) we are quite limited on our ability to talk pricing of our work.
Thanks again guys. I appreciate everything that has been posted. Rick, they are offering cash, there is no doubt about that. I'm just offering them the prints at this point. They are going to want to have them framed to match their decor, so they are going to handle that. I seem to be in a fairly good postion because they are up against a fairly short timeline to decorate for an open house they are going to be have. They have sent me a list of about 12 photos they are interested in and possibly more. All various sizes. So, I think that is to my advantage because I don't think they have much time to go anywhere else (although I'm not counting my chickens before they are hatched).
Thanks again for the input. I've calmed down a bit now.
Discussion
11 repliesI'm presenting several of my images to the owner of a new, farily large medical office who is interested in using several of my images for their office decor.
In short: I'm clueless. I've sold prints to individuals, but not on a large scale like this. I have no idea what to charge per print. I can produce my own printgs up to 16x36, but larger prints would have to get printed by someone else (Mark Hudon?). I've told them what I can give them in the way of prints, but not framing, and they are still very interested.
So, I'm running into this a bit scattered as it came up very quickly. I'm trying to put together pricing, so I'm checking out several web sites, and trying to put together a presentation for them they will really like.
Any input would be greatly, greatly appreciated.
1. Don't assume that medical office = money to spend. I've been involved in several multi-image opportunities that collapsed because the client thought that purchasing from a "hobbyist" and from the web meant that prints would be unrealistically inexpensive. I'd start by asking what their budget is; you could give them a ball-park price for certain sizes of prints to set their expectations, but I wouldn't go to much trouble working out the details without first making sure that you and they have reasonably close pricing expectations.
2. If you can display your contact/website info with your prints, that might be worth a discount if you think you're likely to generate incremental business that way. But I wouldn't go into it only trying to break even in the hopes that you'll get additional business down the road.
3. Prices for my prints are on my website. I print my own up to 13x19; anything larger is sent out. You can see that I've priced them separately. Ultimately, you need to define pricing that makes sense for your time, effort and quality of product.
4. When I get inquiries about framing, I explain that I'll be happy to do it, but that I'm not setup to do it. Buying framing materials at retail necessitates charging the customer more than retail, so it will cost consdierably less if the customer does it themselves. I give them the info and let them choose. If you're not set up to do it, it can be a pain. I did it once for a 75-print order, so I felt compelled to accommodate the request, but it was a monumental hassle.
Good luck.
I wouldn't count on that. Make your money now and anything else that may come as a result of the display would be icing on the cake. In my experience people usually have other things on their mind when they go to the doctor than interest in purchasing a copy of a print they see hanging on the wall.
They are probably going to want larger pieces. You might want to consider printing a couple of images (one horizontal, one vertical) at the largest size you can do yourself and then meeting with this person at the medical office so he can get an idea of how the size might work on the wall space he has. Once you narrow down the sizes and number of images he wants you'll be in a better position to offer some quotes.
Since you don't do any framing do you know someone who does? Someone you can work with on this project? If not you might want to consider just selling the prints and let them deal with the frame shop side of things.
Second - Go to the websites of known photographers. They will usually list pricing for various image sizes with matting and with matting and framing. (sorry I haven't done this on my site...lame I know)
Third - Since you are in the Portland area Mark Hudon in Hood River can help you do the printing you need. He has an Epson 7800 and is VERY reasonable on his pricing and an all around fun guy to hang out and do some yacking on all things fotografie whilst meeting your printing needs.
Fourth - On this forum due to legal reasons (anti-trust) we are quite limited on our ability to talk pricing of our work. So don't feel hurt if you don't get a lot of hard pricing feedback. Instead do your own market research.
Fifth - Don't go cheap on the framing/matting! Get good custom framing/matting and you will not regret it. It will add both class to your final product and add to the final price. Deliver quality and your work will generate new business all on its own. ALWAYS use archival quality materials!!!
Sixth - Write up a professional quote to present to the client. This will protect you legally and eliminate assumptions. It will also make you appear to be the professional you ARE.
Seventh - Price out your cost for time & material then add a CODB (Cost Of Doing Business) charge PLUS a profit margin. Remember you are in this to turn a profit! So don't price too low!!!
Eighth - Have FUN with this!! Creating the images we all strive for sure is fun all on its own. But finding ways to market and sell our work is just plain COOL!! It's also full of disappointments and frustrations but when it all comes together it sure is fulfilling!!
Ninth - Buy this book and read it - all of it: "Best Business Practices For Photographers" by John Harrington. It takes what we do passionately and applies business sense to it all.
Thanks again for the input! It's all very good stuff.
Mark does a great job on printing--he did one for me last month that turned out wonderful. Ricks ( both L & D's) thoughts are extremely accurate.
I have mt matting done professionally since it;s important to me to have a quality product sold ( we my blog for a past article on matting, mounting etc). If you want, call me for a referral. They are over in Raleigh Hills, about 10 minutes from here.
Lets get out and do some shooting too?
JG
Mark H does all my large prints (doing a few for me tomorrow infact) and I wouldnt trust anyone else.
I hope they are buying these from you and not playing that good ol card..."think of all the exposure you will get!" thing and "letting" you hang your work there. That's up to you if you are OK with that...but its a crap shoot which I wouldn't recommend.
Yup, hard to disagree with that. Ryan, if you showed up on a Saturday we could print them all, and you get to look at 8x10 proofs before we do it. All in all, you get the print exactly the way you want and you don't have to pay shipping. I can give you some great tips on framing also as I just sold 10 largish prints to the hospital in the Dalles.
Yikes! I didn't think we were that important!
Thanks again for the input. I've calmed down a bit now.