For the freelance photogs : Raising prices for 2006

[GitS]

as much as you would like to increase the rates. there are some things you should know..

alot of bridal studios are bringing in lots of malaysian wedding photographers. there are even studios who has packages that are $1,500 which includes album, gown, and actual day photography.
even for the bigger packages that doesnt include actual day photography, only an extra charge of $200 for actual day photography.

just some insider market news.

dude, this has been going on for years.....wat we need to do is break that link and make the bridal studios utilize us on our terms. for $200, the makeup artistes are in fact being priced way way above the photographer if you factor in the man hours leave the bottom rung to the bottom feeders, target your own market segment.....

 

[anka]

dude, this has been going on for years.....wat we need to do is break that link and make the bridal studios utilize us on our terms. for $200, the makeup artistes are in fact being priced way way above the photographer if you factor in the man hours leave the bottom rung to the bottom feeders, target your own market segment.....

ya i know we need to break the link. Belle&Seb, that was just a comment for the rest to know from inside the wedding industry.

I believe as more and more people become more informative, they would know what they want. looking at singaporebrides.com, Couples do know what they want. there are a few ways to "lock" in your own couples.

1) shoot album samples for wedding studios.
bring together a team, think of a concept of about 40 images.
you will need a designer to design the album also.

Since most wedding studios are sub contracting, by doing the album sample, if the couple likes it, the studio would have to ask you to shoot and maybe as your prerequiste you could request for the own makeup artist.

WHEN you do this way, you can get a commision of about $200-$300 per couple. sounds little?

well, I did wedding sample album for 4 bridal companies. for 2 months. I shot around 2 couples A DAY. and 6 days a week for 2 months. until i told the bridal company that I dont want take in so much couples.

that 2 months was so exhausting. about $14k a month. (hence the reason why I can buy another d2x).


another note if you decide to go this path. when people copy your style, dont percieve them as copy cats. cuz if you aint good, they wouldn't copy.




I hope this helps since having come from inside the industry.

Note: they not only use malaysian photographers, they also use malaysian kodak printers, the albums are made in malaysia, the album layout graphic designers are also malaysian and/or did in malaysia.


you will be wondering why malaysian kodak printers. well, you cant beat the price of S$0.15 per 4R.


Bridal industry is not about quality. it's about quantity. personally I come from the commercial side of photography and my partner is from the bridal side of the industry. we came to realised that bridal is about quantity not quality.


I forgot to mention, the sample album you can charge is around $2k-3k. of course model fees, makeup artist, etc are all self borne.


Gits, Makeup artist are only paid $70 for a couple on actual day.

 

[GitS]

thanks for sharing anka.
good thing going on there you have with the album sample thingy.....maybe u can explain a little more? if i understand correctly, you "earn" $200-300 per studio shoot from the couple? i'm not quite sure how this works....?

btw, i take it the $70 makeup artistes you are talking about are the ones under the bridal shops? the makeup artistes i know earn much much more per wedding day including trial session)....

 

[anka]

thanks for sharing anka.
good thing going on there you have with the album sample thingy.....maybe u can explain a little more? if i understand correctly, you "earn" $200-300 per studio shoot from the couple? i'm not quite sure how this works....?

btw, i take it the $70 makeup artistes you are talking about are the ones under the bridal shops? the makeup artistes i know earn much much more per wedding day including trial session)....

what happens is that when you produce a sample for the bridal studio, when the couple likes your style of images, they would unknowningly select the photographer based on their preference. Most the of wedding albums that you see at bridal studios are not done inhouse. they are sub-contracted out. obviously 1 bridal studio would have more than 1 sample to show to the couple.

the fee of how much to get per couple depends on how much you negotiate with the bridal studio. hence the fee is NOT fixed. you would have to find a bridal studio and propose your concept of the wedding album.

In my case, I would let the studio know what kind of concept i have in mind, and what kind of gown i would like the designer to come up with to fit the concept, akin to fashion photography in this aspect.

Otherwise you could create your own concept first. and sell the album sample to the bridal studio as a completed album. but this method is risky if you lack the experience to execute it.

on top of that you would need to predict what the trend is going to be next. bridal unlike fashion doesnt follow the 4 seasons. the trend is SET by you. in otherwords there is NO trend. it's more of seeing what the majority couples want.

also if you want to shoot album sample, you MUST bare in mind that the couples who are doing it are NOT MODELS. so EXPECT brides who dont even have near requirements of the style you had done in the album. obviously the bridal studio would desuade the couple from choosing your style if your sample was a female model of waist 26. and the bride is a 35" type. but if the the couple still insist your style then you have to make the best of it.

remember that wedding is almost like factory like. in terms of the studio album sample. average is you shoot about 100 shots that includes 3-5 gowns in about 4 hours. of which changing in and out of the gowns already take up 3 hours. and you have to pose all 100 shots uniquely. once the next couple comes along, you just have to remember the 100 poses and redo the same 100 poses.



in regards to the makeup artist. yap. inhouse is $70-$100. but it really depends on the couple. I had a japanese couple who didnt mind paying $1k+ for makeup and $2.5k for photoshoot without album. album was an extra fee. just for a 5 hour shot. This kind of couples rarely comeby. the usual couples are the usual singapore "Ai Pi Ai Qhi" type of mentallity.


I hope all these info helps. thou I am sure alot of people would strongly disagree. take it with a pinch of salt or two.

 

[EiRiK]

Just wondering if you wedding guys know next year is a very hot year, esp year end.

ya... dunno y.... of my few bookings for next year , almost half of them are in nov/dec!! :bigeyes:
heard next year have a two-month-long ghost festival(7th month).... from july to sept... no business then :cry:

 

[2100]

as much as you would like to increase the rates. there are some things you should know..

alot of bridal studios are bringing in lots of malaysian wedding photographers. there are even studios who has packages that are $1,500 which includes album, gown, and actual day photography.
even for the bigger packages that doesnt include actual day photography, only an extra charge of $200 for actual day photography.

just some insider market news.

Yup anka, i know the insides. But really, you get a certain quality for a certain price. For my own wedding we used Everbliss. Since my wedding I have shot about 8-10 wedding couples who used Everbliss too (the 2 bridal Merc and their few MUA, standard, in fact i even met our MUA twice). You can see the HUGE difference in quality between a 3.5k package and 1.8k package. So big that i also shake head. Of course i'd not want to spill any beans here.

Banquet also. Save up too much, even close relatives and friends also curse and swear behind the scenes (eg toilet). You get what you paid for.

Cheap Malaysian photography....that's a problem. I mean I have been asked to shoot in JB because the couple did not find anybody suitable there. I am not saying that i shoot better, but i think i managed to market better? Dunno....

As long as I know I maintain about 30 weddings a year and those few event shoots (much better paying, less work, but much less frequent), i will keep increasing my pricing.

 

[anka]

talk about dinner. my partner was telling me he noticed a trend of 5 dinner tables for wedding is a uprising. he gets about 25% (5 couples) a month doing that. he shoots about 4-5 weddings a week. crazy chap. dunno how he finds the energy.

 

[anka]

in regards to discount. you guys might want to do this too. it works for me

if full payment is within 5-10 days of shoot, 5% discount. since my 5% is around $100, it's quite easy to get them to pay faster.
if full payment is within 11-30 days. no discount
if full payment is after 31 days, 5% interest.

works even for corporate clients.

that way you get payment faster also. hate chasing clients for payment. always give excuse like, cheque not sign. boss not in, not the accounting date, etc.

 

[2100]

talk about dinner. my partner was telling me he noticed a trend of 5 dinner tables for wedding is a uprising. he gets about 25% (5 couples) a month doing that. he shoots about 4-5 weddings a week. crazy chap. dunno how he finds the energy.

Yup, I mean I don't get 5-dinner tables type. But in Dec, I know 2 couples have banquets less than 20-tables. And anyway some posh restaurants like Man Fook Yuan @ Intercon cannot take more than 15 tables. Seems like families are growing smaller and smaller....

Discount ah.... For me I give a whopping $128 discount if the couple signs up on the spot. Of coz pricing marked up lar. The high price price also scares away the bargain hunters, it's a pretty good filter. So far I have been getting pretty good hits.

 

[2100]

Hi there guys, merry xmas morning!

Damn happy, last nite just signed first couple based on second price increase. First time i raised 20%, so far so good. Now increased to 28%, and last nite signed another one!

I think it's working, you just need to convince them that you are worth. For eg, Suntec Pearl River's present packages top at 788 nett, it was below $600 for the couple I shot on 18th Dec. That's a 31% increase! Don't believe? Check out the couple's per table pricing and ask for the price list from the sales/banquet manager when you see him/her during the first part of the wedding banquet.

Again, I strongly suggest that we stand united and increase pricing, even from young to old and from newbie to experienced!

Merry Xmas n Happy New Year guys and gals!!!!

 

[GitS]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[2100]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Just wanna make the market a better place for pros and freelancers alike. Everyone benefits. Gotta be on-going man.

 

[scanner]

Hi there guys, merry xmas morning!

Damn happy, last nite just signed first couple based on second price increase. First time i raised 20%, so far so good. Now increased to 28%, and last nite signed another one!

I think it's working, you just need to convince them that you are worth. For eg, Suntec Pearl River's present packages top at 788 nett, it was below $600 for the couple I shot on 18th Dec. That's a 31% increase! Don't believe? Check out the couple's per table pricing and ask for the price list from the sales/banquet manager when you see him/her during the first part of the wedding banquet.

Again, I strongly suggest that we stand united and increase pricing, even from young to old and from newbie to experienced!

Merry Xmas n Happy New Year guys and gals!!!!

Correct me if I'm wrong, are you telling us, you charged full AD at a price between $400 to $600 before your price increase? :think:

 

[2100]

Correct me if I'm wrong, are you telling us, you charged full AD at a price between $400 to $600 before your price increase? :think:

Nope...before price increase it was just a wee bit more than 600 for 10-hours if you are talking about service-only. Pretty standard. Don't think i'm undercharging, coz there are professionals charging lower, from the comments I get from some couple meetups.

Standard discounts for those shorter than 10-hour weddings (eg AM session 8 to 12.30) or 9-hour 1-shot luncheons, or those whom i really like to work with because they recommend other couples. Pretty standard stuff lar. Why?

Of course I started off with $500 with prints in 2004.

 

[scanner]

Nope...before price increase it was just a wee bit more than 600 for 10-hours if you are talking about service-only. Pretty standard. Don't think i'm undercharging, coz there are professionals charging lower, from the comments I get from some couple meetups.

Standard discounts for those shorter than 10-hour weddings (eg AM session 8 to 12.30) or 9-hour 1-shot luncheons, or those whom i really like to work with because they recommend other couples. Pretty standard stuff lar. Why?

Of course I started off with $500 with prints in 2004.

Nothing just curious, since you are throwing figures like 20% to 30% increament, etc...
It just make people curious about your charge on AD.:think:

Next time, share with us your marketing strategy so that those newbie out there can learn from you mah....

 

[2100]

Nothing just curious, since you are throwing figures like 20% to 30% increament, etc...
It just make people curious about your charge on AD.:think:

Next time, share with us your marketing strategy so that those newbie out there can learn from you mah....

Hehe....bro, really serious lar. I mean got money, everybody earn lar....all of us just want to earn 3 meals only.

I actually raised 20% first, then heck it just try for a bit more and raised till 28% or over 800 bucks profit. Interestingly the interest never died down at all, people are still lapping it up asking for meetups, abeilt you gotta scan more for those not who are just out to ask for discount and nothing for discount because they compare you against lower priced ones.

Ok, another strategy i use, actually my full package with montage + prints is > 1.2k. Couples definitely freak out with this price, seriously I myself also freak out. :bsmilie: However, offer a $168 or better discount depending on the couple, date etc.... For Oct, Dec date, i will not discount as much. Eg the couple last nite signed for 31st Dec, not so much discount. So trust me, for hot dates they will surely sign on the spot. This is good because this cuts down on those couples who have the time to go through 20 or more photographers/videograhers. Not only waste my time, but many others too. I feel that it's great to share this as i think it will cut down on these "really got time" couples....everybody gains.

 

[anka]

lol i also increase my price.. from 200 to 300 per hour. i just did a shoot for land rover, a 8 hour photoshoot. and bmw agrees at 350 per hour.