Something about the rates and the way photographer see it...


Agetan

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2004
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www.tomato.sg
--- Disclaimer : This is a thread purely for full time photographer who livelihood depends on photography as income ----

Sometimes I wonder... It would be nice if every photographers out there make a decent living, self sufficient and have something left to help others... a world will be a better place when more people can help others...

I wonder why would photographer (I am talking about those depends Photography to make a living) don't see the cost equation and always think they do a service to the industry by charging below cost? would someone nice enough to put food on the table when you need it? (for your info, I don't have problem with people charging less, I am just wondering why)

One thing for sure is, you need a minimum wages to maintain your life... sure, if you are single, living at home and just out of school, any money that you make seems to be a lot... as time goes on, the reality hits... you need a roof over your head, you need a decent income to pay for your child's necessity and you need a decent income to sustain a family. For people who are employed, there is government body that set a minimum wages... when you are self-employed, you are on your own.

I have seen a fair share of people who charge below their cost and shouting so loud to everyone that other photographers who charge more are simply greedy and simply charging way too much... so what happen to them in 5 years down the line? still complaining about why the living standard is so high, why others should charge more just because they don't charge more...

If you are using a very simple formula that you are only making 30% profit (not a magic number, but rather a number that is convenience and those who are in business will think it is relevant) of whatever you are making right now, and ask yourself... are you making enough to sustain your current lifestyle? how long can you continue to make a living? how do you plan for your retirement?

I know we should all be contented with what we have, but seriously, don't take it literary... it really also says that work hard and better yourself but in the process, do something that benefit more people... or rather, do something that doesn't harm others...

It is sad to see so many that see others who charge more as an "issue" and a few years down the line, they are doing something else because whatever they charge simply below they should charge...

Blame whoever and whatever you want and I can promise you nothing will change... unless YOU CHANGE...

Life is not always good, but nothing stops you to make it better... the key here is YOU and if YOU stop yourself from being better... no one will stop you.

So ask yourself, what have you done today that hopefully make your family's tomorrow better? if the answer is nothing... isn't it time to wake up and do something...

Ok, this is a rant... but nonetheless, I think it is relevant in business of photography...

All I am saying is, change your MINDSET and CHANGE what is not working today to make tomorrow a BETTER for yourself... so hopefully, you too can help. (just a side note: I don't feel people who charge less is any less than people who charge more... I see it purely as their own personal choice)

If you seriously thing by charging your service cheap help others... You should do it for free... it is even better... seriously... if you could fulfill your family's need and yet still provide free photography that you think helps other that way... go for it...

Regards,

Hart
 

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If you want a magic number but have issues driving what it is, think of the following biz transactions:

Walmart sells stereo headsets for $50. The procurement of Walmart purchased the headset for $12 from the middleman. The middleman ordered the headset from the manufacturer at $4. The costs to manufacture is $2.

The above numbers are real and not fictitious. The markup is high in terms of percentage (even from $2 to $4 is 100%). If you want to make good money, you will need to be greedy about your profit. Just like any business, competition is keen and there is no such thing as being contented.
 

From the JasonB thread, I realized most people here are hobbyists play play one. They don't give a hoot. They will even 'kill' (metaphor) you if anything not nice to hear hit their ears. And there are just too many of them.

No offense to anyone. To the people who matters, your info and thread is good. Thats what it matters, to the people who need it.
 

If you want a magic number but have issues driving what it is, think of the following biz transactions:

Walmart sells stereo headsets for $50. The procurement of Walmart purchased the headset for $12 from the middleman. The middleman ordered the headset from the manufacturer at $4. The costs to manufacture is $2.

The above numbers are real and not fictitious. The markup is high in terms of percentage (even from $2 to $4 is 100%). If you want to make good money, you will need to be greedy about your profit. Just like any business, competition is keen and there is no such thing as being contented.

I dont see it as greedy...

I simply see it as the correct mark up to ensure they have enough profit to sustains their business.

Ultimately, being a business, it has to be profitable... if it doesn't, then what is the point? might as well doing it for fun and help charity with your skills, that is much more enjoyable... but if you can run a profitable business and help charity at the same time, would it be nice?

At the end of the day, do what you do that you think it is best fit for you.


Regards,

Hart
 

The answer is simple - Game Theory.


Assume, for simplicity, that:

1. All buyers have perfect information. That is, they know, at every instant, the available photographers and their prices. Other factors such as distance, equipment do not matter.

2. All photographers charging the same amount have the same skills and will produce the same output.

Thus, consider the following:

Photographer A charges $100 per shoot (any shoot, for simplicity), and competes against other $100 photographers.

The market is stable and each $100 photographer has an equal share of clients.

One day, Photographer A got smart. He can game the system by offering a 10% discount for his service. In other words, he charges $90 per shoot. This will result in 3 things:

1. Clients of $100 photographers can save 10% by going to him.

2. Clients of $90 photographers can have an 11% improvement in quality by going to him.

3. Photographer A will make less profit per shoot, but still earns more as he has a greater number of clients. As long as he gains more than 10% in the number of clients, he is better off.

And that is why some photographers do that. Why to the point of making a loss? Because to earn market share, a "loss leader" strategy may be employed.
 

--- Disclaimer : This is a thread purely for full time photographer who livelihood depends on photography as income ----

All I am saying is, change your MINDSET and CHANGE what is not working today to make tomorrow a BETTER for yourself... so hopefully, you too can help. (just a side note: I don't feel people who charge less is any less than people who charge more... I see it purely as their own personal choice)

If you seriously thing by charging your service cheap help others... You should do it for free... it is even better... seriously... if you could fulfill your family's need and yet still provide free photography that you think helps other that way... go for it...

My own 1 cents of thoughts.
I attended the talk given by you
I am not a photographer but purely a hobbist
I have never thought of doing it as a job cos I have a job that that I enjoyed and once a year it gives me good $$$ to buy my equipment.

I was approached to help a fren blogshop and I did it FREE. My reason is I have no experience but I am willing to help.
Being a noob, I was bully by the studio owner giving me lousy settling. I rope in a fren to help me when I realise the pictures are lousy.
After few sessions, I am still doing it for free but I get to chose the clothes and take home free.

I help another colleague of my doing free family portriats with her booking plus paying the studio.

I am selective with who I give my free services. I find it rewarding but I know It spoils the market for REAL Money making Photographer :p
 

My own 1 cents of thoughts.
I attended the talk given by you
I am not a photographer but purely a hobbist
I have never thought of doing it as a job cos I have a job that that I enjoyed and once a year it gives me good $$$ to buy my equipment.

I was approached to help a fren blogshop and I did it FREE. My reason is I have no experience but I am willing to help.
Being a noob, I was bully by the studio owner giving me lousy settling. I rope in a fren to help me when I realise the pictures are lousy.
After few sessions, I am still doing it for free but I get to chose the clothes and take home free.

I help another colleague of my doing free family portriats with her booking plus paying the studio.

I am selective with who I give my free services. I find it rewarding but I know It spoils the market for REAL Money making Photographer :p

It's fine with me if you choose to do it free of charge if you have a full time job that you enjoy that supplement the equipment.

There will be enough job in the market to sustain this.

People who complain about this generally spend most of their time complaining and not really doing anything to market their service. Personally, this create invisible barrier who want to jump in the photography bandwagon and they will realise how tough it will be to compete with people who offering their service for free.

To some part, market condition play a part, however the largest part remains in the individual photographer how they want to market their service.

Regards,

Hart
 

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The answer is simple - Game Theory.


Assume, for simplicity, that:

1. All buyers have perfect information. That is, they know, at every instant, the available photographers and their prices. Other factors such as distance, equipment do not matter.

2. All photographers charging the same amount have the same skills and will produce the same output.

Thus, consider the following:

Photographer A charges $100 per shoot (any shoot, for simplicity), and competes against other $100 photographers.

The market is stable and each $100 photographer has an equal share of clients.

One day, Photographer A got smart. He can game the system by offering a 10% discount for his service. In other words, he charges $90 per shoot. This will result in 3 things:

1. Clients of $100 photographers can save 10% by going to him.

2. Clients of $90 photographers can have an 11% improvement in quality by going to him.

3. Photographer A will make less profit per shoot, but still earns more as he has a greater number of clients. As long as he gains more than 10% in the number of clients, he is better off.

And that is why some photographers do that. Why to the point of making a loss? Because to earn market share, a "loss leader" strategy may be employed.

There are always different business model. One is to keep the price lower and going in for volume and another one is premium with higher profit margin and less volume and there is one in the middle.

There is a pro and cons on these business model and just fine what suits you.

It is a choice on what type of business model one would want to follow, and there isn't right or wrong as long as the business is honest and ethical.

Regards,

Hart
 

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--- Disclaimer : This is a thread purely for full time photographer who livelihood depends on photography as income ----

Sometimes I wonder... It would be nice if every photographers out there make a decent living, self sufficient and have something left to help others... a world will be a better place when more people can help others...

I wonder why would photographer (I am talking about those depends Photography to make a living) don't see the cost equation and always think they do a service to the industry by charging below cost? would someone nice enough to put food on the table when you need it? (for your info, I don't have problem with people charging less, I am just wondering why)

One thing for sure is, you need a minimum wages to maintain your life... sure, if you are single, living at home and just out of school, any money that you make seems to be a lot... as time goes on, the reality hits... you need a roof over your head, you need a decent income to pay for your child's necessity and you need a decent income to sustain a family. For people who are employed, there is government body that set a minimum wages... when you are self-employed, you are on your own.

I have seen a fair share of people who charge below their cost and shouting so loud to everyone that other photographers who charge more are simply greedy and simply charging way too much... so what happen to them in 5 years down the line? still complaining about why the living standard is so high, why others should charge more just because they don't charge more...

If you are using a very simple formula that you are only making 30% profit (not a magic number, but rather a number that is convenience and those who are in business will think it is relevant) of whatever you are making right now, and ask yourself... are you making enough to sustain your current lifestyle? how long can you continue to make a living? how do you plan for your retirement?

I know we should all be contented with what we have, but seriously, don't take it literary... it really also says that work hard and better yourself but in the process, do something that benefit more people... or rather, do something that doesn't harm others...

It is sad to see so many that see others who charge more as an "issue" and a few years down the line, they are doing something else because whatever they charge simply below they should charge...

Blame whoever and whatever you want and I can promise you nothing will change... unless YOU CHANGE...

Life is not always good, but nothing stops you to make it better... the key here is YOU and if YOU stop yourself from being better... no one will stop you.

So ask yourself, what have you done today that hopefully make your family's tomorrow better? if the answer is nothing... isn't it time to wake up and do something...

Ok, this is a rant... but nonetheless, I think it is relevant in business of photography...

All I am saying is, change your MINDSET and CHANGE what is not working today to make tomorrow a BETTER for yourself... so hopefully, you too can help. (just a side note: I don't feel people who charge less is any less than people who charge more... I see it purely as their own personal choice)

If you seriously thing by charging your service cheap help others... You should do it for free... it is even better... seriously... if you could fulfill your family's need and yet still provide free photography that you think helps other that way... go for it...

Regards,

Hart



agree wif ur post... its indeed strange.. when there are photographers.. who charged cheap... and complain about others who charge high.. and complain that cost of living is very high.. cant do this and that.. but they themselves dun want to change..
 

There are always different business model. One is to keep the price lower and going in for volume and another one is premium with higher profit margin and less volume and there is one in the middle.

There is a pro and cons on these business model and just fine what suits you.

It is a choice on what type of business model one would want to follow, and there isn't right or wrong as long as the business is honest and ethical.

Regards,

Hart

Yeah. You were asking why some people charge really low. Here's the reason.
 

Professional photography can be such a fulfilling job. You won't be super rich, but done right, you can be comfortable and happy. You are your own boss, life comfortably, have your own leisure time, and can even have employees.

If you do it right.

On the business level.

But it is not easy, and it is even harder to teach the next wave of pro photographers who are really interested.

Because peer pressure will make them remain mediocre. I am not talking about photography or creatively mediocre. I am talking about business-mediocre.

Because if such a simple logic of pricing and making profit is so hard to grasp, then what are we talking about? Scrap that dream. Join the civil service, or an MMC, whatever. Or sell that $1 chicken rice that everyone likes to draw comparison to.

Peer pressure. Your friends, family, hobby friends, other clubsnap members, they all want you to remain cheap and affordable, the best is if you can be free. It is you who need to recognise this fact and ignore them all.
 

Eeerrr, I thought that to be in a photography business, it's really a tough job. You have to be there physically behind that camera to take that picture. You can't just delegate someone, or employ any Tom, Dick or Harry to ensure for you, and make sure that the picture he or she took is what you want.

I think networking and good business clients are equally important. No point able to take nice beautiful pictures yet can't find clients willing to pay that kind of money. As long as the photographers market themselves well, real clients will pay good money for it.

Just my humble 2 cents worth.
 

-..

All I am saying is, change your MINDSET and CHANGE what is not working today to make tomorrow a BETTER for yourself... so hopefully, you too can help. (just a side note: I don't feel people who charge less is any less than people who charge more... I see it purely as their own personal choice)


base on this quote by Hart, I like to share two things.

#1, you are you own customer.
as a photographer, you are selling something to your customers, first, you need to believe in what you are selling, right?
so if you don't believe in what you are selling, you won't able, or very hard to make your customers buy from you, does this make sense to you?

#2, people are attracted to like minded people.
you will feel comfortable with people who sharing the same though of you. do you get the ideal here?




so when Hart says, Change your MINDSET, how are you going to change your mindset?
just rise your rate 100% or 200% more, NO, it won't work at all, you will be still having the same old mindset.

so what can we do?
remember what I says you are you own customers? people are attracted to like minded people?

first, you need to treat your business like a business (putting food on the table for you family, not shooting for fun or shiok), respect yourself as a business man, than people will respect you as a businessman too.
second, you need to set an example first, no more "as long is free and cheap is good", stop looking for whatever things, services as long it is free or cheap. When you are paying and spending on quality services and products, you will start attract people in the same wavelength.

let me give you an example, if you are a bargain hunter yourself, you will feel very comfortable surrounded by many bargain hunters. but when you want to rise your rate two folds or three folds, yet you still have the same mindset of "as long it is free and cheap is good", you will have difficulty believe in yourself, and you won't buy your own products/services, how are you going to sell it to your customers?


hope this help.
 

My own 1 cents of thoughts.
I attended the talk given by you
I am not a photographer but purely a hobbist
I have never thought of doing it as a job cos I have a job that that I enjoyed and once a year it gives me good $$$ to buy my equipment.

I was approached to help a fren blogshop and I did it FREE. My reason is I have no experience but I am willing to help.
Being a noob, I was bully by the studio owner giving me lousy settling. I rope in a fren to help me when I realise the pictures are lousy.
After few sessions, I am still doing it for free but I get to chose the clothes and take home free.

I help another colleague of my doing free family portriats with her booking plus paying the studio.

I am selective with who I give my free services. I find it rewarding but I know It spoils the market for REAL Money making Photographer :p

there are some types of assignments who I see as there is no way of making decent profits at all.
blogshop shoot is one.

the main idea of blogshop merchandise business is low set up cost and low maintenance cost, the blogshop owners won't able to pay photography for what it worth.
for an example, let say photographer charge $50 for shooting a product, it is too high cost for the blogshop owner to bear, but will be be totally different to manufacturers, as they are selling a few thousands pieces of products, so $50 a shot is nothing and they can afford to pay even more.

so don't feel bad about when you shoot for free, you just take up those things that most photographers are trying to avoid. :)
 

there are some types of assignments who I see as there is no way of making decent profits at all.
blogshop shoot is one.

the main idea of blogshop merchandise business is low set up cost and low maintenance cost, the blogshop owners won't able to pay photography for what it worth.
for an example, let say photographer charge $50 for shooting a product, it is too high cost for the blogshop owner to bear, but will be be totally different to manufacturers, as they are selling a few thousands pieces of products, so $50 a shot is nothing and they can afford to pay even more.

so don't feel bad about when you shoot for free, you just take up those things that most photographers are trying to avoid. :)

Actually there are plenty of studio that opens upfor Blogshop with cheap studio rental package with photographer at $20 -$30 per hr.

I have my friends who nag at me and keep highlighting that I am spoiling the market of photographer who needs the assignment to put food on table.

That is why I am very selective with who ask me and I have limit to those who are my good friends and have the surname Tan. I only turn away one Tan who ask me to shoot for her AD. I only had one time experience which was at the courtesy of my friend's wedding and as a secondary photographer. I was in to Shoot for the experience but I will nvr accept something that I am not confident enough.

So I tend to tell my friends I do Macro only cant take human :bsmilie:

I think the photography market is filled with many people who are hobbist. some wanted to try their skill at selling the service or sell their service to buy more equipments.

There is a mis- perception of ppl thinking a DSLR owner is a pro photographer too. There are ppl who also wants cheap service so they turn to their DSLR frens to get free or cheap service..this is a mindset which we cant change ppl..willing buyer and seller.
 

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there are some types of assignments who I see as there is no way of making decent profits at all.
blogshop shoot is one.

the main idea of blogshop merchandise business is low set up cost and low maintenance cost, the blogshop owners won't able to pay photography for what it worth.
for an example, let say photographer charge $50 for shooting a product, it is too high cost for the blogshop owner to bear, but will be be totally different to manufacturers, as they are selling a few thousands pieces of products, so $50 a shot is nothing and they can afford to pay even more.

so don't feel bad about when you shoot for free, you just take up those things that most photographers are trying to avoid. :)

I have heard Blogshop is one of the most profitable business. They don't want to pay more because seriously, I haven't seen anyone do any different in terms of quality and you expect people paying more?

I was looking for event photographer and I have receive a lot of interest... one thing strike me the most is, I personally can not see any different people who charge anything from $30 per hour to $200 per hour as far as the respond I receive. So as a client, who should I use? I probably won't use the cheapest one but I won't use the most expensive one either... I am going to find someone who consistently giving the quality and I am looking for people who actually give a darn about telling people why they are different and why I should pick them.

So use this analogy and try to see it from customer perspective...

I find too many people actually complain based on what they hear but not a lot of people actually tried and change the way the do things and redo it if it doesn't work. So what good does it make when you spend time complaining but not actually doing something.

Regards,

Hart
 

base on this quote by Hart, I like to share two things.

#1, you are you own customer.
as a photographer, you are selling something to your customers, first, you need to believe in what you are selling, right?
so if you don't believe in what you are selling, you won't able, or very hard to make your customers buy from you, does this make sense to you?

#2, people are attracted to like minded people.
you will feel comfortable with people who sharing the same though of you. do you get the ideal here?




so when Hart says, Change your MINDSET, how are you going to change your mindset?
just rise your rate 100% or 200% more, NO, it won't work at all, you will be still having the same old mindset.

so what can we do?
remember what I says you are you own customers? people are attracted to like minded people?

first, you need to treat your business like a business (putting food on the table for you family, not shooting for fun or shiok), respect yourself as a business man, than people will respect you as a businessman too.
second, you need to set an example first, no more "as long is free and cheap is good", stop looking for whatever things, services as long it is free or cheap. When you are paying and spending on quality services and products, you will start attract people in the same wavelength.

let me give you an example, if you are a bargain hunter yourself, you will feel very comfortable surrounded by many bargain hunters. but when you want to rise your rate two folds or three folds, yet you still have the same mindset of "as long it is free and cheap is good", you will have difficulty believe in yourself, and you won't buy your own products/services, how are you going to sell it to your customers?


hope this help.


Thanks for elaborating this...

in essence, you need to change the way you think... don't always think $$$ but what seeds can you plant so there are more $$$ coming in the future... Although the seed that you plant may not be the tangible things that will directly making money.

regards,

Hart
 

Different way of looking at it. Greed or otherwise (depending on the choice of words or how one views it), it is always the intent of any business to see increasing profit. The more it grows, the better it is. There is the joy of seeing how the wealth of a business has grown.

I dont see it as greedy...

I simply see it as the correct mark up to ensure they have enough profit to sustains their business.

Ultimately, being a business, it has to be profitable... if it doesn't, then what is the point? might as well doing it for fun and help charity with your skills, that is much more enjoyable... but if you can run a profitable business and help charity at the same time, would it be nice?

At the end of the day, do what you do that you think it is best fit for you.


Regards,

Hart
 

Different way of looking at it. Greed or otherwise (depending on the choice of words or how one views it), it is always the intent of any business to see increasing profit. The more it grows, the better it is. There is the joy of seeing how the wealth of a business has grown.

Greed is greed. I associate Greed with negative way of gearing profit for profit itself and resort to any tactic in order to generate sales.

Planning growth in any business is important, because staying the same is generally means going backwards.

As we all know, there is a factor of inflation. If your business don't grow at least to counter the inflation, then it is going backward isn't it? Also, by having a healthy profit, you could re-invest to create better client's experiences, this is call re-investing. It is such a short sighted to always think that when people charge more, it simply because of greed. I am simply amazed with the negativity.

With my business, I purposely take away my phone number from all my online communication, for one simple reason, I wanted to spend more time for my existing clients... of course, I charge higher so i can re-invest these time to serve my client. People who don't need these, well, they won't pay for my work. I don't necessary making larger profit at the end of the year if I increase the price, however, if I do it right, it should lead me to different group of clientele who value personalised service. Thinking long term makes you sacrifice short term gain for a long term prospect.

Building a brand take years and takes a lot of small investment along the way to ensure clients feel special. As far as my business goes, I try my best to do better every year and hope to give new and former clients a better experience... however, all these cost money. Minute things like CD design, CD cover, the packaging of the CD cover, the packaging when you send everything out, wasteful? maybe, however, if clients feel special, I think it worth it. Those need to be done to build brand.

Just look at establish brand out there...

Try to see this in a positive light and this is the mindset that I am talking about.

I am not here to tell people to charge more, I am simply looking to make sure people look at their business in different light then what it is today and see how they can improve their live with those small changes. If there are more successful photographers and there will be more helps available...

Regards,

Hart
 

It's fine with me if you choose to do it free of charge if you have a full time job that you enjoy that supplement the equipment.

There will be enough job in the market to sustain this.

People who complain about this generally spend most of their time complaining and not really doing anything to market their service. Personally, this create invisible barrier who want to jump in the photography bandwagon and they will realise how tough it will be to compete with people who offering their service for free.

To some part, market condition play a part, however the largest part remains in the individual photographer how they want to market their service.

Regards,

Hart

my mate in Australia complain like a bi#ch about business no good, people charging so low, how to compete, how to pay rent...... in the end he's given up... he's now doing some construction work !!! Some photography on weekend still.

But he was stupid !!!

1. He knows nothing on business... I mean the management of a business - basic general rules etc.
2. Did not try proper marketing techniques, nore even try to learn or do a basic intro course.
3. Clueless on Social media and how it can be your friend ( or enemy ).
4. Just gave up, stopped trying to help himself.

Want help? look at oneself, why you are in this position, and what can you do to help the situation !!

:)