How Much to Charge?
When somebody turns professional, one of the first question is: “How much to charge?” There are basically 3 different ways:
- Time based pricing
- Fixed price
- Usage based
Time based pricing
Meaning that the customer will pay for your time. Be it a daily rate, a half daily or hourly rate. It's very difficult to charge the customer for all of the time spend on the photo project. This should include:
- Preparation
- Traveling
- Shooting the photos
- Post-processing
- and maybe printing
Then there are all the expenses that can be involved in the photo shoot.
Depending on your country, there are copyright consequences. Usually when you are on an hourly basis, it means that you are doing “work to order”. In most countries, “work to order” means that the customer owns the copyright, unless otherwise stated in the contract.
Fixed price
It's based on your experience. How long do you think it will take for doing of the steps of the photo shoot? It's usually a time by the “hourly rate”, plus a buffer but it hides all of the hidden tasks such as post-processing, traveling, scouting…
Depending on your country, there are copyright consequences. Usually when you are on an hourly basis, it means that you are doing “work to order”. In most countries, “work to order” means that the customer owns the copyright, unless otherwise stated in the contract.
Usage price
The customer pays for usage/prints. This is best known for the stock photography, portrait sessions where the people pay for each print… To get prices for stock, go to Getty or any other large stock company, search for both Rights Managed RM and Right Free RF. Check their prices. Usually the agency will get 50% to 60% of the price, so don't forget to reduce your prices since you will not be paying the stock agency percentage.
Most portraits, weddings… offer a combination of fixed price plus usage/prints such as $350 or $3500 for the session then $75 for each print.
My preferences
This is my preferred way is to quote a fixed price and/or a combination of fixed price and usage.
So what to charge? That will depend on:
- Your exclusivity
- Your experience
- The standards
- You live in one city, search for photographers in another city of same size and market as yours, and check their rates on their websites or even phone. You are not their competition. Then decide from that list.
- Use Foto Quote