Prices of Prints

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 9. March 2011 - 18:15

If you look at almost all photographers, there's a session fee that ranges from $100 to $$$$. It's either the session fee + the prints or the rights or the session fee is applied toward the cost of the prints.

Then we get to the price list:

  • 4” by 6”
  • 5” by 7”
  • 8” by 10”
  • 11” by 14”
  • 16” by 20”
  • …

Now charging $20, $35 or $50 for a 4” by 6” is ridiculous! The customers make their own 4” by 6” prints for $0.50 at the nearest 1-hour photo from the old facebook size photo of 720 pixels by 720 pixels at 72 dpi.

I have stopped selling 4” by 6” prints. Now I give them for free to my customers, if they bought “enough”. I currently start at 5” by 7”. I think that this will be my last year of selling the 5” by 7” and will be starting with 8” by 10” prints.

Usually the price of the prints goes up as the print size increases. Why? Because paper costs more? The cost of the paper and the ink is “peanuts”. My cost is in the time to make the photos, process the photos, print the tests, print the final prints… My time and my costs are the same for a 4” by 6” or a 11” by 14” print.

So now I'm wrestling with “Can I change my business model to charge a fixed price per print”. The problem is not me but the customers. Will they accept a fixed price for the prints?

  • The customer doesn't know, doesn't understand the difference between the $0.50 4” by 6” print from the nearest 1-hour photo vs. your price of $35 for the 4” by 6” print.
  • Can you explain the difference to the customer? Why should they pay you the big $$$ instead of the small $ to the nearest 1-hour photo lab?