News

When you first started your business, did you think you would need to know how to price photography prints? Pricing is one of those responsibilities that comes with starting a photography business that you might find boring and often complicated. Since there are so many steps involved in pricing photography prints, it can be hard to know where to start and which prices will work best for your business as well as your clients. But in the end, besides setting your photography pricing, setting proper pricing for your photography prints is a crucial part of your success too. In this blog, we will walk you through the steps that you need to take to set your photography print prices.

How To Price Photography Prints

To maintain your passion for working with couples and capturing unforgettable moments, your business needs to make a profit each year. There are several expenses that are a part of running a wedding photography business that must be covered. Plus, you need to ensure you are paid as well. When your business makes a profit, you can focus on your growth and the goals you set. Prints are a large part of that income and growth. 

1. Know Your Clients

One of the first steps to take while pricing photography prints is to know who your clients really are. When you know who your clients are, you can make decisions on prices for prints that will best suit them and your business. Ask yourself a few questions about your clients:

• How much do your clients spend on products and other services?
• Do your clients order prints and showcase them in their homes?
• Will your clients encourage family and friends to purchase prints?

As a professional photographer, you are the expert when it comes to prints. When you become the expert in who your clients are and how they behave, you can set prices for prints that will appeal to them and help boost business too. If your clients are not too keen on buying prints, keep in mind that as an expert, you can educate your clients about the value of prints. Many of your clients are not professional wedding photographers, and may not understand the significance of prints. Take the time to educate them about prints and why they do need them as a part of their wedding day.

Suggested Read: Top 6 Ways To Boost Your Wedding Photography Sales

2. Decide On Print Specifics

Image Credit: ShootDotEdit Customer @ashleyrayphotography

After you get to know your clients and study their behavior when it comes to products and services, decide on print specifics. This means you can decide on what exactly you want to offer when it comes to prints. This includes sizes, the number of prints, and more. With the research you have from your clients, ask yourself a few questions, such as:

• How many prints did your clients purchase last year?
• What size prints did your clients purchase?
• Was there a size that was more popular than others?
• Was there a size that your clients specifically asked for?

Other questions you want to include while learning how to price photography prints are: How much your clients spent and how much profit you made. With all the data in front of you about past print sales, you can make an informed decision on what sizes to offer and how many of your clients can order.

3. Select A Pricing Model

Once you choose print specifics, you can then decide which model is best to use. If you already have a pricing model, you can re-evaluate to see if there are any updates you need to make to accommodate photography prints. There are 2 types of pricing models we will cover: A La Carte and packages. The A La Carte pricing model allows your wedding clients to choose the products and services they would like for their wedding day. This gives clients the freedom to choose and weigh their options according to their unique needs. Offering clients packages gives you full control over which products and services your clients have access to. Many photographers use a tiered system for wedding photography packages to increase price along with desirable services.

The type of pricing model you choose will help dictate the price you set for prints. You may consider pricing your prints higher for A La Carte, as your clients will buy them individually. Or, you might provide a bundle discount for prints with packages. There are several options for you to choose from, and your decision should land on the one that makes the most sense for your clients (and how much they will spend) and what will help you make a profit.

4. Review The Costs

Another crucial part of pricing prints is to review the costs. Earlier, we mentioned how there are several costs involved in your photography business. These costs are an essential aspect to review, as they will determine how much to charge for prints to make a profit for your business. A few of the most important costs to focus on are:

To deliver photography prints to your wedding clients, you first need to review the cost of materials. A few things to think about when it comes to materials are:

• The cost to have prints made
• Are you working with a partner or lab?
• Do you print in some other way?
• Storage for photos that need printing
• Are you storing the photos?
• How much do you pay for storage?
• Are you paying for a gallery hosting service?
• The amount and size of prints you offer
• The good news is, you just answered this in the above section.
• Framing, mounting, and shipping
• Who takes care of that?
• How much does it cost?
• Final delivery
• Do you need to purchase shipping supplies?
• How will you deliver this?

There are more questions to ask depending on your workflow, but those are a great start. Once you decide exactly what you need to successfully order and deliver prints to your wedding clients, you can then write down how much it will all cost. Total that up and that is your cost of materials.

Next, you must review the cost of labor. Your time is money, and the time you put into photography prints must be documented. To discover how to price photography prints with the cost of labor, first think about:

• Image prep
• How much time does it take to prepare the images before printing?
• Color correction
• Stylization
• Are you doing it all by yourself or outsourcing to a photo editing company?
• Order time
• How long does it take to place an order with the lab?
• Packaging time
• How long does it take to package the prints once they are ready to send?
• How are you delivering the prints? By mail? In-person?

Just like the cost of materials, there are several factors to include with respect to your labor time. Once you have all those items listed, add them together and you will have your cost of labor.

Since prints will be a part of your overall pricing structure, make sure to include other expenses into your costs. This includes everything it costs from the beginning (when you first meet the client) to the end (when you deliver their final products). Separate your costs, materials vs. labor, and add those to your totals. Then you will have a clear picture of what your overall costs will look like so you can set prices for your prints.

5. Research Your Local Market

Image Credit: ShootDotEdit Customer @erinm_photography

Another important part of how to price photography prints is knowing your local market. Even though you have a unique business and clients, it can be helpful to know what other photographers are charging in the area and if your prices are in line with those. Avoid using their exact pricing structure (because you have different businesses), but knowing if you are undercharging or overcharging could make a big difference in pricing and the type of clients you attract. This will help you know what to mark up to set on your prints so you can make a profit. And, it can help you remain an attractive option to clients in your local market.

6. Create Simple Pricing

As you settle on the prices for your photo prints, ensure that you keep your photography price list simple. Your clients are dealing with a lot before the wedding day, and if you can make their lives a little less complicated and decision-making a little easier, they are definitely going to appreciate you for it. This especially means simplicity in your pricing. Make it easy for your clients to understand the price of your prints (and easy to buy) so they are more motivated to purchase.

Also, think about your clients’ loved ones who may purchase prints from you. They likely have never worked with you, as the bride and groom have, so this will be their first impression of you. Make it a positive experience so they can share all about you with their family and friends. Learn more about how to build a pricing page for your photography business to provide this experience every time.

Selling Your Prints

Once you know how to price photography prints, it is time to sell those prints. Here are a few tips to help you make print sales a major part of your photography business and increase your sales.

• Make it a part of your workflow. Just like you have systems in place for other parts of your wedding photography business, incorporate print sales into your workflow. That way, you will not need to find a last-minute solution to sell prints to your clients. Prints will be a part of your wedding workflow from start to finish.
• Educate your clients. We mentioned this earlier but thought it was so important we wanted to share it again. Educate your clients about prints and their value. Let them know what purchasing prints can mean for them and how you feel about prints. When your clients understand why prints mean so much, they will be more likely to purchase them.
• Show off prints in your studio. What is better than telling your clients about prints? Showing them prints! When you have prints in your studio, your clients can physically see them and envision them in their homes. It is just like an album. When clients can hold and look through an album, they can more easily see themselves owning one. Make sure to have some of your best work as prints in your studio so all your clients can see.

Suggested Read: IPS Photography Business Tips For Wedding Photographers

Boost Your Business With Prints

Learning how to price photography prints might not be the easiest part of owning a wedding photography business, but it’s definitely something that becomes easier with time. Once you’ve established your rates and built your ideal clientele, you can go on to modifying those rates according to what’s happening in your area or as per your business needs. Remember: Don’t sell yourself short. If you assume that your clients are not going to want to buy prints, they’ll never know that they can even ask you for them. Educate your clients about the power of prints, and watch that conversation turn into a transaction. Take the time to set print prices in the beginning so you can then make prints a part of your workflow and market them to your clients from the beginning.

Further Read: Should You Put Prices On Your Photography Website?

At ShootDotEdit, we strive to help you grow your wedding photography business in several ways, including offering you tips on how to price photography prints. We also help you dedicate more time to doing things you love - whether it’s spending time with your family or shooting more weddings - by taking editing off your plate. To learn more about our photo editing services, check out our pricing plans.