Reflections in Joy Loc: currently, San Diego

I've used Costco.. great pricing, lots of choices in sizes, posters, etc. I find the quality excellent.

Reflections in Joy Loc: currently, San Diego

I've used Costco.. great pricing, lots of choices in sizes, posters, etc. I find the quality excellent.

nickims2 Loc: Mississippi currently

Johnnyg67...excuse me for interjecting a question here but I am trying to determine what the going rate for photos is (I know it is different in different parts of the country). I don't want to charge too little and get a reputation as cheap, but don't want to overcharge either. I have had a lot of interest in people wanting to buy- most are just matted on foamboard but some are nicely framed (by me - not a professional service). Aftrer I get more well-known I will have everything done professionally, but now I print and frame my own. Any advice from someone who knows a lot more than I?

Wheezie

Meridian Pro. you actually get a real person when you call customer service. 3 years and have never had a problem.... little less expensive than MPIX

Dun1 Loc: Atlanta, GA

If you have a Costco near you they do great work, if not MPIX does great work, had great customer service, great turnaround time. I had a customer order a wall cling for his son's birthday he received it on Wednesday. He actually ordered the wrong size or mis sized it, he contacted them they resized the image and sent it to him FedEX overnight so he could have the cling for his son's birthday Saturday. They did not charge for the re-size. The moral of the story most places would have had him bogged down in the phone tree, or want his credit card number for an additional charge. It sure made a daddy happy, and made him a more valuable and happy customer.

jackinkc Loc: Kansas City

In my experience, Costco does do very good work, however their services are limited to more routine matters. MPIX can do anything I want and they are fast service.

I just completed a large job for a small foundation out in Matfield Green, Kansas. I ordered one lot of twenty-five 11X14, mounted prints. The order went in on Sunday evening and the prints were delivered the following Tuesday. MPIX gets my vote.

johnnyg67 Loc: Northwest Georgia

Hi nickims2, your question about pricing can get allot of differing responses for sure. As you know some like to charge a bunch and some go way too cheap, but I think most are in between. I'm also not sure what kind of prints you're doing? . Is this portraits, weddings, or landscapes etc? The answer is different for photography services i.e. portraits and weddings etc than for selling prints of things you love to photograph. I'm going to assume that your photos are landscapes or flowers etc, but I'll try to explain portraits and weddings too. This will be a little long...stay awake! :thumbup:

I'm not an expert on pricing and I've done both especially the cheaper side. You can set your own pricing according to what you want to make or what the market will bare in your area. The main thing is always make a profit that is worth your time or people will use you up (time, talent, and energy) while you barely survive. The funny thing is I've always wanted to give people the best value for their money so I went cheap, but I had a local professional come to me several years ago and he said "Johnny, you need to double or triple your prices!" I was sort of stunned, but he was right, I was way to cheap! I did that on my weddings and still stayed busy. Some people think if your too cheap then you must be no good at what you do, while others want the cheap prices but they seem to be the ones that nit-pick everything apart.

Its up to you but you might as well make it worth your time. (I sound like a politician going around the bush on your question). So here goes...First, I would find out exactly (or as close as possible) what your cost are. Prints for framing such as Landscapes and flowers etc...Check to see what other galleries and photographers are charging in your area ( the quality should be comparable to what you offer, but remember a gallery or actual studio has overhead that you may not have so their bottom line cost could be more, but they still should be close to the price you should charge if the quality matches).

Be sure you know when setting up your pricing...

How much will each size print cost; cost of mounting and textures if added; framing cost (even if you do it yourself)...write it all down. You can't really add things like gas cost etc if its a print someone did not ask you to make. This would be a print that you can sell many times to various people so you may not get all of your cost covered on one print, but hey you may?? The point is you don't want to loose money on the actual print right?

Portraits and Weddings?
How much are the expenses above and then look for other more hidden expenses that are involved that really effect pricing i.e. gas, photo equipment upkeep batteries, image cards, albums (if included), CD or DVD cost if included in package. That is the bottom line of cost. (Note if you include a CD of the images that means you can expect little in the way of additional print sales so that should add a good bit more to your pricing. But you're still not done...)

Then how much time on your computer doing post processing do you anticipate? How much time involved doing the actual shoot? How much is your time worth...$10, $20, $30, $100.00 per hour? Ok I know I've gone overboard (I always do )
:oops: but I want you to be sure and not cut yourself short. I still do sometimes! :thumbdown:

I will say again just research other photographers print pricing and and look at add on features such as mounting. You can check print pricing at online sites too. Be sure of your framing cost (check Hobby Lobby, if there is one close to you, they have a 50% sale on nice frames about every other week). Are your prints considered art? You may ask for a little more money than a regular print. Sorry again for a long answer, just have faith in your work. Set your price and don't feel like you have to apologize, you created it and spent time and talent in the process...and money! If you feel the price is fair then it probably is. Stay away from $1.00 prints etc and you do not need to charge according to the local Walmart print pricing etc because you are selling your creations. If people are wanting to purchase prints then they must be pretty good???? Hope I haven't confused you with all this. Good Luck!

PS If you go to my website (it needs updating badly right now) www.digicorpimages.ifp3.com and click on the "Portfolio "link above, then click on one of the gallery's like Historic Chickamauga" etc, then click on any picture. After that look at the prices and options section below right hand side and click on it, then you will see what I currently charge for prints etc. Prices are pretty fair and bordering on the lower side of what is normal around here, however I am not full time at it nor do I have a physical location like a studio. (There are a lot of older pictures that need gone from the site and newer ones that need to be added, but I'm slow :-) Hope it helps.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

I decided to give MPIX a try since I have heard some good and some bad things about them. I took 2 photos on a SD card to Costco this morning and had a 11x14 done of each, $2.99 apiece. As soon as I got home I opened an MPIX account and uploaded the same 2 photos off the same SD card and ordered a 11x14 of each from them, at $6.99 apiece plus the $5.95 shipping charge.
I figured this was the best way to get an apples to apples comparison between the two processors. MPIX doubts my photos will arrive before Christmas according to their order page so we will see how that works out. Will post the results and my personal evaluation of the quality comparison when I get the MPIX product back, good thing these are stock shots and not a customer order.

johnnyg67 Loc: Northwest Georgia

I have used Mpix and always been happy, but also its good to have a place like Costco to use if time is a factor. I'll be interested in seeing the results comparing quality. Thanks for doing this.

jackinkc Loc: Kansas City

MPIX does print a delivery disclaimer this time of year. However, I pace two orders yesterday and this morning an email told my my items had been shipped.