djw60 Loc: Vermont

Hi everyone. I really hate to do this, but I just need to ask because I have to come up with prices really soon. How much would you charge for a photo CD with, say,...25 photos on it? The photos would all be edited, and on the CD for the customer to do whatever they wished with it, - printing, sharing etc. I did this last fall after I started my business, but only as a special till the end of the year, to get some customers and people recommending me via word of mouth.
Well, that part worked, but now I am getting inquiries for photo sessions, and I'm not sure what to charge people. This would be for just the CD, no printed photos. I found that people really like the idea of having the photos on a CD and print them out themselves, or send them away to be printed. I have tried Googling photographers who did just photo CDs and only found one. And the prices seemed way too high for me to charge around here. I would so much appreciate and help you can give me on this matter. Even if you just let me know what you would charge for one if you were asked. Thanks. Have a great day!!!

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

This is probably no help at all. I charge the 11x14 price for any hi-res file. No less work for me - why should they get it cheaper?

It is over $100 per file. Prints or files - what's the difference on our end?

AVarley Loc: Central Valley, California

On a recent cruise, I paid the excursion photographer $25 for a disc of about 50 photos taken during a shore excursion. They weren't edited obviously.

ebaribeault Loc: Baltimore

Do not give your work away. There are several cost areas that need to be considered.The time spent with the customer to determine exactly what they want,Time for the actual photo shoot.Post processing of the photos, and of course the medial itself. I have found that most people just want a disc so I price prints as an option after delivery of the disc. I charge a flat rate of seventy five dollars an hour for the photograph shoot, I have taken a percentage of the photo shoot time and multiply it by 15 dollars for post processing. The actual cost of the media varies quite a bit from what I have see, I have been using a dollar per disc. The bottom line is a six hour photo shoot comes out to be approx $630.00 which is about average fot the local economy in my area. You might want to consider preparing a spread sheet to do the estimate I have and it keeps my pricing consistent. Well thats my nickle

photo guy Loc: Chippewa Falls, WI

I charged $30.00 for a cd of 49 photos from a fire last April that occured at the Public High School and their insurance company requested they get them a copy. Though I am the FD Photographer, the FD refused to release the photos and told the school district to deal with me directly. Since they wanted specific photo, I had to go through all of the photos that I had from the fire and find the ones they wanted and then put them on a cd for them. They offered to pay so I charged for my time of doing it since I spent 3 hours at the scene taking the photos and then had to go through them for them. If it wouldn't have been for the insurance co. and just for the school things would have been different since I graduated from the school.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

There's a couple of different ways I do this. I would charge a standard say $30 to $50 for the CD depending on the number of shots on it.

I also charge $100 for the sitting. That usually allows for 1/2 day. If it goes longer I charge an additional $25/hour that I'm there, even if I'm just waiting for them to get something set up for a shoot. That is if I go to their home, their vacation, what ever (if it's in driving distance).
If beyond 25 miles I charge milage for the entire trip at the current IRS rate... 33 cents or so I think but you can check that.

Also I maintain the copyright on my work by labeling the CD with full size disc label that indicates who's photos they are, when they were taken, etc. But on that label I'll state a copyright. But, as you said, I allow them full access to the photos as in printing, sharing, etc.

Good Luck

Philipschmitten Loc: Texas

I offer a HiRes DVD at time of sittiing for $100 and it sells quite nicely. That way I don't have the hassle of reprints and it makes the customer happy.

kitcheck Loc: Wisconsin

I just bought a photo CD at a dog show with photos of my dog. I paid $75 for the CD. It included all photos that were taken of my dog at the 4 day show.

nikonshooter Loc: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Wow! I have been reading the replies so far. My position is simple, I do not sell digital files as a rule. I certainly do not promote it as a deal? I horror at the thought of walmart or another like it printing my images. My HI RES files after photoshop are often in the 250 mb range.....just how many of those can you put on a DVD anyway?

We also do all of our own printing and 80 percent of all albums.

I seriously doubt there will be CD's or DVD's in the next five years......and computers will have evolved to yet another way to handle "off computer" storage. They will go the way of the Eight Track Tape.

Cappy Loc: Wildwood, NJ

Charging $25 per hour sounds reasonable. I also remember a previous response a while back that they sign a contract they can use the photos for a certain period of time and after that they have to sign a new contract. Also if I remember correctly they can't sell your photos without your approval and you getting a "piece of the action".

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

To sell the disk or not sell the disk is pretty much the same conversation as Canon vs Nikon, Ford vs Chevy and PC vs MAC.

I have friends who sell a disk with 25 edited images for $150 all the way up to over $1,000 for around the same number of images on it. The pricing on the disk is like the pricing on their prints. Only you can determine what is right, look at other photographers in your area and charge accordingly. I wouldn't't let them go for anything less than $100, especially if you don't charge a sitting fee.

kristinelogan Loc: Indiana

I am a firm believer that in most situations you do not want to offer a CD for a "price they can afford." (Disclaimer: I do birth photography and offer in my package a low resolution CD of the edited images but I charge $600 for the entire package....not many people want lots of prints from their birth experience so I'm not too concerned about it here. I put together a small album in the package and the CD is just a token extra to me in this situation only.)

If you have quality work and you offer a CD, you have just turned yourself into a photographer who "makes a little money on the side taking pictures." Is that how you want to be seen?

I agree with Cliff in that you have to charge professional rates if you want to be seen as one. If you don't you will attract the customers that won't want to pay much for the "craft" and are choosing you on price. I want customers to choose me on quality and my creativity. Bargain hunters want the CD to get a lot of bang for their buck. I understand that, but you have to educate your customers too if you want them to understand why professionals charge more and deliver the quality. And as long as novices, hobbyists, semi-pros and the like make these CD offers, they are creating the demand for it. Any photographer needs to be paid for their work at a price they value their work at. If you give it away on a CD, YOU HAVE JUST PUT YOUR OPINION OF YOUR VALUE on your work.

You need to decide how you want to market yourself and stick to it. If you go the CD route, be prepared to stick with it and not complain. You will only get that type of business and if you try to change it up, people will drop you and find a new photographer who gives them what they want. There will always be someone who offers it, and they serve a valuable purpose in the market too. What part of the market do you want to serve?

One pro I know charges $800 for her sittings and provides a low resolution disk of the edited images to her clients. She recommends labs and doesn't get into prints at all. She does excellent work and is very popular but she also gets paid well up front and chooses not to mess with the print orders. She shoots newborns, seniors and families. But she does most of her work in the newborn market. (She may have a few bells and whistles in her package but it is pretty basic.) She also limits some of her work and her "exclusivity" also creates a "rush" to book with her existing clients. It works for her.

I don't intend to offend anyone who offers a CD as part of their "package" but I think it is fair to point out that those who do are often gainfully employed in other ways or have other income to live off of. Professional photographers make it their profession, they don't moonlight as bankers or engineers or teachers.

I still agonize over my rates too so I understand your situation. Be careful not to go "too public" without thinking this all through carefully.

And most of all, GOOD LUCK!

George H Loc: Brooklyn, New York

DJW,
What is your time and effort worth? If you were selling a photo what would you charge? This is the problem with todays way of thinking. I am giving them a CD not a photo, that is not true, you are giving them the photo, you are also giving them the ability to print it at any size they want. That is worth a lot of money, do not short yourself, you only diminish your worth if you do. 25 photos, edited and made print ready, I would not sell it for less than $1000.00

George

GC likes NIKON Loc: East Greenwich, Rhode Island

My daughter gets $15.00/ hour for babysitting. That is going over to someone's house, playing with their kids, feeding them supper and watching TV !!!

You have invested $Thousands in cameras, lenses, filters, tripods and editing programs, learning post processing etc..... Are you short selling yourself at $25.00/hour ???? I think so...............

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

You know, if you pay taxes, carry liability insurance, equipment insurance, collect sales tax, have a business license, keep relatively current on cameras and computers, make profit so you can have money to KEEP doing those things, and you can do that by selling your images on a CD 50 or 100 bucks, PLEASE let me know how you do that!
You must be doing 10 or 15 sessions a week! How do you find time to eat...or sleep?
Oh wait....you are not making any money.

OK - a little sarcasm there.

From my perspective, I don't even want the person who wants a CD as my customer.

A whole generation of family histories is going to be lost by short-sighted customers and shorter-sighted cheap photographers who go along with this awful trend. The CDs and hard drives will have crashed, become corrupted, and the images lost forever.
My customers have heirlooms on their walls that will last for hundreds of years with today's printing technology.

Other than that,I have no strong feelings about this. :-)