desperate wedding photographer

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so, my sister has been working with a photographer for some time now.

he's a one man shop in Michigan. does good work in my opinion.

conducts himself professionally, take good photos, has fair prices, uses a good lab for prints, etc...

she first met him last year when she wanted to do some family photos for a calendar, cards, etc...

she was happy with the service, and very happy with the photos.


so a few months later, her boyfriend proposes, so she calls up her photographer, and had him take them out and do some engagement photos areound town, at the river, in the park, etc..

again, very happy with the service, and very happy with the photos.


now mind you, they are not friends so to speak. they met as client/photographer.

it has since turned into sort of a friendship because they have so much contact.

she has referred people to him. she has her photos posted on Facebook (with his permission, and they all link to his business Facebook page)

he's had a few Facebook voting type contests, and she won one of them.

so anyway, she has booked him for the wedding.

iirc it was in the area of about $2000 and she gave him a deposit for $500 to reserve the date. the other $1500 is due on the wedding day.

so, he calls her up two days ago.. and needs a major favor....

there's some god awful great deal on a piece of equipment that he NEEDS to get. (she THINKS it was a lens)
whatever it was, it normally costs thousands. and he's buying it used from someone that needs some quick cash to fix his car.. and he can buy it NOW for a thousand dollars.

but, the guy selling it, needs cash NOW. so it's first come first serve. my sisters photographer really wants it , because its in great condition and he could normally never get it for this price.

but, he doesn't have a grand. he's only got $500 at the moment. so he's gonna miss out on the deal.

so, he calls her, and says if there is any way she can pay him another 500 towards her wedding, now, then he will call it even on her wedding package. and cut a grand from her bill. and, so she knows he's not trying to cheat her, he's offered her a new contract, with the new price on it, and shows paid in full.

she trusts him. and believes it's legit so she went with it.

she got her wedding half off.
he got this new equipment.
and the other dude gets his car fixed.

everyone wins.


i can't think of what piece of equipment that would be so valuable it's worth giving up a grand cash for a job.????

unless the grand he's paying for the equipment is really THAT expensive otherwise..


anyway, just thought i'd share... like i said i don't think he's trying to rip her off, he's respectable enough. i just thought it was funny that he was willing to give up a future grand, for 500 now to get this equipment. and she was all too happy to help him out and save a grand.
 
wow.. im speechless. I guess thats good for your sister.

I never want my clients to view me as desperate or have bad credit LMAO.
 
I don't see anything wrong with that. You said they were close almost like friends, so he probably trusts her as well. That is probably one if the reasons why he asked her, he knows her and knows that he is doing her wedding. Could of been a lens and if it is roughly a couple grand than sacrificing a grand for a good client is not a bad offer foe either.
 
Something tells me this is legit. YOU are closer to the situation than we are. There is plenty of gear that people will sell for as low as 20 cents on the dollar in order to get a car repaired. The grand is doubtless MORE than he could pawn the gear for, so he turns to a buddy, who's more likely to pay $1k, rather than the $400 the pawnbroker will offer him...this economy sucks...people need cold,hard cash--often. Let's say it's a new Canon 70-200 Mark II, or an almost new 5D-II, and the guy with the car in the shop needs $1k to GET HIS CAR BACK!!!!
 
yeah, i don't think he's planning to screw her at all.

they've become friends since she's used him often, and he's already booked for the wedding etc..

he explained the situation to her, and told her everything . he told her what the equipment was, but she doesn't remember if it was a new lens or a new camera body. all she felt like remembering was that she just saved a grand on her wedding.

and he called her first, because she's given him some back promotion, so he wanted to offer the discount to her first. but also because he figured that she would have the money because she gets paid pretty well.

i've no doubt he would have called on his next friendly client, or friends, etc...


i just wish i knew what the piece was that he was buying.

iirc he told her he was saving over a thousand by getting this used piece. so he offered her a thousand off her wedding.


yep. when people are desperate they'll sell stuff cheap.


i bought my motorcyle two years ago.. for 500 bucks. less than 2 thousand miles on it. they guy still had his receipt from when he bought it a month earlier.... for 700. AND he had the receipts for the two brand new tires and the oil change and new battery..

but on this particular day. he wanted 500 firm.

he was a self employed hvac guy. and his tranny went out on the work van. repair cost.... you guessed it. 500 bucks.

he wanted to bartering no games. just 500 firm.

the way he looked at it, he could lose 400 bucks on the bike. or he could lose a few thousand on lost jobs if he didnt get the van fixed right away.


i just wish she would have paid better attention to what it was. lol.
 
wow.. im speechless. I guess thats good for your sister.

I never want my clients to view me as desperate or have bad credit LMAO.

well, that was my thought when she first told me..

anytime any client or potential client ask me how business is, i tell them it's great. we're staying busy.

i would never tell someone, i haven't had a print job in two weeks and beg them for business.

nor would i ever tell a customer that business is booming and i just cant find enough time to get it done. (in my line of work, this customer would then beg for a deal, since you are already making so much on all those customers you have)


but, to call a customer and beg them to pay you 500 today to save a thousand tomorrow... man, that's just crazy.

it tells me as a customer that your business is so bad you can't afford to buy the equipment you want or need for it.


perhaps he looks at it differently since they have developed a friendship.

i don't know...
 
Ummm..... wow. That sounds REALLY dodgy to me.

i can see where it might sound like that because i haven't painted an entire picture of their client/photog/friendship..

but i dont think so.

they live in a somewhat small everyone knows everyone town.

they've developed a sort of friendship. he's been out and had a few drinks with her and her fiancee. her ex husband is a cop in town. and of course, her brother is a former ranger. and he knows these things. i dont think he's trying to screw her over.

when he came to pick up the cash, he brought her a revised contract/invoice/receipt. showing her new total as 1k instead of 2k and everything in the contract was the same. and gave her a receipt showing that she was paid in full.

i don't think it's dodgy at all.

he just had an opportunity to get this new equipment for a grand, and save a bunch of money, but he was 500 short. he knew she would have it, or hoped so. so in return, he gave her a great discount on the wedding. without her, he probably would not have gotten the new peice. unless he was able to get a loan.


it's just funny to me..

because the owner of the equipment is selling it so dirt cheap because he needs to get his car fixed.
and the photographer is now doing the wedding so cheap because he needs this new piece of equipment.
and my sister saves a grand, because she had the 500 sitting in savings.

now, if i can find a way to get her to give me 500 of the grand she saved, for being an awesome older brother when she was growing up, then i'll be alright with that. and in the end she'll still have saved 500. :lmao:
 
One thing to remember also, about business: it's not evenly-distributed throughout the year. Summertime is big wedding time....late January in Ohio,uh, not so much! Also, the massive money pit that has become the Christmas Season has just ended,and many folks spend more than they can afford for Christmas, due to societal pressure, family expectations,etc. Call an air conditioning company tomorrow, and they will have a repairman there in 30 minutes...one August our central air system went out...took three days to get a service call during that heat wave. Pre-income tax time is a good time to scour pawn shops/classified/Craigslist,etc for good photo gear...in most states there's a wait period for stolen merchandise checks, so beginning in mid-February and continuing into April and even May there's a LOT of pre-owned stuff turning up. Cash money can be very hard to come by in January...
 
Sounds legit. I have come by those drop everything geals before.

Ever see a Nikon 300 2.8 VR sell for a grand becuase someone got in financial trouble? I did.. it happens, the guy may be getting a big ticket item for next to nothing.
 
What kind of "business" doesn't have some sort of credit available in the amount of $500? Check from the bank or credit card, cash in the account. This "business" seems like a real winner if he has zero cash on hand.
 
Just get the photog to make up a new contract, or update the current contract stating that the deposit had changed from 500$ to 1000$, and has been paid. Or since he is going to drop the other 1000$, put it in the contract that the entire amount has been
paid already.
 
Just get the photog to make up a new contract, or update the current contract stating that the deposit had changed from 500$ to 1000$, and has been paid. Or since he is going to drop the other 1000$, put it in the contract that the entire amount has been
paid already.

he did. see my other post. he did all of that.
 
What kind of "business" doesn't have some sort of credit available in the amount of $500? Check from the bank or credit card, cash in the account. This "business" seems like a real winner if he has zero cash on hand.

That was my thought.
This "business" is not successful.
 

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