Lost out on a job because of price...would you have accepted this?

Parker219

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First, a little backstory. I don't think I should give out the company name, but this company is a "digital marketing specialist" company. Meaning a business, which could be a restaurant, salon, sports bar, or just about anything will use this companies services to help them with their digital marketing.

The company approaches businesses, and says "If you use us, we will send out a professional photographer to get photos, then post the photos on your facebook and twitter page for you while ALSO creating a basic website with photos. If they already have a website, then they just add in the photos."

They charge them X amount, I am not even sure how much.

Then they contact a local photographer and they take the photos. When the photos are turned in, they become the property of the company. The photographer CAN use them in their own portfolio, however the client can use the photos for anything they want without giving credit to the photographer.

I have done work with this company before, because I wanted to build my portfolio, but after I did about 20 shoots, I told them I was tied up with other projects and had to stop doing work for them.

Then out of the blue I get this email last week...

"Good afternoon!

I just wanted to reach out and inquiry if you any of you would be interested in a photoshoot with a client that owns 2 salons. One has been opened and operating for 8 years and one in a brand new location they are opening up in a month.

For the photoshoot at the first location would be 6-8 exterior photos, 12-14 interior photos, and 15-20 procedure photos. They clients will have a couple of models and they would like you to photograph them while they have having different procedures done to them.

At the second location, they just need 6-8 exterior, and 12-14 interior photos.

If you would be interested and are available please reply to this email.


Thank you!

Dan

Digital Marketing Specialist




So I replied...


Hi Dan,
Thank you for reaching out regarding the photo shoots. I looked up the location of the Salons 2 locations and looked around their facebook page, ect. I definitely would consider doing the photo shoots.


When do they need the final photos by?

Also how much would the pay be for the Salon photo shoot, considering the 2 locations?



They replied back...


Even though it would be 2 locations, we consider this one photo shoot, which would pay $65. It shouldn't take more than an hour.

The final photos would be due by 9/30.




Then I replied back...




Hi Dan,

Thank You for your response.

It would be a 1 hour drive to the first location for me, 2 hours of shooting time there, 30 minutes to drive to the other location,1 hour of shooting there, then about an 1 and 30 minutes for me to drive home. Then 4 hours of editing at least. So 10 hours total. I can do it for 10 hours times $65 an hour, so $650.

However no way I could do it for $65 total.

If ____ agrees to the $650, then let me know and I will do the photo shoot next week, most likely on Tuesday.

If they cant, I understand, just let me know either way.


Thank You

2 hours later they replied...


Never mind, we found another photographer who accepted the assignment.






So my questions are, is there anything that you would have done different than I did? Was my price too high for the amount of work? Would you have accepted the assignment?
 
If that is your hourly price, and that was the amount of hours you reckon it would take then what you said was perfect. While I may do a job a little cheaper on occasion, I wouldn't for 10% of my normal rate. This question imo can be answered by any person in any trade, not just pro photographers
 
65 bucks seems like he made a joke. And there is a "rule", one gets what he pays for. If he got a guy for that price, he got someone, who doesn't respect himself and that is not a professional person.
 
Big advantage; the photog could just send them directly from his phone.

Yes, I abbreviated "photographer" on purpose.
 
Oh, we go in that direction... This Fall is getting more and more "interesting". Overall. Where I am.
 
Call the Salon, tell them when they are dissatisfied with their sub-par images because their marketing company is too cheap to hire talent, that they know where they can reach you.

You should also send the salon the email showing how "simple" of a job the company expected (2) locations, with models none-the-less, was to be and what they used the thousands of dollars the salon probably paid for this on -- absolutely nothing.

I guess this company was too lazy to actually show up with their own iphones that day, or maybe the $65 paycheck actually didn't pay for gas after taxes.
 
Last edited:
So how has it worked out so far for you, as far as getting jobs based on your portfolio, after letting that digital marketing company take full and complete business advantage of you as you built your portfolio?
 
So how has it worked out so far for you, as far as getting jobs based on your portfolio, after letting that digital marketing company take full and complete business advantage of you as you built your portfolio?


It worked out great! I now get jobs like this from a company that hired me because of the my portfolio I built from my first 20 shoots from the rip-off company....




Date Sent 8/7/15
Deadline 8/12/15, 7PM Pacific
Rate $475.00
Exteriors Needed 15-20 exterior photos, prefer nothing too wide, mostly of the of the building(s) itself. Feel free to include ancillary photos of the overall property, access points, amenities (if any), signage (if any), loading docks (if any), or any interesting features that can help in marketing this commercial property.
Interiors Needed N/A
Photography Notes All properties should be shot in good weather, when the front (or most photogenic side) is in full sunlight. If weather is not cooperating in the timeframe given, please contact us before proceeding with photography.
Property Name Lake Parker Plaza
Property Address 333 North Lake Parker Avenue
City Lakeland
State FL
Zip 33801
Broker / LSA Company Baron Realty
Property ID 193037759
Event ID B-164
REDC ID UD175
Seller Loan Number LakeParker
Property Type Industrial
Net Rentable Area (SF) 123652
Property Description Two Industrial Buildings Totaling 123,652 SF






$475 for 15-20 exterior photos is okay by me!
 
I will definitely keep an eye out their Facebook page and see what kind of quality they got for $65.
 
Only you can make that business decision to either lower your price or let jobs like this go. :)
 
You didn't lose the job as it wasn't yours to begin with. You can't lose what you don't have.

The only thing you lost was a bit of time with these bottom-feeding low-ballers. That's just part of any business.
 
Parker219 said:
Then 4 hours of editing at least>>SNIP>>

Was my price too high for the amount of work?

I think the "amount of work" was grossly overestimated by you. Four hours of editing on a 20-shot real estate gig? How are you shooting? I mean, how could you possibly spend four hours on this? These are not photos intended for Architectural Digest, and at the pay rate, there is no doubt that the client is expecting just basic-level work. Your bid on the job is simply inappropriately inflated. The client is seeking quick, efficient, low-level, functional photos, which means images shot right, so that they can be processed FAST. This is not the kind of job where you want to come back with 250 images, then need to cull and make selects, etc...this is shoot the property, shoot so that there is MINIMAL processing and correcting needed, and then deliver the images.

I think you did over-bid this, by elevating the job to something that it is NOT. The client is looking for fast, cheap, functional images. Not highly-refined, perfectly corrected, 100% distortion-free, 5-shot vertical stitched panos, retouched, color-corrected and cloned, perfected images. The client is looking for $65 photos. If you want to do that, then treat it the way he expects. Shot right, in-camera, and sent with the most bare-bones 'editing', like 45 to 120 seconds per image in Lightroom. This is simply NOT, in any way, shape, or form, a client looking for a 10-hour job's bill in exchange for what he wants.
 
Parker219 said:
Then 4 hours of editing at least>>SNIP>>

Was my price too high for the amount of work?

I think the "amount of work" was grossly overestimated by you. Four hours of editing on a 20-shot real estate gig? How are you shooting? I mean, how could you possibly spend four hours on this? These are not photos intended for Architectural Digest, and at the pay rate, there is no doubt that the client is expecting just basic-level work. Your bid on the job is simply inappropriately inflated. The client is seeking quick, efficient, low-level, functional photos, which means images shot right, so that they can be processed FAST. This is not the kind of job where you want to come back with 250 images, then need to cull and make selects, etc...this is shoot the property, shoot so that there is MINIMAL processing and correcting needed, and then deliver the images.

I think you did over-bid this, by elevating the job to something that it is NOT. The client is looking for fast, cheap, functional images. Not highly-refined, perfectly corrected, 100% distortion-free, 5-shot vertical stitched panos, retouched, color-corrected and cloned, perfected images. The client is looking for $65 photos. If you want to do that, then treat it the way he expects. Shot right, in-camera, and sent with the most bare-bones 'editing', like 45 to 120 seconds per image in Lightroom. This is simply NOT, in any way, shape, or form, a client looking for a 10-hour job's bill in exchange for what he wants.





The 10 hours was for my original post with the salons.

For the 20 real estate photos, of course it takes far less.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
Regardless of the subject matter...the client is looking for a photographer who can show up, shoot photos, and deliver them affordably. He was literally TELLING you how much time he's allotting for the work to be shot, which is a significant clue or "tell" as to what his needs are. Four HOURS of editing on a small job means the job and the bid are totally out of synch with one another. There are offers, and there are counter-offers, but there needs to be an understanding at the most basic level as to what the client wants, and what is expected.

Your communication with the client indicated a basic misunderstanding of what the job actually 'was'. You quoted caterer's prices for a fast-food-place hamburger lunch. You quoted for a job that you made up in your own mind...a job that really did not exist. As 480sparky said, you did not lose this job...you never had any job to begin with, and the quote you offered was, again, for something you imagined in your own mind. I am pretty sure you know what I mean; the client was looking for one thing, but you came back with a vastly more-involved idea of the actual job, so your bid was rejected.
 
^ So you would do that job for $65 total?
 

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