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

[480sparky]

^ So you would do that job for $65 total?

I'm just a dumb electrician, but if I'm offered $65 for ANY electrical work (no matter how minor), my van keys will stay right on the kitchen counter. I suspect if I actuated shutters for a living and accepted commission work, the keys would still be on the kitchen counter.

 

[sm4him]

It doesn't MATTER if he would do the job for $65 total.
It only matters whether YOU would do the job for $65.

You're second-guessing yourself here, Parker.
I suspect you KNEW they would reject your offer to do this shoot for $650, 10x what they'd quoted. I suspect that what you were hoping to do was to simply get them to see that they were asking for a lot more than they seemed to think.
It didn't work, but you tried.

The thing is, there is ALWAYS someone out there willing to do jobs like that--for $100, for $65, for $50...heck, they'll do it free, for the "exposure."

Who cares? It just doesn't MATTER whether someone else will do that job for the price offered. If you'd taken that job for $65, you'd be kicking yourself for it. So just be thankful that you had better sense than that, and move on.

Now, the secondary issue is: Did you quote too high a price for them to even CONSIDER meeting you in the middle. Yeah, you did. And again, I suspect you knew that. That tells me that you understood that even if they agreed to a higher price, there was no way they were going to pay what you would require to do the job.

I think what you're asking is what SHOULD be a "fair price" for a job like that. But again, the answer is: It doesn't matter.
Just as YOU decided you weren't willing to take $65 to do that work, THEY had already decided they weren't willing to PAY more than that to have the work done. It's here that Derrel has a point--their objective for these photos and yours were not the same. You were prepared to give them champagne, but not for grape juice prices--nothing wrong with that. But they were only interested in grape juice, at grape juice prices--and there's nothing wrong with that either.

The job was not a match for you. Simple as that.

 

[vintagesnaps]

I don't think this client is looking for a photographer, I think he seems to just be looking for a person with a camera (who maybe knows how to turn it on and aim it in the general direction of something.). It's his/his company's problem if the photos he gets don't end up being good enough to satisfy the salon owners.

I imagine since you did a number of shoots for portfolio use (and enough that might have led the client to make assumptions about what you'd be willing to do?) the client might have thought he could get you to do this for little money. You can't bill just based on hours shooting and editing - you're getting paid for expertise, ability, time you spent learning and/or taking courses or attending workshops etc. and developing your skills, etc. etc. I think the skill level has to be at a point where the photographer can compete to get the going rate for photo shoots but it can take time to build up to that point.

If you're going to do work in photography get professional information. For example, ASMP has a 'paperwork' share although usually just 2-3 examples are available to nonmembers. Photographers share information on actual jobs they've done to help others learn. The ASMP Paperwork Share | American Society of Media Photographers

 

[vfotog]

there isn't any gig I would do for just $65. That's not even a total beginner rate. It's funny, we always tell people to figure out costs, what they are worth, their equipment and business expenses... and then when they reject an insulting job offer, they get put down. A number of people are saying the OP over-quoted and that the client had lower expectations. Not necessarily. Depends on whose expectations you are talking about. The job offer was not offered by the end user. It's already been stated that no one knows what the end user was paying. They could be paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars. It's doubtful that they know that the middleman was only offering $65 for the photo services. The end user could have very high expectations for the images and no clue as to what professional services cost. Now the middleman probably does, but also knows the OP worked for free repeatedly, so they may think they are being generous for offering anything at all.

 

[Designer]

The end user could have very high expectations for the images and no clue as to what professional services cost.

Here is where such a deal has real potential to hurt professional photographers. If the end user perceives the photos are not very good, but he is paying quite lot (at least in his mind) for the service package, he may assume that all photographers are not very good, and that they charge a lot.

Let's hope the client begins to do some research.

 

[Vtec44]

Let's hope the client begins to do some research.

Or the good photographers need to differentiate themselves from the rest of the field, to show there is no doubt that the work is absolutely better to command the pricing.

 

[petrochemist]

I'm not a Pro, never yet been paid for a photograph - though a couple of my shots have been used commercially.
Even for me shooting at 2 locations half an hours drive apart for $65 could only make financial sense if I actually lived right on top of one of the locations...

But for their measly $65 they also want full rights to reuse as they like without even giving credit! It's now got to the point where it would have to be for friends/family or perhaps a favorite charity.

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

I build staircases but I have a minimum price that I charge where anything less is not worth my time no matter how small the project is. People seem to understand and sometimes they choose to go with me and other times they don't. I notice it protects me from the customers that want a low price but have high expectations (the worst kind of customer imo).

On a separate note, I'm sure this company is giving you a 1099. Out of $65, there's not much left after taxes on that.

 

[astroNikon]

Let's see

You used them in the past to build your portfolio
now you are past them getting real money for jobs.

and yet, you knew from the past what they were looking for and seem insulted from it.
move on already ...

 

[imagemaker46]

I only read the first couple of messages. You handled it in a very professional manner. These people are clueless, but they will always find someone to do the shoot. As a joke I may have taken the shoot and showed up with my iphone. Didn't mention having to own real gear.

 

[A/Ox4]

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.

I disagree. While 10 hours of post process work may be excessive, I would not lower my quality of work to meet a clients needs. If I was a professional architectural and/or commercial photographer, and was asked to do this, I would give a professional rate for professional work.

I agree, this client clearly wants photos like he saw his Uncle Bob take at the last family reunion, and for that he is willing to pay $65. However, I am not going to produce a produce of that subpar quality just to meet a budget. This client should try a photography school or Craigslist. I think my mom's iPhone takes pretty decent pictures if he would be okay with that.