Saygee I hope we didn't drive you off dear. I pulled out a template from our business plan for pricing comparatives within the local area. In order to come up with a list of competitors within our market, a scope for our targeted clients had to be initially defined as such - sample only,e.g. :
Saygee photography's ideal targeted clients will be in their 20's and 30's, modern, fun/outgoing and family oriented. From this scope we looked around a certain vicinity where COG(Cost Of Goods) meets a certain range(Sorry for the fancy mancy words - it will help you when you do your research later). Within that range we looked at photographers that had similar characteristics and specifically boiled it down to
shooting style(very tough to categorize), customer demographics and pricing. In order to dive deeper into their world and gather data, I had to pretend I was an inquiring customer; in a few instances, I actually ended being a paying client in order to get what we needed for a specific breakdown. Here's an example of the chart formulated from our little CSI:
[TABLE="width: 929"]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
Your Business
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
Competition 1
[/TD]
[TD]
Competition 2
[/TD]
[TD]
Competition 3
[/TD]
[TD]
Competition 4
[/TD]
[TD]
Competition 5
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
LOCATION
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]San Leandro
[/TD]
[TD]San Francisco
[/TD]
[TD]Daly City
[/TD]
[TD]Pacifica
[/TD]
[TD]San Francisco
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
WEDDING PRICE RANGE
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]$4500 w/ album
[/TD]
[TD]$4950+
[/TD]
[TD]$3000+
[/TD]
[TD]$3000, $4500 w/ album
[/TD]
[TD]$3500, $4500 w/ album
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
PRODUCTS
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Albums, Hi-Res Files
[/TD]
[TD]Albums, Hi-Res Files
[/TD]
[TD]Albums, Hi-Res Files
[/TD]
[TD]Albums, Hi-Res Files
[/TD]
[TD]Albums, Hi-Res Files
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
BRANDING
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
MARKETING
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
QUALITY
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
SERVICE
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
RELIABILITY
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
STABILITY
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
APPEARANCE
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
ADVERTISING
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
IMAGE
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
COMPANY REPUTATION
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
EXPERTISE
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Very Solid
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[TD]Good
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Except for the pricing and product, competitor image like customer service, expertise, reputation etc, these were all attribute data so it took some time in defining. It wasn't necessary in our behalf but I wanted a break down to where I know I can be ahead of my competition within the subcategory scope I defined above,
shooting style(very tough to categorize), customer demographics and pricing. With a more specific break down you will be more precise in the decisions moves you make. Kinda like chess vs checkers
Below is a pricelist template we also used sampled at $100hr for labor. Within our competitors the price mark-up was 3x - 10x of COG(Cost Of Goods). We chose a multiple no greater then 5.5(Anything above would just be uncivilized..lol). So what does this mean, if you the photographer were to purchase an album from your supplier whcc and they charged you $100 bucks, based on your mark-up of 5, you would sell it to your client for $500 material cost. It doesn't stop there, you would also need to factor in the hourly rate of labor into account when charging the client. So if you worked on the album for 5 hours
(at an hourly rate of $100) and the album cost you $100 the formula would be [(5*Hourly Rate COG) + (5*Album Cost COG)] = [(5*100) + (5*100)] = $1,000 for the album. This applies to any sort of labor that you perform for the company. Thinking this way will remind you how valuable your time really is...even simple tasks like driving to the venue.
Here's the markup chart:
[TABLE="width: 765"]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 8"]
MARKUP GUIDE
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
DESCRIPTION
[/TD]
[TD]
COGS
[/TD]
[TD]
3
[/TD]
[TD]
3.5
[/TD]
[TD]
4
[/TD]
[TD]
4.5
[/TD]
[TD]
5
[/TD]
[TD]
5.5
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
1-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
100.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]300.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]350.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]450.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]500.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]550.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
2-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
200.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]700.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]800.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]900.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,100.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
4-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,200.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,800.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,200.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
6-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,800.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,100.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,700.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]3,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]3,300.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
8-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
800.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,800.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]3,200.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]3,600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,400.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
10-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
1,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]3,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]3,500.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,500.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]5,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]5,500.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
12-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
1,200.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]3,600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,200.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,800.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]5,400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]6,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]6,600.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
14-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
1,400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,200.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,900.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]5,600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]6,300.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]7,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]7,700.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
16-hour Labor
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
1,600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]4,800.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]5,600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]6,400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]7,200.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]8,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]8,800.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 1
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
125.33
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]375.99
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,400.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,600.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,800.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,000.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]2,200.00
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 2
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
155.72
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]467.16
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]545.02
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]622.88
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]700.74
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]778.60
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]856.46
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 3
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
188.41
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]565.23
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]659.44
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]753.64
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]847.85
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]942.05
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,036.26
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 4
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
221.11
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]663.33
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]773.89
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]884.44
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]995.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,105.55
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,216.11
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 5
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
253.80
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]761.40
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]888.30
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,015.20
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,142.10
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,269.00
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,395.90
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 1 Special Cover
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
163.89
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]491.67
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]573.62
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]655.56
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]737.51
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]819.45
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]901.40
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 2 Special Cover
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
210.21
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]630.63
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]735.74
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]840.84
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]945.95
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,051.05
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,156.16
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 3 Special Cover
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
256.53
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]769.59
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]897.86
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,026.12
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,154.39
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,282.65
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,410.92
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 4 Special Cover
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
302.84
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]908.52
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,059.94
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,211.36
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,362.78
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,514.20
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,665.62
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
Album 5 Special Cover
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
349.16
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,047.48
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,222.06
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,396.64
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,571.22
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,745.80
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]1,920.38
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
8x10 BW
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
43.76
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]131.28
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]153.16
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]175.04
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]196.92
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]218.80
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]240.68
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
8x10 Colored
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]
43.76
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]131.28
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]153.16
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]175.04
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]196.92
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]218.80
[/TD]
[TD="align: left"]240.68
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
This is a very high level summary but I hope it helps you with your data gathering for price
