Sydney Commercial Photography Quotes
Last week I was given the opportunity to quote on a commercial photography shoot for a Sydney based company, they ask for twenty-five to thirty promotional images communicating a young and youthful workplace. It was asked that these images be shot in their offices over a morning or afternoon and we were to use their own staff rather than professional models.
Now there is nothing unusual in that, we quoted $3500 before discussing copyright. What was interesting was that once our quote and copyright agreement was accepted we were told of the diversity of quotations they received and that is what surprised us; not so much what happened but rather we were surprised by the fact that it has happened for donkey’s years and continually pops up.
Our client told us that in the three emails they sent requesting commercial photography quotations they received one reply that was one paragraph (or two lines) in length quoting $1250, another was a four-paged A4 document detailing everything under the sun for $3300 and lastly our quote for $3500 detailed over approximately one A4 page. Two things amaze me in that:
1. good luck to the somebody who thinks $1250 will cover what was approximately a full day’s work and then expects to have daily running of the studio covered as well
2. and how could someone expect that a one paragraph quote will capture a client’s attention or that they would need, have the time to go through or perhaps even understand a four-paged A4 quote on something that was reasonably simple
Now sometimes clients will go with the cheapest or easiest option and other times they won’t, but regardless of which way a client decides to go for their commercial photography requirements I always find it surprising how little some Sydney photographers value their product and how the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) continually gets overlooked. Not that I am trying to write the ‘how to’ on things here, I genuinely wish the best for anyone who owns their own photography studio as I think it is a tough gig, but please guys understand the value of the product you are trying to sell and spend your time wisely! Would you pay $300 for something when starting out you knew spending $1000 was the only way to get what you want? And why not provide four to the point quotes instead of only two rambling ones? Finalise the small details later. It is just a thought of course.