Some info about photo shoot packages prices … 🙂
As a photographer, I’m asked the same question every day:
“Why are your photo shoots so expensive when I can buy the same thing cheaper on Groupon?”
And my answer?
Well, I could talk about how my photography expertise costs money. And how every photo shoot I do is planned with the customer in advance to make sure they get an unforgettable and unique experience that they actually want. And how such care and the photo shoot itself take time and cost money. And how the after-shoot processing to create images that are truly personal takes time and costs money.
But I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’ll tell you how the photo shoot offers you see on Groupon and other discount websites really work. You know the ones I’m talking about. They promise a photo shoot, plus makeover, plus hairstyling for £5-45.
These are designed to make people think:
“Wow! What a bargain! I was just thinking of buying a photo shoot and now I can have that lovely treat I promised myself for next to nothing!
And so they accept the offer and hand over their hard-earned cash, hoping for a magical experience.
And then?
In my experience, the customer is almost always disappointed. They arrive at the photo studio and find themselves in a line of other people with no personal service. They are rushed through their makeover and hairstyle and then shoved in front of a photographer who quickly takes exactly the same shots against exactly the same backgrounds as they did with the previous customer 5 minutes before.
And afterwards?
The customer is given just one photo print to take away; usually without any image processing whatsoever. Just one!
They are then offered the chance to buy their remaining images, usually for around £50-70 each. Each! And if the customer can’t afford it? Well, the studio – very kindly – offers to let them pay in installments over a year.
So, in the end, that ‘bargain’ photo shoot the customer thought they were buying ends up costing them £500-700 for 10, often average and usually impersonal, images after a forgettable experience.
And there you have it. Next time you see one of these offers, ask yourself whether it really is as good as it looks and whether you would be better spending that little extra for so very much more….