How much do you charge for prints ?

Ac1dh0u$3. · 18 May 2014 at 18:15

Hi there

After a bit of googling it has became apparent that the there is no answer to this question.

I am completely lost so I'm going to give you some information on where I'm at and see if I can get some guidelines.

I live in Northern Ireland on the north coast and mainly take landscape photos, nothing compared to some of the ones you see on this forum but I do ok...

So the problem/opportunity started when I decided to do a 52 week project and posted my photos each week to Facebook, so friends and family could see them.

Then a close friends wife asked if she could get some of the pictures as she wanted to get them framed and put in her hall. Overwhelmed that someone would want to hang my pictures in there hall, I got 3 prints made (24" x 16" on satin paper) and just gave them to her.

I also gave them information on a local place that frames and mounts pictures. They got them framed and mounted and then posted the results on facebook tagging me!

Now I'm getting pm's etc asking how much for prints etc... And this is where I'm lost. I can't afford to give them away

The pictures are mainly local areas rocky beach sunsets and Castles.

I got one of the pictures printed in four different sizes and then took them to the local frame shop and got them framed and mounted, this is how how much it cost me.

24" x 16" satin print £12.99 / framed and mounted £40 = £52.99
18 x 12" lustre print £1.04 / framed and mounted £30 = £31.04
15" x 10" lustre print £0.79p / framed and mounted £25 = £25.79
12" x 8" lustre print £0.50p / framed and mounted £20 = £20.50

I would like to just sell the prints and let people take care of there own framing and mounting, but I realize that I should probably leave the option for me to take them and get them framed and mounted, but how much extra to I charge for that ?

Also I assume I should be spending a bit more on the 18"x12" 15"x10" 12"x8" prints, what should I get them printed on ?

To sum up

How much do I charge for a print only ?
How much should I be spending on a print ?
How much extra do I charge to get it framed and mounted for them considering costs ?

Nexus · 18 May 2014 at 19:45

There are no hard and fast rules and a lot depends on you and your own circumstances. As you aren't a professional photographer, you likely have another job and aren't relying on this for income, thus you can charge what you like that people are willing to pay.

A common calculation is to factor in exactly how hours you put into, so that you are billing for your time and art. So you can work out how much time you spent shooting, processing, printing, any consumables used etc. Then be sure you are making a profit on it.

As for framing, it is expensive, especially for decent frames. As such, I would find a lab/framing company who you are happy with the quality of and then base your rates they charge for prints/frames from there. Unless you are getting framed prints for speculative purchases, or to hang in places willing to display them for a potential sale, I would wait until you have an order, with either a deposit or full payment. Last thing you want is to spend £200+ on something if the buyer changes their mind.

Ac1dh0u$3. · 19 May 2014 at 16:02

Cheers for the reply Nexus, lots of thinking to do

D.P. · 19 May 2014 at 16:52

You can charge what you like, if you price too high then people wont buy, if you price too low you want cover your expenses. Somewhere there is a middle ground that will maximise profit, but you probably don't care unless you are a professional.

If you don't mind doing the prints then you can charge a lower figure and get more orders. If you can't be bothered doing much work then charge much more and just do the occasional print with a big profit.

The actual value depends entirely on the quality of the work and print factored by the value people in your selling network will pay. In general the public undervalue photos as art so it is challenging to make any real sales figures from casual prints.

I would add up all the RAW costs and double, then add something like 20-50 quid per photo. If sales are going well double again.

macuser · 19 May 2014 at 17:40

Minimum you want to be charging outwork is at least 25%. For example print and frame costs you £100, minimum you want to be charging is £125. I work in print and we try to mark up outwork at 25-30%.

Might be slightly easier for you to mark that up a bit more though.

Ac1dh0u$3. · 19 May 2014 at 20:21

Thanks for the information guys.

Just wondering how far away I am with something like this

COST--------------------------------Charge
24" x 16" satin print £12.99--------------£30
18 x 12" lustre print £1.04---------------£20
15" x 10" lustre print £0.79p-------------£15
12" x 8" lustre print £0.50p--------------£10

For the print only. Is it deceitful to play 50p for a print and then charge £10 for it ? Mark up seems massive on the smaller prints

D.P. · 19 May 2014 at 20:57

You need to forget markup. Selling art is not the same as selling food/hardware/cars/etc

You haven't factored in the cost of your time and expertise in making the art. When an artist is commissioned to produce a painting they don't charge for the paint and a sheet of paper - they charge for using their ability.

macuser · 19 May 2014 at 23:28

D.P. said:
Selling art is not the same as selling food/hardware/cars/etc

Totally agree?

I wouldn't forget about markup especially if you are doing it small scale. If you just start clutching figures out of thin air people probably aren't going to buy.

If you are just talking about a 50p print on Facebook then that is slightly different.

ElDude · 19 May 2014 at 23:49

Ac1dh0u$3. said:
Thanks for the information guys.

Just wondering how far away I am with something like this

COST--------------------------------Charge
24" x 16" satin print £12.99--------------£30
18 x 12" lustre print £1.04---------------£20
15" x 10" lustre print £0.79p-------------£15
12" x 8" lustre print £0.50p--------------£10

For the print only. Is it deceitful to play 50p for a print and then charge £10 for it ? Mark up seems massive on the smaller prints

To be honest, the higher prices/percentage at the lower end, is often a successful idea. Don't make it too high though. The idea is to get more of the small work sold so you have a decent amount of work out there. That will hopefully then sell you more, leading to the occasional larger request. You only have to look in shops that sell the generic landscape photos you see everywhere, to get an idea. £5 for a small print, £8 for the next up, then jump up the gap a bit with another jump for largest, but not a huge price difference, something along the lines of £8 more.

Doing this you'll shift more small stuff as most don't want to spend a lot, but if they see the middle ground as a large image for only say £10 more, with the top one being £20 more you'd get a bit more interest. 6" x 4" for example at £5 are all over the racks in art shops, with the £8-£10 stuff. On the wall next will have the three sizes above.

The other main issue is the frame itself. That can range from £10 extra to £100s, depending on the quality of the frame.

Forgot to add that the hardest part is finding a subject that people actually want to buy in the first place. You often get companies buying the rights off a photographer than churning out 1000s of the photos for almost nothing (you know, the £2.50 post card things that are everywhere).