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Old November 1st, 2013, 09:57 PM   #1
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Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

Hello, I was just recently asked by a wedding planner to provide her with business cards and a price sheet. I have the cards, however does a price sheet hurt you more than help? If you sit down with a couple can't you negoitiate a price? I do understand the value of a price sheet, the customer has an idea what they will be paying for. Do you guys provide prices sheets when dealing with potential customers or do you ask them the right questions which lead you to tell them the price? Thanks in advance. Also what are the price levels you offer? Just Cermeony and Reception, Full day no Editing, Only 8 hours of footage?????
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Old November 2nd, 2013, 06:09 AM   #2
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

I have one fixed price for an all day wedding. It's very simple and effective and is based on the fact that I can only shoot one wedding on one day, so why offer shorter day prices. Couples will also have either picked up a leaflet or seen the website, so will already know the price before they contact me, which means that I am already half way there. You can bet that if you offer and take a lower price ceremony only wedding, the phone will ring 5 minutes later for an all bells and whistles booking.

The only variation to my price would be for long distance travel or very unusual circumstances that would require extra cost at my end. I do of course charge a higher fixed price for my joint video and photography weddings.

Roger
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Old November 2nd, 2013, 06:55 AM   #3
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

My wife Alice has just re-done the website & all our packages. We now do not offer video without photography. I have worked with some very nice photographers but the bad experiences with the others have decided me that from now on I will only shoot video when my wife is doing the photography. It's not so bad the other way round as when doing photography you get to call the shots & in fact it's generally expected.

We are leading with photography & up-selling video & also offering packages that all involve the same whole day attendance at the wedding but demand more or less work in post & are priced accordingly. The important point is that all of the four packages give a 'From £xxxx' price as each client will get an individual quote based on travel etc

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Old November 2nd, 2013, 07:41 AM   #4
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

I just add all prizes incl options on my website, when they contact me I know price is not going to be a topic of discussion, I offer 2 packages with a 30 minute highlight video on dvd and then paid options like a blu-ray of their wedding or a separate HD file on a usb stick, or if they want a longer edit (like when they want the complete ceremony, that's also a paid option.) I also have fixed hours per package so extra hours are paid per hour.

They seem to like the fact that they can start from a base package and include option only they are interested in. In general the options provide me 20% extra on top of the package prize per wedding.

Usually when I see competitors on my country not listing prizes I know they are expensive and afraid that would be the first thing the client looks at, so they rather try to convince them when they meet the couple. Only I don't want to spend energy on that, I just show my work, they tell me what they want on film and what options they like, they actually already know the prize when we meet as it all open and clear on my website.

I know of one competitor that charges ridiculous high prizes but doens't display it on their website, when a couple inquired about the prize on phone he refused to give them this info and kept saying he could only discuss this at his office, every wedding is different he says and that's something you can''t quickly assess on the phone, so the couple drives 100kms to meet him, they see some demo's and then here a prize which is way above their budget, the bride is annoyed to have wasted so much time meeting him and they go back home looking for a another videographer, how I know this? They booked me after that. :) Therefore it's better to be open and honest about your prizes upfront, saves a lot of frustration and time.
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Old November 2nd, 2013, 08:51 AM   #5
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

My guess is the wedding planner is asking for prices to guide bride & grooms to proper services. In order to not suggest a great photographer, only to find out they charge $4,000 a package, when the brides on a tight budget. OTOH also not to give a # out to someone just starting out, to a well off couple looking to spend big bucks. Probably a good idea for them, being that they are supposed to be the planners making things simpler.
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Old November 2nd, 2013, 10:13 AM   #6
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Cook View Post
Also what are the price levels you offer? Just Cermeony and Reception, Full day no Editing, Only 8 hours of footage?????
Man, I hope you're joking about "ONLY 8 hours of footage."

We have two options now. As single operators, relatively new (2nd year), and husband/wife team (I'm an MC/DJ who does 32 weddings a year).

If you want to hire us for videography, it's an all day package, up to nine hours of coverage, but we try to cover prep, ceremony, speeches, first/special dances for sure. We credit down time as half time, so if, during family pictures, they tell us to take a two hour break, it counts one hour. OR we offer to film family story hour where we get grandparents, parents, and BFFs telling random stories (how grandparents met is a biggie).

IF a DJ client wants videography, they can hire my wife for just prep and ceremony for a discount.
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Old November 2nd, 2013, 10:23 AM   #7
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

Hi Jeff

I offer packages and each package specifies what I cover and the package price. It's my opinion that if you do say "email us for a quote" lot's of brides will pass you by as you already are considered out of their budget. It's also equally important (again my opinion) to not quote "by the hour" as you cannot include edit time so if you do an 8 hour wedding and take 16 hours to edit it you have a 24 hour chargeable rate so say at $50 an hour that would cost out at $1200. However the bride sees the $1200 and the 8 hour package and calculates your hourly rate at $150 an hour so you instantly become expensive! Rather say for $1200 we will cover the following .... and list the events you will shoot and you now for the same job look like good value for money.

That's the way I do it and have no issues ...like Nigel I'd rather shoot combo packages so at least the photog will never get in my way cos it's me!!!

Chris
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Old November 2nd, 2013, 01:04 PM   #8
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

Slightly off the original topic, but having added combined photo and video packages last year, we now have 80% of next year's bookings for the combined package. I also much prefer doing the combined package with total control and I feel that the couple get the best possible balance between the two.

Roger
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Old November 2nd, 2013, 01:24 PM   #9
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

I suspect the reasons people don't give out prices include:

-- they don't want competitors battling them in price wars, or they regard the information as confidential for some other reason
-- they (for honest or for dodgy reasons) want to give a customised quote for each wedding
-- they want to talk to the bride and explain the cost before she dismisses them out of hand based on it

I do give my prices at my website. I'm not too worried about competitors because, frankly, they just contact you under a false name and get the information anyway. And if brides are put off by my price, well... That is a worry, but I have also had brides tell me that they automatically rejected any company that didn't put its prices online and liked my transparency. I know that I personally find it inconvenient when I'm shopping for something and people conceal their price, or make you go through an order process to discover it, so I'm reluctant to inflict the same on my customers.
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Old November 2nd, 2013, 07:42 PM   #10
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

My real weak spot is sales so I need my website to do my selling for me and displaying the price, what you get for it and what is will look like usually if not always results in brides getting on the phone and saying "I'd like to book you" rather than "give me more information"

Being anything but a hot shot salesman this helps me a lot overcome my issues on the marketing side and sells my services basically but without displaying prices that wouldn't happen.

Chris
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Old November 4th, 2013, 05:15 AM   #11
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

I have a pricing page that shows all my packages & pricing and another that shows a table view of the difference in pricing and contents.

Clients have to enter their email address to get a link to the pricing page (happens within a minute)
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Old November 4th, 2013, 07:45 AM   #12
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Re: Price Sheet // Yay or Nay

Jeff , you must charge what your product is worth and your pricing should be transparent. If you look at websites in the major markets, those for the most successful and popular wedding businesses, then you will see the obvious.

Honest, upfront, clear pricing cannot be beat as a way of being transparent and of letting your customer know what to expect.

Businesses that are higher end OR that are in more remote locations are exempt from the need for showing prices on their website, but even they will sometimes post where their prices start to help filter clients.

Regarding the price sheet, give it to her! Wedding planners can help your business immensely!
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