What's YOUR Excuse? Photography Pricing Excuse #1: "I'm high priced for my area."

How often do we see photographers advertising a 3 hour session with 100 pictures on a CD for $75? (or even less!) And then we see hundreds of new (and not so new photographers) defending the right to charge that little and make negative money with their photography "business" when they have never even run their numbers and have no clue what they are making or spending. These photographers have lists of reasons why they don't charge enough to make a livable wage but honestly, all most of us see are just poor excuses and low self confidence. Let's stop making excuses and start making livable wages. (I can't even believe I had to say that).

Excuse #1: "I'm high priced for my area."

Do you know the full pricing of ALL the photographers in your area or just the cheap ones?

Are you looking at the ones running legit sustainable full time businesses or just the ones who do photography "on the side for some extra spending money?"

I can assure you that if you are charging less than $200 per session with all the digitals you are NOT "priced high for your area unless you live in an area where NO ONE makes more than part time minimum wage. (and if you do, I would recommend moving)....What do you think the most expensive photographer in your area charges? $200? $400?.....What if I told you that $300 was the LOW END of a sustainable photography business? And most photographers who only make that much per session are working their asses off and not making that much after taxes and expenses.

I literally JUST had this conversation with a photographer who has been "in business" for a whopping 4 weeks.... she lived in a MAJOR US city and claimed that NO ONE in her area charged more than $150 for birth photography. When I asked her if she knew the pricing of every photographer in town she showed me a screen shot of (Drum roll please) Facebook Marketplace......a 2 second google search showed my 5 birth photographers in the same city who's birth packages started at $1,700. I'm guessing she hadn't heard of them....

Most new photographers think that no one charges more than that in their area.... Why? Because higher priced photographers don't typically list their full pricing on their websites.... And they definitely don't list it on Facebook garage sale pages. What they do post is a sitting fee or session fee that typically includes no prints, digitals, or products. And then clients can choose from packages starting in the high hundreds to the thousands. Every year, I learn of a photographer in my area I have never heard of in my area making $3,000 or more per session. Some even price individual digital images at over $1000 each. And I guarantee you there is more than one in your area. I actually learned of another in my area today! She has been in business for about 6 years but I had no idea she existed until today and her minimum package is $2,500. So if you are giving 50 plus digitals for $75, I promise, you are not "High Priced for your area." Please stop using this excuse unless you know the full pricing of every photographer in your area and not just the ones who advertise in garage sale groups on Facebook. k?

When you set your pricing, do yourself a favor and IGNORE anyone who isn't running a legal, full time business that has proved over time that it can be successful and sustainable. Kate Spade doesn't base their handbag prices on what people sell old purses for at their garage sales and your photography business shouldn't be any different.