When I was shooting weddings a long time time ago, I tried to enter the market as a low cost provider and had similar experiences to what you had. People would contact me, but then wanted to haggle over price! Also, there were some who didn’t choose me because ‘Something must be wrong if his price is so much lower. No thanks!’

By simply raising my prices about 50%, I was able to get more business!

Thinking along those same lines as I think to price my prints, I am thinking of prices that far exceed my costs. I, like you, want to be able to provide prints that almost anyone can afford; however, the reality is that there is a mental connection between price and quality/value, although in reality, that link may not really exist.

So here’s the correct quote:

Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?

The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to

Alice: I don’t much care where.

The Cat: Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go.

Alice: …so long as I get somewhere.

The Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk (photograph) long enough

It seems to me that galleries have a pretty good idea about pricing and the relative ‘value’ of an artist and their work. And they seem to have no quams about what price they ask. Remember, the gallery owners are also dependent upon the right price in order to still sell something and yet stay in business.

Having my own business (consulting), I know what the range of fees are for folks who do what I do, and the fees are not cost priced, but based on the benefit of the advice.

So for me, I am not dependent for my living from selling photography prints, but at some point soon I would like to be. Thus, like you, how much do I sell my prints for, eh? (Mentioning Brooks as an example, he is not dependent on prints either, as he & his wife probably make a fair living from the various LensWork products).

So my current thinking is if someone wants a ‘cheap’ print, they can print their own low-res one off my web site or blog. If they value a fine print, want to see the range of values that I can imbue a nice rag paper with and thus want to own a fine print, then they should be willing to pay the market price for it. They benefit, I benefit.

Then the next question you have to answer for yourself, what is the market price? My guess is that is almost the same question, what is your market?? Fine art collectors (those who apprecaiate the subtles and thinking behind a work), or is it Ikea & Kmart for those who need ’something nice’ on the wall for less than 20 bucks or is your market someplace in between? Answering that may tell you what your pricing could be.

So the Cheshire cat asked Alice, “just where do you want to go??”

It’s not about one or the other. It’s about going after two separate markets.

My own experience has been that people have no way of judging the worth of a print other than the price. The cost of materials is not a factor. Nor is the cost of time to take the photograph, or all the wasted negatives / captures that were tossed.

When I first began selling prints on the web, they were very cheap. Not much more than what the materials cost. I could barely manage to sell a few.

As time went on, I experimented with different prices, and was surprised to find that I sold more prints when the prices were higher (to a certain point).

Eventually, I came up with the idea of selling prints in three basic sizes, small, medium, and large (what I call the tube sock business model). The idea being to appeal to different segments of the market.

Another aspect of my sales is that many of them are bought for gifts. And again – the price tells the consumer something about how I value them and hence how much the eventual recipient should value them.

Anyway – my idea is that you don’t buy a painting based on the amount of paint that was used to make it. At the same time, I am working on producing high quality reproductions that can sell at a lower price – and are clearly sold as reproductions.

So there you have my two cents – or should I make that my dime?

Trouble is, if you want to sell to many people, the former route is the only effetive one.

My observation of people’s reaction to photography is that they largely relate the work to what they could have done themselves. The effort involved, the quality of the print and the materials used just do not factor. Unless the audience can be educated into understanding why good photography cost more than a couple of bucks a sheet to produce, there will always be a problem.

I suppose you could just use in-camera jpegs, print them on buck a sheet paper and sell for $5. I bet you could sell loads but I’m not sure you’d be happy doing so.