Need input on pricing for a proposal

[MAHAROGERS]

I'd love some input for a proposal I'm making to a new client. They're a facility where parents pay annual memberships for a club they and their kids can come to for classes, games, parties, etc.

They want me to come in to take candids at kids birthday parties. Members pay a base fee for the party and can get add-ons like a clown or magician. A photographer would be another potential add-on. I'm looking at this as a way to make some money from the party itself (fee + additional revenue from prints) as well as a referral mechanism (parents see my work then hire me for private sessions, etc)

The question is how to go about making this an attractive add-on. The parents are already paying a sizeable annual fee plus a good chunk of change for the party. There will probably be a few for whom money is no object but I want to be able to offer something that others will get excited about that I don't just give away. Options I've thought of are

a) Charge a base fee based on my hourly rate that includes a CD of low res-images and/or a set of 4x6 prints for birthday kid's parent of their kid. Other parents could buy additional prints from my site for my rate from my standard mark-up fees

b) Charge a nominal fee for my time at the party and don't provide prints. Parents can buy prints if they want to.

Balance here of course is that I'll probably get fewer overall takers on option A but there's guaranteed profit baked in with the fee. Option B may bring in more takers but there's no guarantee of breaking even.

Anyone have other thoughts or angles on this?

[Mulder32]

I have always liked the hourly rate idea. The question you have to ask yourself is "do I want to make prints myself or let the client do that"? Again, I always like flexibility, so I'm leaning towards your idea of giving the client a CD of images. Either idea you have sounds feasible--just depends on how much work you want to do after the shoot. Good luck!

[quark]

In either option the real money here is in the exposure to parents and the future gigs. So offer them a 10% discount on future sitting fee if they go with a birthday package. Then figure out what you need to charge to break even on the birthdays.

I think you will find many are interested in Package A, but why not offer them the choice? If A is only $50 more than B they can do the math themselves and pick A.

[anwmn1]

I agree with Quark- have 2 options

Example of what I am thinking:
Photographer base add on is: $$ per hour and includes a paparazzi type experience for the birthday kid. Photographer will be at guests disposable for hour(s) paid- to shoot candids- posed shots- and of course the blowing of candles.
Photos will be posted to the web in a password protected gallery where high quality prints and gifts can be ordered.

Option A: Additional $$ gets you a CD of all finished images mailed to your home or available for pick up at (Said location) with full rights to print etc. etc.

You can then also offer discounts for a regular session.

:thumb Sounds like a unique and possibly great opprotunity to grow your business.

[mercphoto]

What I'm not seeing here is any type of market research as to what product/packages the potential customers want to buy in the first place. :) The advice given so far is good, but it is one-sided. The option to charge by the hour to take the photos and then hope for print sales later is good, but is that what the customers want to buy? The option to fork over a CD is good, but is that what customers want to buy?

I don't know how to answer these questions, but it was the first thing that popped into my head when reading this thread. I myself am struggling with this type of market research issue for something else. Possibly the best way to answer the question is to offer three different packages and see what sells.

My only other suggest with regards to the CD is to also fork over a 4x6 of each image. This is cheap, but it also gives the customer a hard-copy of how the print should look. This way if they get a bad looking print at Walgreens they know to blame Walgreens and not you when it doesn't match the print you gave them. :)