Letter on pricing from potential and response

[csi1158]

I'm guessing you are much like myself, either just starting out and have another job to pay the bills. I really haven't notice too many weddings held in firehalls etc with the lower cost weddings, most have been outdoor informal affairs, which actually creates less problems technically than indoor weddings.

Where are you getting your digital 80 dollar albums? I've used mypublisher.com before until I went to asukabooks, people really liked them and I was able to keep costs down.

I guess what it boils down to is do you want to make a profit or do you want to make a living?
I'm still feeling the waters as far as price goes, the lowest posted price is about $1500 locally, I think I could still cover the inexpensive weddings for $1200 and probably have a good demand for my work. The big thing is that I learn more from each wedding I do amd as my skills increase, the quality of my products increase, my price will have to keep up.

Best of luck in your future photographic endeavors. jb

[imported_ChrisP]

I've used mypublisher ($50 or so) and my latest album was a illuma memory book - 8x8 with cover jacket and shipping it's $68, and part of the cost is prints too.

Asuka is the next one i want to try - the sent me some sample pages and I like having the options of coatings and such. I think they offer a discount on a studio sample. Probelm is for me i have not seen many of these first hand, and it's expensive to buy copies just to see them.

All seem a bit thin to me, and the mypublisher are nice in linen, cheap looking in leather and i don't like the cameo much. I use their smaller softocover for proof books though. The 8x8 illma is nice quailty, but seems small. the 10x10 might be better, but they want (demand) 300dpi files - no way for me to get 3000x3000 images without some interpolation. also, more costly in the larger size.

Any other options?
What about Gary fong's cornerstone albums?
Art Leather i-mount is one I want to do up as a sample, an 8x8 with 30 pages is gonna be about $115-120 and be a more traditional alterntive 'look' with more cover options.


Back on topic sorta - I have hear about photos selling MyPublisher albums for over $500. I;m sure the design work is worth something, but Illuma books are not that much more and I think would look better for that kind of money. Since consumers can buy MyPublisher albums it is not out of reach to assume yo may be asked 'why did this cost $550?'

[csi1158]

I would have to agree with you about using mypublisher for wedding albums. Any Joe Schmoe can order their own albums, far less than what a photog would charge. The nice thing about Asukabook is that they actually will verify that you are a photographer. Shouldn't be a problem since you have a website, apparently having a website is a big thing with them. Joe Public can access their website, but can only access prices by logging in. Asukabook puts out a great product and yes they do have a studio special where they will take 50 percent off your first order. Their website also has various samples from photographers all over the world.