Question on pricing

[markfh]

Ok, I've been asked to give pricing for restoration services to a client for another service I offer. On a scale of 1-10 I think I'm about a 4 in restoration because I do plenty of my work the hard way. I'm still learning how to use Photoshop's power but I have a long way.

So, what do y'all think about what I should charge, keeping in mind I will be honest with my client about what I can and cannot do.

Thanks

[sergio2263]

Originally Posted by markfh

Ok, I've been asked to give pricing for restoration services to a client for another service I offer. On a scale of 1-10 I think I'm about a 4 in restoration because I do plenty of my work the hard way. I'm still learning how to use Photoshop's power but I have a long way.

So, what do y'all think about what I should charge, keeping in mind I will be honest with my client about what I can and cannot do.

Thanks

Why don't you show us the photo you've restored perhaps we can critique and tell you what's your restored worth. If you are 4 on a scale of 10 then you are still a newbie in my opinion. If you are going to restore a photo it is best to restore it fully and not cutting corners you cannot repair just part of a photo and charge for it.

honest with your client or not I don't think I'll be happy to pay a restorer that's only going to repair part of my photo and not doing a good job of it. I think you should halt on charging for restoration until you get yourself some books or dvds on photo restoration there's tones out there katrin eismann restoration books or dvd will set you on the right path she is brilliant.


hope this helps

[markfh]

Originally Posted by sergio2263

Why don't you show us the photo you've restored perhaps we can critique and tell you what's your restored worth. If you are 4 on a scale of 10 then you are still a newbie in my opinion. If you are going to restore a photo it is best to restore it fully and not cutting corners you cannot repair just part of a photo and charge for it.

honest with your client or not I don't think I'll be happy to pay a restorer that's only going to repair part of my photo and not doing a good job of it. I think you should halt on charging for restoration until you get yourself some books or dvds on photo restoration there's tones out there katrin eismann restoration books or dvd will set you on the right path she is brilliant.


hope this helps

Thanks for your reply. While I don't think my skill level is where I would like it to be there are plenty of problems with photos that I can fix.

I have several books on photo restoration including two by Katrin. I was already doing some of what she illustrates in her books on my personal photos and scans but there is plenty that I haven't done yet because I haven't had to.

I asked for advice on rates to determine where I might position myself according to the work that I do. I don't plan on giving my work away for free and when I come to a problem that my current skill level doesn't cover I'll do what is needed to acquire that skill.

I guess I asked the wrong question or y'all are giving your work away for free.

[Mike Needham]

Perhaps a more pertinent question would be, what is your client's budget? If you can't answer that, how do you expect us to value your self acknowledged weaknesses without examples of where you are at. If you don't need validation, there is little use asking for it.

[Tony W]

$1 for grade 4 work increasing by $1 up to grade 10 .

To be serious though, you have been given good advice by Sergio and Mike.

Without seeing your before and after work how can anyone offer suggestions on pricing structure?

There are so many variables to consider including skill levels:

What can your client afford to pay for a particular image?
How much time is each image going to take to restore and how do you factor your current skill level into the equation?
Are you going to charge based on hours needed to restore or just per image basis?
What is included in your service:
Scanning originals or relying on client to supply digital image
Supplying a print and CD with image
etc.

[sergio2263]

Originally Posted by markfh

Thanks for your reply. While I don't think my skill level is where I would like it to be there are plenty of problems with photos that I can fix.

I have several books on photo restoration including two by Katrin. I was already doing some of what she illustrates in her books on my personal photos and scans but there is plenty that I haven't done yet because I haven't had to.

I asked for advice on rates to determine where I might position myself according to the work that I do. I don't plan on giving my work away for free and when I come to a problem that my current skill level doesn't cover I'll do what is needed to acquire that skill.

I guess I asked the wrong question or y'all are giving your work away for free.

At the moment I am restoring photos for free like a hobby I just visit forums and choose a photo and restore it for practice sake as I feel my work is not good enough for paying customers.

As Mike said you need to know what your customer can afford and you can only pay what the customer can afford any rod because if your price is too high they won't pay for your work.

So it's not the rate you position yourself into it's what your customer is prepare to pay.


hope this help

[Tony W]

Originally Posted by sergio2263

...So it's not the rate you position yourself into it's what your customer is prepare to pay...

That is certainly one way you could look at it but assumes that the customer is knowledgeable about the work required and even pricing and actually wants you as the preferred restorer. Which means that you need to build a reputation for either first class work or price cheaply for an average product. There is a lot of internet competition out there and some countries are able to work for very low rates which could mean you have to offer a product/service that is much better to be considered - i.e. without a reputation in the first place.

Have you actually looked at what others are doing (web etc.) and the quality of work they can achieve? Is your work equal to this or even better?

Can you justify a price for your work and if so do you stick to it and let those that are not prepared to pay your rate go elsewhere?

[Kraellin]

this question gets asked a lot around here. there is no one answer except this: your work is worth what the customer is willing to pay. that's it. that's the long and the short of it. there is NO other criteria.

however, how that is arrived at is another matter. there are two main ways to charge, by the hour and by the job. by the hour can be exorbitant because some of these restores can take many, many hours to do correctly and you may find yourself pricing yourself out of the market. by the job tends to be a better way. you offer the client a flat rate bid based on what you think you can afford to do and how difficult a particular image appears to be. if the customer balks at the price you can always lower it, but be sure you can afford to and you might also tell the client that you'll have to lower the quality a bit as well to get the job done in a fair amount of time.

bear in mind, too, that with the digital age, everyone who can afford photoshop thinks they are a professional restorer. ok, not everyone, but the market is more saturated now than ever before. you also have the overseas competition that tends to work at prices that would put me out of business. your advantage is service and being domestic. be sure to stress the service line. i like to give a potential new client one freebie. no charge and see how well we work together. if we can communicate then they'll often come back for a pay-for. and by communicate, i mean talk to the client. find out what they REALLY want! make them talk! make them specify as best they can. if you put in four hours on a job and they then tell you that's not what they wanted... well, you get the picture. it's ok to send proofs from time to time and ask them how's it look so far. just protect your work in the process.

i also like to throw in a little extra work. i recently had a job where a woman wanted some skin darkening and eye color changes. i added a bit of skin cleaning and overall picture enhancement, just to make things a bit more appealing. she loved it! just be sure you keep the originals where you havent done the extra work, as some wont like it.

it's all about communication and doing a good job. if you do those and your clients are decent folks, charging for your work becomes much easier.

you can also take the gradual approach; start charging small and work up. this will tend to build your client base and if your work is good and you find yourself starting to get swamped, raise your prices a bit.

there is no fixed rate. there are regional differences, local differences, national ones and international ones. it's something of a hunt and peck exercise. if your work is good and your clients are decent folks, you shld arrive at something equitable without too much hassle. be honest, be up front and give good return for their money. it's a pretty good formula for success.

and dont be afraid to say no. some clients shld just be turned away as they'll be nothing but trouble. send them to your worst enemy and let him deal with them