How much do you charge for retouching and restoring?

[larryf]

Dear folks,

This is a poll. I will like to know the average prices of both professionals and amateur charges for a basic retouch. If possible, in terms of hourly rate. Also, what kind of service do you include in your basic retouch package?

Let's start with mine. I am a professional portrait photographer and I do a basic overall image enhancement retouch for $85 an hour. My basic retouch package includes:

Contrast and tonal corrections, and color balancing
Eyes sharpening
Remove minor facial flaws (such as small acnes or scars)
Dust spotting
Soften image
Vignetting (if necessary)

I do image restoration for the same price.

Thanks.

[dipech]

Hi Larry,

When you say $85 an hour, what does that mean when the job takes only 20 minutes or so? Is that your starting price?

To get a fair and more helpful answer to your question, I suggest posting examples such as the one I'm posting below for members to give their quote on. What would you charge for this one?

Thanks,
Diane

[Vikki]

Scan, Retouch/Restore, and 1 Unit print.....$75.00

[dipech]

Thanks for your quote Vikki. Would your price be the same if the customer wanted a 5x7 vs an 8x10 print? If the customer had brought in about 12 other pics for retouching at the same time with either about the same or much less damage, how would you price the job? Do you give volume discounts? Do you take into account how much you think the customer is going to be willing to pay?

I would find this info very helpful.

Thank you,
Diane

[Vikki]

I formerly based my price as one price for the whole package (scan, work, print), but have since changed that. That is most because some images are already scanned, not everyone wants a print, etc). Now, each step is priced out. The costs are determined by the level of damage, what size print is wanted, and whether that print is mounted. A "unit" (see my post below) is whatever you can get from one sheet of paper. For example:
2-5x7's, 1-8x10, 3-4x6, 8-wallets. Most customers want 8x10's from 2x3 photos, but I usually discourage that and recommend 5x7's, noting that the quality will be better, and they will get two photos.

Volume discounts: I'm not actually sure how many photos would qualify as "volume". I recently quoted a 10% discount for 20+ photos. The lot had similar damage throughout. Otherwise, each image is priced according to the damage.

I don't take into account what customer's are willing to pay as far as changing my pricing per customer. I base my price on the quality of work I think I do, and take into account the going rate for such a service. There is a point, however, that I would not go below. I would rather not do the work, than lower my prices below what my time and work is worth.