After you have planned the creation or major upgrade of your website product imagery, the next important question is how much it will cost you. For a business that just starts its operations, any extra spending, even a minor one, can be fundamentally detrimental. Hence, careful budgeting of product photoshoot – and keeping within this budget – is essential to keeping in line with your plan and getting the most for your money. But to plan everything properly, you need to know what the costs may be and what fee calculations are applied. Be it the studio of product photography in Los Angeles or an independent photographer in New York, the fee plans will be the same. It is the cost per photo that will differ – and sometimes greatly.
Hourly Or Daily Rate In Product Imagery Production
Typically, studios and freelancers prefer to charge hourly fees because it is easier to track and report to the customer. It sounds simple and nice, but there’s a caveat to this formula. You pay the fee per hour without regard to the amount of work invested. Whether a studio delivered a full set of images you ordered after a single day of work or stretched the pleasure of working with you into a whole week (with the same set of images being created), you pay for hours, not for the result.
It sounds unfair to you, but it can actually work well under certain conditions. If your products are all the same (say, sneakers or sets of tableware), and no radical changes in the backdrop are required for each product, an hourly fee can help you save some money. Such a shooting session of product photography in Los Angeles (or in Seattle or New York, for that matter) goes fast, a product after a product being placed against the same background in the same light. So, if you have this kind of goods in your ecommerce, opt for it. Batches of pictures produced under hourly fees will cost you less than if you were paying per image.
Per Image Plan for Product Photography In Los Angeles Or Other Cities
If you want to get more transparency and predictability in your budget you need then definitely, you have to go for a price-per-image plan. You see where every single dollar goes and know in advance when to stop and cut the cost by omitting or rearranging the particularly expensive image.
What are typical costs per image? The price per image starts from $25 to as high as $500 per single image. It depends on product category, product quality, studio equipment and other specific shooting directions.
Studios of product photography in Los Angeles are great options for west coast people. Fair pricing per image between $35 and $50 and excellent quality are our guiding principles. We have subscription plans “Starter”, “Growth” and “Enterprise” which give you a lower price per image. You can use the “Pay as you go” plan if you have a one-time need or shoot product images occasionally.
Everything in business approach works for your ultimate success. The testimonies of brands and individual customers prove it better than any big and loud ad. For more info about such studios check here.
Bonus: Why Your Business Even Need Product Photos
Okay, we now explained to you how to pick the best pricing plan for product photography. Our pieces of advice from the above will help you save enough money and invest it in some other important things. However, the main question here is – why would you even use product photography? Well, it is a question that deserves in-depth explanation. We will highlight the main reasons.
They Can Potentially Improve Your Sales
Well, if you are running an eCommerce shop, this reason is something you must know. There are hundreds of stores out there that probably offer the same type of products as you. However, you also need to understand that neither of your customers will manage to try out the products you are selling. Because of that, you need to have product photos that will be some kind of replacement.
If the images you publish on your website are high-quality and clear, people will easily determine whether your product deserves their attention or not. That piece of advice especially counts when we talk about fashion items that people simply need to try out before purchasing. If you describe the product properly with words, the image will only serve as an additional confirmation that their decision is good.
Improvement of Brand Awareness
Well, here comes another thing that you need to know about product photos. They are not something that will bring short-term benefits. Instead of that, you should consider them long-term investment that will bring results for a longer period. All the photos you publish (in case they are professional) will be there to represent your brand as diverse, quality, and professional. Because of that, people will start talking about you and recommend you to people around them. Keep in mind that word of mouth advertising is still the best way to improve your brand.
Making Customers Feel More Comfortable
Well, let’s get back for a moment to the textual form of product description. Product without an image is not going to be eye-pleasing for the customer. You can try to describe the product with words in the best possible way. However, keep in mind that people don’t like to read a lot. Photography, on the other hand, can help you interact with customers without saying a single word. You can represent different sizes, features, and colors of the products you are selling. We believe you understand why something like that will be much more comfortable for every person that lands to your website.
You Will Reduce the Number of Returns
Imagine that people make purchasing decisions only based on the product description. That would mean they will see your product for the first time when they receive it. It can happen many times the product will look different than they imagined. The same rule counts for low-quality photos. If they don’t clearly show the characteristics of your product, customers will potentially get disappointed, and that will negatively influence your reputation and sales. Additionally, returns will spend a lot of your time as well.
