Pricing collections

Photo and video collections work when each one is built from real costs and designed to steer clients to the package you want to sell. Learn to cost your hours and products, set three collections around an anchor, and publish honest all-in prices under Canadian rules.

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Pricing collections.

Photographers and videographers sell days, but they deliver weeks.

A collection that looks like eight hours of coverage is really eight hours of shooting, two of travel, twenty of culling and editing, and the cost of an album, a second shooter and gallery software.

What a collection is.

A collection is a named package that bundles coverage, people, deliverables and products into one price.

It does two jobs.

Cost every collection before you price it.

Start with your target hourly rate: the amount you need to earn for every hour you actually work, not just the hours you shoot.

Divide your target annual income plus business overhead by the hours you can realistically sell and deliver in a year.

Design the three collections to steer the choice.

Decide which collection you want most clients to buy.

Usually it is the middle one, built around what your typical client needs.

Add-ons, photo and video bundles, and weekday rates.

Keep add-ons short and priced in round numbers: an extra hour of coverage, a second shooter, an engagement session, a parent album, a same-day slideshow.

Each should carry its own margin.

Presenting collections so clients choose well.

How you show the collections matters as much as the numbers.

Put them side by side in the same order every time, entry on the left and anchor on the right, so clients compare like with like.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Calculate the true cost and hours behind each collection, including editing and products
• Design three collections with a clear anchor, a target package and sensible add-ons
• Present prices that meet Canada's all-in pricing rules and Ontario consumer protection basics

Photographers and videographers sell days, but they deliver weeks. A collection that looks like eight hours of coverage is really eight hours of shooting, two of travel, twenty of culling and editing, and the cost of an album, a second shooter and gallery software. Price only the day and you will be busy and broke.

What a collection is

A collection is a named package that bundles coverage, people, deliverables and products into one price. It does two jobs. It makes buying simple for the client, and it lets you guide the choice. Most event creatives offer three collections, sometimes with a smaller option for weekdays or elopements, and a short list of add-ons.

The building blocks are the same for most photo and video businesses:

• Coverage: hours on site, number of days, and which parts of the event.
• People: lead shooter, second shooter, assistant, drone operator.
• Deliverables: number of edited images, film length, highlight reel, turnaround time.
• Products: albums, prints, wall art, USB or boxed sets.
• Extras: engagement session, same-day slideshow, rehearsal coverage, travel.

Cost every collection before you price it

Start with your target hourly rate: the amount you need to earn for every hour you actually work, not just the hours you shoot. Divide your target annual income plus business overhead by the hours you can realistically sell and deliver in a year.

Illustrative numbers for one photographer: a target income of $70,000 and overhead of $20,000 (insurance, gear replacement, software, website, advertising, accounting) make $90,000. If you can work 1,200 billable hours a year across shooting, editing and client meetings, your target rate is $90,000 divided by 1,200, or $75 an hour.

Now cost a collection by counting every hour and every hard cost.

The floor price is the lowest you can charge and still meet your targets. It is not your price. Your price sits above the floor, set by the market and your positioning.

Design the three collections to steer the choice

Decide which collection you want most clients to buy. Usually it is the middle one, built around what your typical client needs. Then design the others around it.

1. The target collection. The coverage most of your clients actually need, with the deliverables that make them happy. Price it at a healthy margin over the floor.
2. The anchor. A premium collection with everything: two shooters, the large album, an engagement session, a short film. Some clients will buy it, and its price makes the target look reasonable.
3. The entry collection. Enough for a smaller or shorter event, deliberately missing one or two things your typical client wants, such as the album or the second shooter.

Worked example. Northlight Studio, an illustrative Hamilton studio, prices Silver at $2,400, Gold at $3,900 and Platinum at $6,200. The margins over floor are $585, $1,070 and $1,775. Gold is the target: it covers the full day most couples have and includes the album, which clients rarely add later at full price. Last season, of 22 weddings, 4 booked Silver, 13 booked Gold and 5 booked Platinum, for an average booking of about $4,150. Before the redesign, with two packages at $2,800 and $4,000, the average was $3,350. The anchor did its job.

Add-ons, photo and video bundles, and weekday rates

Keep add-ons short and priced in round numbers: an extra hour of coverage, a second shooter, an engagement session, a parent album, a same-day slideshow. Each should carry its own margin. An extra hour is never just one hour, because it adds editing time, so price it at two or three times your hourly rate.

If you offer photo and video together, bundle them with a modest saving compared with booking separately, and make the bundle the obvious choice for clients who want both. For corporate work, price by half day and full day, with rush delivery as a paid add-on. For off-peak dates, such as Fridays, Sundays and winter weekdays, publish a lower collection rather than discounting your main ones, so you protect your regular prices.

Presenting collections so clients choose well

How you show the collections matters as much as the numbers. Put them side by side in the same order every time, entry on the left and anchor on the right, so clients compare like with like. Use the same rows for each: hours, shooters, images or film length, turnaround, album and price. Mark the target collection as the one most clients choose, but only if that is true.

Name the collections after what they deliver, not after metals or gems, if you can. “Ceremony and reception”, “The full day” and “Full day with film” tell a busy couple more than Silver, Gold and Platinum. Corporate buyers respond best to plain descriptions: “Half-day conference coverage, 150 edited images, next-day delivery”.

Decide in advance how you will handle custom requests. A client who wants the middle collection without the album, but with a second shooter, is asking for a new collection. Price it from your cost table, not from a guess, and make sure the total still clears your floor. Keep a note of every custom collection you sell; if the same request appears three times in a season, it may deserve a place on your sheet.

When and how to raise prices

Review your collections every year after the fall season. If your Saturdays for next June are full by January, or most clients choose your anchor, your prices are too low. Raise them for new bookings only, never for clients already under contract, and update every place the old prices appear: your website, your PDF price guide, your listing profiles and your email templates. A price that differs between your website and a listing platform confuses clients and can look like bait.

In Canada and the GTA

All-in pricing. Since June 23, 2022, the Competition Act has treated drip pricing as a false or misleading representation. Advertising a price that cannot be attained because of fixed obligatory charges or fees is drip pricing, unless the extra amounts are only those imposed by law, such as HST. For a photographer, that means a published collection price must include every mandatory fee: a “booking fee”, “admin fee”, “gallery fee” or “editing fee” that every client must pay belongs inside the headline price. Optional add-ons the client chooses are fine. The Competition Bureau says consumers should see the true total cost upfront. Read the Bureau’s guidance on drip pricing.

Was and now prices. If you advertise “regular price $3,900, now $3,400”, the Competition Act requires that you sold a substantial volume at the regular price or offered it in good faith for a substantial period. The Bureau’s tests are more than 50 percent of sales at that price or higher, or offering it in good faith for a substantial period, usually within a year before or after the promotion. A permanent “sale” price breaks the rule. A clearly described off-peak collection avoids the problem.

HST. Ontario’s HST rate is 13%. You remain a small supplier, and do not have to register, while your taxable supplies are $30,000 or less in any single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive quarters. If you pass $30,000 in one quarter, you stop being a small supplier immediately and must register within 29 days. Many busy wedding photographers cross that line in spring and summer. Once registered, tell clients the price includes HST or show the HST separately at 13%, and for invoices of $500 or more include your registration number, the client’s name, a brief description and payment terms. See the CRA’s general information for GST/HST registrants.

Consumer agreements. Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act, 2002 still applies until the 2023 Act is proclaimed; check ontario.ca. Two rules matter for collections. First, a consumer agreement is interpreted in the consumer’s favour where it is uncertain, so write exactly what each collection includes: number of images or a range, film length, turnaround and product specifications. Second, event bookings paid now and delivered later are generally future performance agreements, and if delivery is more than 30 calendar days after the agreed date, the consumer may cancel and get a refund. Set realistic delivery dates for galleries and albums, especially in your busiest months. If you quote overtime as an estimate, Ontario’s guidance says you cannot bill more than 10% above an estimated price unless the consumer agrees in writing. This is general information, not legal advice.

The GTA market

Corporate clients in Toronto usually pay against an invoice or a purchase order, often 30 days or more after the event, and they expect HST shown separately. Quote corporate work before tax, make the HST line clear, and build the payment terms into your collection sheet so nobody is surprised. Ask at the first call whether the company needs vendor registration before it can issue a purchase order, because that step can take weeks and can push your payment into the next quarter.

The GTA is expensive to work in. Parking downtown, highway tolls, and long drives between a Markham ceremony and a Vaughan reception all eat into margin. Build a travel zone into your terms, such as coverage included within a set distance of your base and a published per-kilometre or flat fee beyond it. Saturdays from June to October are your scarcest stock, so protect their price, and use the off-peak collection to fill Fridays, Sundays and the November to April season.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet and complete it for your own business, using Lantern & Lane as the model where it helps. Keep it with your marketing plan. It takes about 10 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)