The art of pricing

I’ve never been much of a haggler. Because of this I’ve never been a fan of pricing high so that you can show some kind of discount to the customer.

We went through all this when setting our photography packages. In the creative business there is usually room for negotiation. Most people consider art to be subjective, so the price should be too. I decided not to operate that way. Instead of setting our price high, we set it low. We picked a price we were comfortable with and provide a huge amount of value for it. I decided if someone wasn’t going to hire us because we didn’t give a discount, then that probably wasn’t someone I wanted to work with.

This leads to a few things.

One is simplicity. Our packages and prices are all laid out very clearly and our photos speak for themselves. Not being too high means most people don’t ask for a discount. When someone does, I’m more than comfortable politely pointing out what a good deal it is and refusing to negotiate. So far, I haven’t lost a single client that has asked for a discount.

The second is we have very happy clients. Because our prices are more than fair, when we deliver things above and beyond what is promised, they are blown away. This leads to referrals, which leads to more business.

Our prices will of course go up over time, but we’ll always make sure we deliver a lot. And we’ll price it fairly enough that we don’t have to negotiate.

So am I crazy? Do you prefer to price high and give discounts?