How do I price and sell my photographs?

Now this answer isn’t aimed at you if you are already in business shooting portraits, weddings, etc. This is for the people that shoot as a hobby and feel that they could sell a few prints. The extra cash could come in handy, especially with the price of gas, or petrol depending on where you are in the world.

OK, so how do I price and sell my photographs?  

How to Price my photos

The first thing you need to do is source products. A product can be as simple as an 8×10 print, or as large metal print that can cost hundreds of dollars. Give your customers a choice of 10 to 20 products, but don’t overcomplicate it. I personally wouldn’t sell prints, only ready to hang on the wall products.

Now that you’ve picked your products you need to find out how much it costs to get them shipped to you. At this time also make a note of how long shipping takes.

If you are in business shooting family portraits, etc. you need to be more exact with pricing. There is a pricing calculator on the 50mmFramework website, just sign up and you’ll get access to it.

For the hobbyist wanting to sell some work, it doesn’t need to be like that. You just need to know that you are making money. Now, if you are driving a long distance to capture the images, add a little for your traveling costs.

All you need to do is add up the cost of the product and shipping, then multiply it by 3 or 4. 

How to Sell your photos

The first thing you need is a website to display your images. You have lots of options, such as Wix, and Squarespace, which can be expensive. Godaddy is also an option, although they offer the first year at a reasonable price, and jack the cost up when it’s time to renew. 

Smug Mug and PixieSet are specifically aimed at photographers and allow you to sell through the website. You don’t need a web host, everything is included.  Both offer free plans, just give them a try before you commit.

The other option is to build your own WordPress site. For this, you need a host and a domain name. Most hosting companies like Godaddy and Bluehost give you a free domain when you sign up for a hosting package. Like I said before they are cheap to set up but the price jumps up the second year. If you are going to try this option you need to understand how it all works. Youtube will help you with that though.

If you are comfortable building your own website and want a fast and reasonably priced hosting company. I use Cloudways.com they are way faster than Godaddy and way cheaper. If you sign up for an account through my link we both get $25. I saved over $500 a year by switching to Cloudways.

OK so now you have a website. You now need to figure out how to sell your work. If you have listened to past podcasts you will have heard me talk about showing the customer what you want them to buy. 

If you want to sell framed prints, show them a photo of your image in a frame on a wall. Now you don’t need to actually have a framed copy of your image to do this. If you search for “framed photo mockups”, you can buy images of empty frames on walls that you can add your work to.

You can still show just the photo, but make sure you have a framed copy to show them what it will look like. 

Getting Customers

Getting people to visit your website is your next problem. If you want to rely on people finding you in Google search you need to use SEO, Search Engine Optimization. This is not easy and can take some time to get near the top of the search results. 

Next is Instagram. If you can build a following on Instagram and put your website address in the bio, you can start to get some sales.

Facebook Ads can be expensive, and results can vary. Don’t jump into Facebook ads without educating yourself first. Again, Youtube can help you.

Offer your work to local cafes and restaurants. They put it on their walls and you split the profits with them when one sells.

Send flyers, rack cards, or postcards to local businesses advertising your work and website.

Paid Google ads. You can pay Google to put your website listing ad at the top of a search. If you photograph Landscapes, you can make it so that when a search for landscapes comes up you are at the top. This can be a good option as you only pay when someone clicks on your link.

OK, so I think I covered everything, if you need help with anything feel free to contact me and I’ll be more than willing to help you.