"We Really Love Your Stuff, But We're On A Really Tight Budget"

[funcrunch]

Perspective on the usual subject from an Icelandic photographer: We Really Love Your Stuff, But We're on a Really Tight Budget | Pixiq

[Eastree]

Great article!

Another trend that I'm seeing is "bartering." A friend of a friend does the 'barter' thing (not with photography, in his case), and I see him getting into an ever-worse financial situation. Just looking on Craigslist leads to a slew of "Barter: Photography for Deadmau5 tix," and other such atrocities such as "Will barter services for dental work!" (that one including 'photography' justified with 'My wife has a REAL GOOD camra!' ... not my typo). My favorite was someone offering to barter wedding photography services for a MOTORCYCLE.

I do see some (rare) occasion when someone can accept less, but it's becoming the norm for people to expect the lowest cost for the best products.

[funcrunch]

I actually don't mind bartering if it's done in good faith for items or services of reasonably equivalent value. I recently did a photo shoot at a friend's music school in exchange for a love seat for my home office. It was in excellent condition, six months old, and with depreciation I calculated it was worth approximately the same amount I would have normally charged for the shoot. Plus, it was something I was specifically looking for at the time, not an afterthought.

However, this was a prearranged deal and happily agreed upon by both of us. If I did a shoot for someone and they then offered me a piece of furniture as payment, I would be less than amused. Of course, this would not happen as I no longer do any photoshoots without agreeing upon payment terms in advance (nor should anyone).

[Jim Bryant]

Good one...............thanks for sharing!

[theosus]

Originally Posted by funcrunch

I actually don't mind bartering if it's done in good faith for items or services of reasonably equivalent value.

The best thing about bartering is you get to screw the government. Say you're a plumber and your friend is an electrician. You plumb his house and he wires yours. You get the benefit of all the labor - without all the taxes. All the government gets to tax you on is sales tax for supplies, and you get a service you would have had to pay for otherwise.

Everyone wins.

[faeriegodess612]

That is a great article. I especially love the video link at the end with Harlan Ellison, its fraking awesome!

When I talked to the woman ( who was a chick about the same age as me, that I worked with at the time.) who did our Wedding Photography, I thought her prices were a lil up there for someone who was still a bit of an amatuer,....so we talked about it and she agreed to do it for $400 less than her most expensive package. I have a scrapbook full of our photos from that day, and a few larger prints in frames. (The scrapbook I did myself) My family doesnt have any prints yet because I'd have to buy a CD with rights. But I got pretty darn good photos, and she got another wedding to put on her website. So it worked for the both of us,... and I didnt ask for them for free,...we established a price that we both agreed upon BEFORE the day of the wedding.

I think if I ever got good enough, depending on the circumstances,...I might barter my services for something other than monetary payment. I know if I do break into portraiture that my first sessions will probably be free of charge so that way I'm not charging someone for non-pro work. Or if I do charge,..itd be like gas money or something.

[prince]

Nice article. Thanks for sharing. I recently heard the "tight budget" phrase but followed up with the rates I had set for my self, which I think are in the mid-range when compared to others around me. I am told I will hear back by end of this week. We'll see.

[andyw]

Originally Posted by Eastree

Great article!

Another trend that I'm seeing is "bartering." A friend of a friend does the 'barter' thing (not with photography, in his case), and I see him getting into an ever-worse financial situation. Just looking on Craigslist leads to a slew of "Barter: Photography for Deadmau5 tix," and other such atrocities such as "Will barter services for dental work!" (that one including 'photography' justified with 'My wife has a REAL GOOD camra!' ... not my typo). My favorite was someone offering to barter wedding photography services for a MOTORCYCLE.

I do see some (rare) occasion when someone can accept less, but it's becoming the norm for people to expect the lowest cost for the best products.

Nothing wrong with bartering IMO.
I have done so on more than one occassion, it all depends on what the other party has or wants really.
In a couple of instances what I have gotten out of it has been worth more than I would have charged for the actual job.
One I can think off was doing some work for a garage who wanted before and after shots of a car he was building. In return for what was pretty minimal work on my part I got a full service on my car plus a couple of repairs.

I have had quite a few times the - we would like to use you but can't pay you. 99.99999% of the time they get a polite "no thanks".