When overcharging isn’t the best practice

Otion recently was photographed for an advertising campaign by a local, well-respected PR firm. Bramble Berry has actually worked with this firm before and had been happy with the output. The photographer was at Otion and took many more photographs than were needed for the ad. I asked if we could have a couple of the photographs for use on our web site and promo material.

When we’ve been photographed for various news stories in the past, the publications have always allowed us to have a few photos for our own use. But our own local PR firm, who is already being paid for the photo shoot, wants to charge an extra $150 per photo. And these are for the discards that aren’t even being used.

As a small business, I probably won’t pay $150 for a photo. Had the photographs been more reasonably priced, I would have paid $25-$45 per photo gladly. The photos are of no use to the PR firm. Wouldn’t it be better for them to price lower, sell more and help out another small business? After all, it’s all pure profit for them once they’ve got the perfect shot for the ad campaign.

The lesson I am taking away from this is to charge what the market will bear, not what you feel the the market should pay.