For purpose of this article I am referring to offering a photography service where multiple photos are taken of each child with online galleries with 10 - 15 different images minimum. One of the biggest concerns I have found with new photographers to the field of preschool photography has been the expectations of what people should spend and purchase if their child has a gallery of multiple images.
Being aware that a percentage will buy big, a percentage will buy the bare minimum and the rest hover in the middle is important to keep in mind and expect. Not everyone family is going to purchase the whole gallery due to a number of factors discussed below. Your goal is to provide a beautiful photo gallery for them to choose from.
The most important factor as both a selling point for your service as well as a service to the parents of the kinder/ childcare is the ability to have products for all budgets. You will quickly isolate families that cannot afford expensive photo packages if that is all you have to offer.
Your job is to provide beautiful photography they WANT to purchase rather than beautiful photography they HAVE to purchase. So what does this mean ?
Providing families of the centre with the opportunity to view their child's photo gallery first before selecting their package rather than locking them into a photo package prior to seeing the results. It is also having a price list that provides options for all. The bigger the price ticket of the package the better the value - for your business and for them. The lower entry points however are just a standard pack - one chosen image from the gallery + a class print. (Low in inclusion but also low in value).
Within ANY childcare or preschool community is a range of factors that can influence your products and pricing and to keep in mind as sales come in. As long as you are reaching a "healthy" average overall that is what you are aiming for.
For lots more in-depth chat about pricing and sales including my price lists and packages and the rationales behind each package - the course:
Pricing for a Preschool Market is available soon to purchase for just $67 !
or is currently included in the
Complete Course in Kindy Photography (all courses in one + bonuses)
Any centre can have the following :- Variety in household income levels and budgets
- Personal preferences in regards to photography - is it their family priority to purchase photos ?
- Recent private photography undertaken - no need for more
- Product preferences Digital vs Print products
My BEST PRICING TIPS when offering multi image online galleries :
- When signing up a centre to provide your service at - ensure they have a copy of your price list and to reinforce to the director that they view that your price range and packages to ensure they are suitable for their centre families.
- Provide upfront transparent price lists on registration. Never have your pricing as a surprise.
- Cater for all budgets. Low budget package (1 image only + class photo) that is competitive in price.
- Don't ceiling your client spending - offer upgrades if your gallery software allows.
- Provide a good variety of both digital packages, print packages and both + wall art/ higher end items. - Why not !
- Have "Buy it all" Packages that come with included bonuses.
A special note about selling images :
Your online gallery software will determine the amount of flexibility you can offer in your pricing and packages.
I use Sytist (Pictures Pro) - which is software that I have purchased outright and self host (rather than a month to month subscription). This software does not charge commision on your sales (beware of many online gallery providers that will charge on average 10% of each sale + other fees such as software purchase, onboarding etc).
The sytist software is very flexible, customisable with it's gallery management and pricelist functions ( it has this cool feature that you can do add-on's/upgrades/ "fries with that" option within packages ).
The Complete Course in Kindy Photography covers the training you need to run your online gallery in sytist ! It's tricky to get started with on your own ! I cover everything from starting out in kindy /preschool photography, to workflow, management, pricing, packages, sales, and so much more !
