How often should a real estate photographer raise prices?

Every 10 to 15 new clients or every six months, whichever comes first. Put the date on a calendar so the raise happens on schedule, not on a feeling.

Should I tell existing clients I'm raising my prices?

Tell them with a menu, not a number. Send three packages on one page, with the middle one now including more, and put the start date in the same note.

Will I lose clients if I raise my photography prices?

Some, maybe. The ones who walk over a small bump were grinding your margin anyway. New inquiries never see the old price, so the raise costs you nothing there.

Answers › Pricing & packages

Ask the agent

How do I raise real estate photography prices without losing clients?

Six agents book me regularly at a price I set two years ago. I want to raise it but I’m scared half of them go quiet.Asked by a photographer on Reddit, r/RealEstatePhotography

Don’t send a raise. The raise that loses agents is the one that is only a number. Wait another year and the price you set two years ago becomes the price your regulars think you are worth.

Change the sheet, not just the number

$150 to $200 on the same invoice reads as "same thing, more money." She notices the $50 and nothing else, because nothing else changed.

Wait another year and the price you set two years ago becomes the price your regulars think you are worth. Not the price you charge. The price you are worth. That is what a stale number does to you.

A new one-page sheet with three packages reads as a new company. Different shape, different lines, something to pick from. The $50 disappears inside it.

One of the best things we ever did at Cineminn was raise our prices. We got better clients. Not because the number went up. Because the sheet did.

She notices the $50 and nothing else.

New clients first, on a schedule, not a feeling

Your six regulars do not have to see any of this yet. That is the part most people do backwards. They agonize over the regulars and forget everyone else.

Every new inquiry from Monday gets the new sheet. No announcement, no explanation. They never knew the old price existed.

Then put the raise on a calendar. Every 10 to 15 new clients, or every six months, whichever comes first. The regulars move on a date you pick, not the day you get nervous.

By the time your regulars hear about it, you will have 10 or 15 new agents already paying off the new sheet. The raise is not a theory at that point. It is your going rate.

Send the regulars a menu, not a raise

Now the six. They get three packages on one page, and the middle one now includes twilight, four verticals and the floor plan. That is not a raise. That is a different offer.

Grandfather the most loyal for a while. It is a perk, not a life sentence. Put the date the new sheet starts in the same note, so there is nothing to negotiate later. The note is short: new sheet attached, here is what the middle one now includes, here is the date it starts for you. No apology, no explanation of your costs.

For ten years I was the agent on the other end of those notes. I did not have a favorite photographer. I had a company I called. When it sent a new menu, I read it and picked. I never switched over a menu.

The agents who walk over a small bump were grinding your margin anyway.

The big lesson

One of the best things we ever did was raise our prices. We got better clients.

Do this

This week: write the new sheet by Monday, hand it to every new inquiry from then on, and put the date your regulars move on the calendar.

The three-package sheet I send agents

Put your numbers in it before your next booking. Free. Then take the sixty-second roadmap quiz and I tell you what to fix first.

Get the sheet Get my roadmap

Straight answers

How often should a real estate photographer raise prices?: Every 10 to 15 new clients or every six months, whichever comes first. Put the date on a calendar so the raise happens on schedule, not on a feeling.
Should I tell existing clients I’m raising my prices?: Tell them with a menu, not a number. Send three packages on one page, with the middle one now including more, and put the start date in the same note.
Will I lose clients if I raise my photography prices?: Some, maybe. The ones who walk over a small bump were grinding your margin anyway. New inquiries never see the old price, so the raise costs you nothing there.