Pricing structure questions

[connersz]

I'm a family photographer with two services. An outdoor photoshoot and mobile studio. I am looking to improve my pricing structure in coming weeks because I have some concerns about the way I have initially setup my pricing. I am worried that is could be overly confusing or too much to handle for people who scan over the page on my website and also worried that people may not understand why there are price differences between the two sessions.

The two session types both have four packages: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum.
The mobile studio is more expensive than an outdoor session, by about £30 each package.
The bronze package costs the same for both session types.
To book you pay a £40 deposit and choose your package after the session, the deposit is deducted.

I tend to get what I would say is an above average drop off rate from the prices page so I want to make it clearer and also simple for myself to manage.

I am considering merging the two session type price structures into just one (the mobile studio structure) and increasing the cost of the bronze package. This obviously means a price increase for outdoor sessions.

I would appreciate any thoughts at all really.

 

[estwig]

I too have a complex price structure on my website and get a high bounce rate off it, it's just people looking for prices.

I don't think simplifying it is the answer, having a strong call to action, call now for free friendly advice, with the phone number is more important. Along with a good website which generates trust.

If you simplify it, people will still just look at prices and leave, if that's all they want there isn't much you can do about it.

I don't understand how people pick their package after the session? That sounds confusing and possibly misleading. People like upfront costs, they like to know what they are getting for the money before committing. It sounds like you might be trying to go for the hard sell, after taking the pictures, this would put people off from using you in the first place.

 

[connersz]

I too have a complex price structure on my website and get a high bounce rate off it, it's just people looking for prices.

I don't think simplifying it is the answer, having a strong call to action, call now for free friendly advice, with the phone number is more important. Along with a good website which generates trust.

If you simplify it, people will still just look at prices and leave, if that's all they want there isn't much you can do about it.

I don't understand how people pick their package after the session? That sounds confusing and possibly misleading. People like upfront costs, they like to know what they are getting for the money before committing. It sounds like you might be trying to go for the hard sell, after taking the pictures, this would put people off from using you in the first place.

What's more upfront than the prices being listed on my website? It's not easy to choose a package before your session without knowing how many images you will require. After all you wouldn't want to choose a package with 30 digital images if you only needed 10.

 

[estwig]

What's more upfront than the prices being listed on my website? It's not easy to choose a package before your session without knowing how many images you will require. After all you wouldn't want to choose a package with 30 digital images if you only needed 10.

If that is clearly explained on your website, which I get the feeling it isn't, then you don't have a problem.

Why do you think it is so difficult for people to decided how many images they want, before ordering? This would get you more sales because people would know what the price is before committing, in turn this would make them feel more comfortable about using you and more likely to book. If they book for the silver package as an example, they could always upgrade to the gold package once the pictures have been taken.

You asked if your pricing structure is too complicated, it's not too complicated, it's misleading and that won't win you sales.

 

[connersz]

If that is clearly explained on your website, which I get the feeling it isn't, then you don't have a problem.

Why do you think it is so difficult for people to decided how many images they want, before ordering? This would get you more sales because people would know what the price is before committing, in turn this would make them feel more comfortable about using you and more likely to book. If they book for the silver package as an example, they could always upgrade to the gold package once the pictures have been taken.

You asked if your pricing structure is too complicated, it's not too complicated, it's misleading and that won't win you sales.

The website states that they can choose a package after the session. The four packages are all listed on the same page. They can have the cheapest or the most expensive but it's up to them to choose. I'm not hiding anything so worst case scenario; the most expensive package is shown.

I don't know any photographer who asks clients to choose the amount of images and prints they want before they have seen the results. It would be very difficult to choose, especially considering grandparents and friends etc. often want some as well and they might not even like the photos or see enough good ones to fulfill their selected package.