haggling with the photographer???

lmward · June 2010

I found a great photographer who shoots beautiful photos, but he's about $600 outside my budget. Would it be appropriate to ask him if i could forgoe things like the engagement session and the photobook so i could book him in my price range? I'm sure if I talked to my mom she would be ok with the extra money, but I rather not ask her for more than she needs to pay.

JadziaDax · June 2010

It doesn't sound like there's anything wrong with asking. The worst he can do is say no. Tell him your budget and see if he can work with it.

emarston1 · June 2010

Of course you can ask, the worst they can say is no. As long as you are polite about it, you'll be fine. I'm sure most vendors are used to people negotiating on the price.

J&K10910 · June 2010

There's no harm in asking. And it's not like you're just saying "Hey dude, knock $600 off the price." You plan to actually skip some things, it sounds like. I think that's a perfectly reasonable request and worth asking for.

angel2210 · June 2010

Absolutely what PPs said. If that were a base price I would say no, but if there are additional services that you're not interested in, give it a shot.

thesuninherhead · June 2010

I wouldn't call it haggling (I would say haggling is inappropriate- a price is a price where photographers are concerned) but I don't see any issue in asking if you can alter the package somewhat.

Brie2010 · June 2010

A photographer's perspective on this: http://www.melissajill.com/blog.cfm?postID=741&do-you-offer-discounts

vallyhoo · June 2010

I think that including engagement sessions in packages are just a way to get more money out of brides and I don't care for them.

I also completely disagree with the last point of that photographer's perspective on her blog:
"6. I just think it's yucky and isn't a good practice to perpetuate in the wedding industry. In what other industries is it acceptable to negotiate on price? Not many that I can think of. I don't think price negotiation and bartering should be acceptable in our industry. "

I can't think of an industry where negotiating ISN'T practiced. We negotiated with all of our wedding vendors.

crfische · June 2010

Just based on Melissa's attitude and tone, she and I wouldn't get along as people, I don't think.

danieliza1127 · June 2010

That's interesting Val. She says in what other industry is it appropriate to negotiate? All of them! You negotiate at jewelry stores, car dealerships, when you get your mortgage, etc. You can definitely negotiate with wedding vendors.

FutureMrsTR · June 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_haggling-photographer?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:de38b04b-3014-4540-a557-b9b17d10c58aPost:825de4c5-7d20-40a0-8572-060e584061b6">Re: haggling with the photographer???</a>:
[QUOTE]Just based on Melissa's attitude and tone, she and I wouldn't get along as people, I don't think.
Posted by crfische[/QUOTE]

Ditto that, wow what a bitch.

chelspowers · June 2010

Negotiating with them is definitely okay. The first thing I did when contacting photographers was look at their packages. If their packages didn't fit what I was looking for, I asked them if we could put together something that would work. If not, there's lots of other photographers that are willing to add/subtract things for you. Almost every single photographer I talked to was willing to work with me.

And as far as this Melissa woman goes, people skills are a HUGE part of photography. Seems to me that she's a bit of a snob. Personally, I would not even consider booking the services of somebody who acted as self-righteous as this woman. Just my opinion, though.

MattsPenguin · June 2010

Just be prepared for the photographer to say no.

My photographer has a similar answer to the question "do you offer discounts", and he replied that he doesn't like to take off the engagement session. He feels that it's a great way to know the couple and spend time with them BEFORE he spends 12 hours with you on your wedding day.

I tend to like his answer, but that's just me.

K Byte · June 2010

That photographer sounds like a real peach. And her packages start at $6000! SIX FREAKING THOUSAND BIG ONES! Maybe when you get that high end, it's not ok to negotiate?

TNMurray · June 2010

Have you met with the photographer or did he just email you his packages? When I sat down with my photographer I knew what I wanted and I knew my price range. His packages were out of my price range and didn't include an engagement session ond other things I wanted. Becaue we clicked, he threw things in up graded and still took some money off. First I think EVERYONE makes their prices higher because they know that they are going to negotiate. Know your must haves and what you aren't so crazy about when you contact him.

Now to that photographer, I wouldn't have even made an aproach with her to request information on her business because of those statements. She clearly has a big head and I am the one to make you feel small on purpose. I can't stand conceited people.

squirrly · June 2010

Absolutely. We negotiated with our photographer. No sense in paying for services that you don't care for the photographer to perform. We didn't ask to pay less for everything, we asked to exclude certain items and therefore not pay for them. He had no issues with that, and said it's very normal to do so.

polichik · June 2010

What we did for all of our vendors, which is saving us thousands of dollars, was to say "Hello photographer, here's a little info about my fiance and me.... We were struck by the photographs on your website and incredibly impressed with your testemonials. We'd love to work with you, but we're on a bit of a strict budget, and we'd set aside $XXX [slightly lower than your max] for photography. We want to make sure you're being paid well for your services, but I was hoping that there might be a way that we could meet in the middle. Are there any optional parts of your package that we could forego to lower the price?"

In the case of our photographer, we talked on the phone for over an hour. Often times, when someone gets a sense of who you are and what your personality is like, they'll be much more willing to lower their price. Our photographer chopped over $1k from his usual fee!

NuggetBrain · June 2010

I have half a mind to notify Miss Melissa that her blog post is turning brides completely off on one of the biggest wedding websites around, so she might want to rethink her tone. But that requires too much work, and I'm far too lazy to do it.

I didn't negotiate with my second photog, because she was luckily within my price range. But, due to the kind of last minute booking, she did throw in a engagement session for free because she wanted to get a better idea of how we "shot". So that was nice.

pooh8402 · June 2010

absolutely. most photographers will make a custom package to fit your budget--in fact, I didn't find a single photographer that was inflexible in that regard.

taraz579 · June 2010

1) melissa sounds like a little um...bitchy & arrogant (to be nice)

2) I'd definitely agree with everyone here, that it is definitely ok to ask to negotiate with price & package details. I believe that's the norm, basically anywhere in respect to vendors and the like.

I just can't believe that melissa girl!!!

katiewhompus · June 2010

" I just think it's yucky and isn't a good practice to perpetuate in the wedding industry"

That statement is professional...I can't bring myself to pay someone $6k who uses a word like "yucky" on her site. She seemed like an uber-bitch. Of course I value you, but that doesn't mean I can afford you. Maybe you should do more than 20 weddings and be a little nicer?

haggling with the photographer???

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