Price increase letter to photography clients
Copy it, replace the bracketed bits, send it. Below the letter: the text-message version, how much notice to give, and what to say when they push back.
Hi [NAME], You have been booking with me since [YEAR], so I wanted you to see this before you plan [NEXT SHOOT / THE SPRING CAMPAIGN / THIS YEAR'S LISTINGS]. From [DATE], my rates are: [HALF DAY / STANDARD SHOOT]: [NEW PRICE] — includes [N] edited images, delivered within [N] working days [FULL DAY]: [NEW PRICE] — includes [N] edited images Additional edited images: [PRICE] each [RUSH DELIVERY, 24 HOURS]: [PRICE] Anything already confirmed with a deposit stays at the current rate. The main change is in what goes into each image after the shoot. You now get [MORE IMAGES / FASTER TURNAROUND] than when we started working together, and editing time has gone up with it. Equipment and software costs make up the rest. If you have a regular volume — say, [N] shoots a year — I can put together a fixed yearly package at [PERCENT]% below the per-shoot rate, and hold those dates for you. [YOUR NAME] [BUSINESS NAME]
How many customers can this price rise lose?
10% ÷ (40% + 10%) = 20%
Open the full calculator, with your prices and customer count →30–60 days for returning commercial clients; signed contracts and paid deposits honoured
10–20%, or a restructured package
The text-message version
For the customers whose entire relationship with you lives in a phone. Send it before the visit, never on the invoice.
Hi [NAME], [YOUR NAME] here. Emailed you my rates from [DATE] — anything already confirmed stays as is. If you have regular shoots this year, ask me about a yearly package. Thanks!
Why it is going up, in words you can use
“Rising costs” persuades nobody because everyone says it. Name the actual driver in professional photography instead:
- camera bodies, lenses and lighting are replaced on a cycle, and each replacement costs more than the last
- editing software, cloud storage and gallery hosting are now monthly subscriptions
- editing time: clients expect more images, delivered faster
- insurance, travel and the day before and after each shoot that nobody sees
When they push back
You will hear these within a week. Having the answer ready is the difference between holding the price and folding on the phone.
- "Our marketing person can just use their phone."
- "For social posts, often yes, and they should." Separate the work: phones for daily content, you for the images that go on the website, in print and in pitches. Positioning yourself as the high-stakes photographer is better than competing with a phone.
- "Can we get the same package for less if we take fewer images?"
- Yes — build a smaller tier with a proper price. Most of the cost is being on location, so price a smaller package at more than a proportional share of the full one, and say so: "Being there is most of the cost."
- "Another photographer quoted less."
- Ask about usage rights, the number of edited images and turnaround. Cheaper quotes often mean fewer images, slower delivery or limited usage. Give the client the questions to compare fairly, and let them.
Is a price rise even the right move for you?
Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the money is in a service plan for customers you already have, or in the job you are quoting below cost without realising. Describe your business in one sentence and you will get three specific moves back — priced per month, with the arithmetic written out so you can put your own numbers in.
Free, no signup, about thirty seconds. If one of them is a price rise, you will get the number to put in the brackets above.
Give me three movesMore letters: business services
Other trades
A template, not legal advice. If you have a written contract with these returning clients, check what it says about notice periods and price changes before you send anything — the contract wins over any template, including this one.