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Rates for stock photo retouching
Hi, I just got an offer to retouch stock photos and i was wondering if there is any regular rate. It's 200 photos a month and there wouldn't be too much retouching work to do... just cleaning the background, skin and maybe some basic corrections. I only did proper beauty and fashion retouching so far and no mass retouching, that's why i am not sure how much i can take for that job. What would be a fair price? Many thanks, Nadine May 26 09 01:56 pm Link If it would be a regular job you can rely on then you can afford to go in really competative with a lean £2.50 per pic, over the month that'll get you £500 not too shabby if you have other income. 200 pics a month aint bad and worth keeping them from looking elsewhere. 6 images per day 50 per week it's almost like a part time job so i'd look at it as a fair compensation. May 26 09 02:08 pm Link Thank you very much. This helps a lot. I was also thinking about 2.50 per image... that is a really good price i guess. I really need this job so i didn't wanna scare him off by taking silly amounts of money  Thanks a lot again. Nadine May 26 09 02:20 pm Link No problem, They should compensate for the amount of time it will take, The only other way is editing on-site at an hourly rate and they'll know they won't want to pay anyone that much! May 26 09 02:24 pm Link Hehe, that's true. I generally take around £40 per hour... and even that is quite cheap isn't it? It would still be a lot more expensive than £2.50 per picture May 26 09 02:29 pm Link Reasonable for London. yes. I run a post production audio studio up here as my day job, my rate in studio is £50 per hour for album mastering, I freelance the album art at home on a project basis £250-£500 per album packaging. That's why i do free deals on here, just for fun and to open up to a new client base, always busy. Hope you get the job, let me know if you do! May 26 09 02:40 pm Link Ohhh your job sounds great. I did film post production for a while I am from Germany and want to move to London as soon as possible... i would prefer to find a permanent job as a photo retoucher or media designer but it's not so easy at the moment. Freelancing is a great way to do the jobs you really love to do... but it's also very stressful to make sure that you have enough jobs every month. I wish you loads of luck with your audio studio and will let you know if i got the job. Thanks a lot again for your help May 26 09 02:54 pm Link May 26 09 02:59 pm Link Thanks a lot again. I keep on applying and stay positive Your work is really good by the way. Many thanks and have a great night, Nadine May 26 09 03:04 pm Link Have you seen samples of what you need to do, if I were you, I'd say that you will do a sample 10 for £2.50 each and keep records of how long you spend on it. £2.50 may be OK for 10 minutes work but not for 1/2 hour. Every picture will be different and if it only easy/light work why does the photographer not do it themselves? May 26 09 03:06 pm Link TA Craft Photography wrote: Good advice and excellent question. May 26 09 03:10 pm Link $2.50 an image? Are you crazy? You need to at least see a sample of what kind of work will need to be done. You'd be better off getting a part time job and would have less headaches if its money you need. I'd say $10.00 per image was extremely cheap.  May 26 09 03:14 pm Link A professional stock photographer would probably shoot around 200+ images per session / location if they could and leave the editing to the agency they are submitting to, let them sort out which they want to use in there stock collection. May 26 09 03:14 pm Link I do a lot of stock retouching for stock photographers. I did a sample image first to make sure my retouching was what they were looking for or at their level (if they retouched their own stock before) then I would recieve a payment on a monthly basis of around £500 $750 and we would both sign contracts to make sure the work was done and payments were not reversed as they are always sent beforehand, the payment all depends on how many images they want retouched on average and how many they were shooting as I normally took over their retouching as they wanted to shoot more and retouch less.. I could be doing 10 images per photographer on an average day. I wouldn't retouch for cheap (£2.50) per stock photo as it is a on-going job.. I would charge monthly. Atleast $200+. May 26 09 03:15 pm Link btdsgn wrote: £ not $ May 26 09 03:19 pm Link Elite Digital Design wrote: Exactly, £500 ($700) per month, it works out as £2.50 per image May 26 09 03:22 pm Link NightshiftReprographics wrote: I know you didn't say $ I just typed it wrong and I mean for bulk work like that I think $10 is cheap... May 26 09 03:23 pm Link NightshiftReprographics wrote: It doesn't work out as £2.50 per image for myself as the amount of images I do varies, I do not work weekends either. May 26 09 03:30 pm Link I didn't mention 'billing' per image at any stage that's obsurd, something is obviously getting lost in type here, so i'll leave it there. £500 to me seems fair. OP: Advice will differ from freelancers and people used to industry contract work, listen to all but network with others in London already for sound advice. May 26 09 03:41 pm Link Hi, Thanks for all your replies. I've already asked for a test photo to see the quality and style and how much work would have to be done. I was just asking for a basic rate that is not too high and quite normal for stock photo retouching. And yes, i really need this job and i'd prefer to offer a cheaper price (but not ridiculously cheap) and maybe work on a monthly basis. May 26 09 03:55 pm Link Glamour Retouch wrote: I guess he might be busy with taking pictures and doesn't want to do it himself May 26 09 04:05 pm Link May i suggest you stick with an hourly rate? If you offer services at a per image rate, then you can't complain if they send you images that will take hours to complete. May 26 09 04:05 pm Link edit. resolved. May 26 09 04:07 pm Link I wasn't going to charge per image... i am trying to work out a fair package price for 200 pictures a month. He said that it's only a little bit work to do, just cleaning the white background and skin basically... that doesn't take too long. I will think about the hourly rate after i had a look at the test photo. Thanks a lot May 26 09 04:11 pm Link Before you set a price, you need to ask what is involved. If its just colour work, that should be cheap enough. If it requires anything more advanced then set the charges accordingly. May 27 09 09:07 am Link |
as you would be back and forth from paypal or however you pay all the time. 
