Wonderhussy wrote:
Is this a fair price? Recently I've had several people tell me I'm selling myself short, and that I should double this rate. But I'm not sure the market would bear that.

You have done the smart thing in creating a niche that few others can fill, i.e. not just being a capable model but also providing good locations, that, presumably, you know well and can advise photographers on how to get the best out of those locations.

For a photographer visiting Las Vegas for the first time, your package deal should look very attractive.

I think that, as others have mentioned, a lot depends on how much work you are getting now and how much work you want.  I would be inclined to try ratcheting your price up in $100 increments and seeing how that affects demand. My gut feeling is that you could ask $600 without too much trouble if you present it as a $500 model fee for the day, plus $100 for transport costs.  I doubt that you will be able to ratchet as high as $1000, but I could be wrong.

Wonderhussy wrote:
My current business model:

For a $500 day rate, I will pick up a photographer from his Vegas hotel and drive him around the desert for 8 hours total, stopping at three unique desert locations to pose nude (red rocks/slot canyons, dry lake bed, abandoned industrial site). Total shooting time at each location around 1.5 hours. I drive, and will even cover gas (most of the time, the photographer ends up filling my tank for me, but it is not a requirement).

Is this a fair price? Recently I've had several people tell me I'm selling myself short, and that I should double this rate. But I'm not sure the market would bear that.

My understanding is that most full-time freelance nude models charge around $100/hour...which is basically what I'm charging, if you go by total shooting time. But at the same time, I am (to my knowledge) the only model who does this kind of thing in my area (I understand that most women would not be comfortable spending an 8-hour day in the middle of nowhere with a complete stranger).

Thoughts from fellow models and photographers?

Sounds like a great price for the service.  Your day rate is not an unusual discount over the $100/hr rate for 8 hours.  I think the extra service of driving and being a tour guide more than makes up for the time not spent shooting.  Filling your gas tank at the end of the day would be a reasonable additional charge. if I were to find myself in your part of the country, I would also buy lunch and/or dinner.

Rob Photosby wrote:

You have done the smart thing in creating a niche that few others can fill, i.e. not just being a capable model but also providing good locations, that, presumably, you know well and can advise photographers on how to get the best out of those locations.

For a photographer visiting Las Vegas for the first time, your package deal should look very attractive.

I think that, as others have mentioned, a lot depends on how much work you are getting now and how much work you want.  I would be inclined to try ratcheting your price up in $100 increments and seeing how that affects demand. My gut feeling is that you could ask $600 without too much trouble if you present it as a $500 model fee for the day, plus $100 for transport costs.  I doubt that you will be able to ratchet as high as $1000, but I could be wrong.

+1

Wonderhussy wrote:
Is this a fair price?

[
There is no such thing as a fair price.
(Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs)

There is a price you want to cash. And there is a price the customer is willing to pay.

Recently I've had several people tell me I'm selling myself short, and that I should double this rate. But I'm not sure the market would bear that.

How tells this? People who have vast experience in this specific market? Than it is a valuable information. Otherwise it is a more or less pointless assumption.

My understanding is that most full-time freelance nude models charge around $100/hour...which is basically what I'm charging, if you go by total shooting time.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says:
Quick Facts: Models
2014 Median Pay
$19,970 per year
$9.60 per hour

$100/hour for a short one-hour shooting may be realistic but I don't see $100/hour as an average model payment regarding overall average in this field. I see discounts which are very reasonable. Customer aquisition and the like cost feelance models a lot of time. Aquiring a full day job does not cost eight times effort than a one-hour job. Travel time, paperwork... discounts are obviously very reasonable.

But that's all just theory. In the end this does not matter. If you want to sell something to customers you have to think from the position of your (potential) customers. It's the only way it works.

Everybody has a budget. Professional photographers as well as amateurs. How many customers you think would be willing to pay $1000/day? Enough? Then do it. What fits your expectations better? One customer who pays $1000 or three customers who pay $500?

But at the same time, I am (to my knowledge) the only model who does this kind of thing in my area (I understand that most women would not be comfortable spending an 8-hour day in the middle of nowhere with a complete stranger).

That's not the point. The point is: are you the only one because you have a unique selling proposition with this offer and (potential) customers are lining up by the dozens? Or are you the only one because there is a clearly limited demand for $500-8-hour-desert-nude-photography-trips?

Thoughts from fellow models and photographers?

With a $500 price tag the package you offer is really quite compelling. Selling a quite compelling product is always a f* good business policy.
Between $500 and $1000 there is a big span. $500 plus gas? $500 plus 0,x$ per mile? $600?

Juicylicious wrote:
Well 10-15 years ago I would gladly pay $500 for guided tours if I couldn't find those "secret" locations. But now I have a new and free tour guide, she will even guide me to Area 51 and 52.

Her name is Miss Google.

Does Miss Google also model and drive? These are definitely value-added features.

OP, this is a great business plan - best of luck to you!

D a v i d s o n wrote:
Your not worth 500 for 8 hrs simply put...

This might be considered outing... but you're an idiot, simply put.

I haven't seen a single thread where you had something to contribute, except to troll by saying exactly the opposite to the general consensus, if you could at least create one post without a spelling error, it might help make you seem like someone who's opinion should be worth considering, but then, after reading the words, people would realize, even if you spelled it all correctly, your comments aren't worth reading.

Juicylicious wrote:
Well 10-15 years ago I would gladly pay $500 for guided tours if I couldn't find those "secret" locations. But now I have a new and free tour guide, she will even guide me to Area 51 and 52.

Her name is Miss Google.

Finding it on a map, and having someone take you there are two totally different things, and I can tell you from more than 1 trip out to the desert with Wonderhussy, you aren't going to find a better tour guide, chauffeur, and model, all in one package. (and you don't have to rent a vehicle either!). BTW, she's been to Area 51 too... She's well worth the price.

Juicylicious wrote:
Well 10-15 years ago I would gladly pay $500 for guided tours if I couldn't find those "secret" locations. But now I have a new and free tour guide, she will even guide me to Area 51 and 52. 1981

Her name is Miss Google.

That's a very good point, however you'll never know what you don't know!
Lemme 'splain:

I've lived in the LV area since 1981 and often take road trips to wherever my car takes me to... in other words if you see a side road that leads to nowhere, I've probably driven down it.  There's very few roads within 100 mile radius that I haven't driven.  I've also worked as a guide on off road/ 4WD tours with a company similar to the well known "Pink Jeep Tours".

With that said, about 7 years ago I stumbled upon a town about 75 miles from here that has lots of hot springs.  People come from all over the world to visit the place, yet only a handful of people that live in Las Vegas have ever heard of it much less know where it is despite the many articles about it that can be found on Google.

I've been going to those springs on a regular basis (between 15 to 30 times a year) and know the area like the back of my hand... but even then I'm still discovering things that I never knew existed in and around the area.  Even though I dined at a restaurant in that area for over 5 years, I didn't know until about a year ago that there's a unique underground ghost town right across the street from it!   Yep, it's on Google plain as day, but you pretty much have to know about it first to find it in Google.  That's only one example.  There are MANY others (a church built out of a canyon, wigwam rentals, the funkiest hot spring resort with a pier that goes into a dry lake and a lighthouse so boats on the dry lake won't crash into it)

All findable via Google, but still unknown to almost everyone unless you have first hand knowledge.

D a v i d s o n wrote:
Your not worth 500 for 8 hrs simply put...

Your right! She is worth a lot more!!! Do your homework and you will see....

Wonderhussy wrote:
Thoughts from fellow models and photographers?

I commend your thinking outside the box and offering a niche product to photographers living near, or visiting, Las Vegas. Your pricing seems reasonable for a full day of shooting. Personally, I'm already thinking "$500 + food + gas + tip = what I'm willing to pay".

I used to own an electronics repair company. My pricing was such that if my customer and I both thought the pricing was "fair", we'd do business again. I had quite a bit of repeat business. As others have stated, if you currently have plenty of work and want to cut down a bit, raise the price and see what happens.

Risen Phoenix Photo wrote:
I think you are wonderful and it is a great service to travelling photographers.  Very creative.

And very useful. And a great value.

DespayreFX wrote:

This might be considered outing... but you're an idiot, simply put.

I haven't seen a single thread where you had something to contribute, except to troll by saying exactly the opposite to the general consensus, if you could at least create one post without a spelling error, it might help make you seem like someone who's opinion should be worth considering, but then, after reading the words, people would realize, even if you spelled it all correctly, your comments aren't worth reading.

<3

Juicylicious wrote:
Well 10-15 years ago I would gladly pay $500 for guided tours if I couldn't find those "secret" locations. But now I have a new and free tour guide, she will even guide me to Area 51 and 52.

Her name is Miss Google.

I think this is probably the way the NSA collects recordings of zillions of e-mails and phone calls and nevertheless could not find those three calls arranging a terrorist attack... Insider information often works better than global surveillance.

Motordrive Photography wrote:
That seems like a very cool idea for the photographer on vacation in Las Vegas.

You can get nice rooms for very little... Airfare deals to Vegas are usually pretty low compared to other US destinations.

You can easily take the deal OP is offering and airfare,hotel,rental car for about the same as what my daily rates are without expenses(meaning mine would be 800 pr day and you pay expenses)...Assuming you will book her for a few days (the best way to do it)... The kicker is that OP is a kick ass freelance Model... Offering a huge value...
If you ever had the desire to take your camera to Vegas? Time to pack....