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Question: How do i ask her to pay for it!? please help!?
I took pictures for a friends college graduation i had told her id do it for free since she was my friend, well anyway she ended up bringing her boyfriend for some engagment like photos and then the ones by her self i gave her the proofs and she asked for 2 8x10, 15 5x7, and 20 4x6 prints!!! so it ended up costing me over 100 bucks! my problem is how do i ask for the money now!? Im a professional photographer so the quality is good but i dont think she should have asked for so much considering i am not able to afford it (I am using photography to work my way throught med school)!. any suggestions on a nice way to ask for the money or at least some of it!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
It sounds like she took advantage of you! When she brought her b/f you should have explained to her then and there exactly what you meant when you told her you would take her graduation pics!. Tell her that her graduation pictures are free, but the others are not!. If she is a REAL friend, which I'm guessing she can't possibly be! She will understand, if not, get yourself some new friends!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Tell her that you told her you would shoot the pictures for free!. Tell her that you didn't expect her to buy a bunch of pictures and that it wasn't fair for her to order all these pictures and expect you to pay for all the processing!. She shouldn't do that anyways!. Tell her maybe you could give her a discount if you wanted too!. If she doesn't want to pay the $100 tell her maybe she could pay $75!. Maybe then she will!. She wouldn't be a very good friend anyway if she makes you pay for all of it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
You should have told her how much it was gonna cost and got the money first!. Now that she has them you might have a problem since she already got what she wants!. If she is a good friend she might understand if you tell her your struggling because of it!. But on the other hand she might not have ordered so much if you told how much it was to begin with!.
It's hard to do business like this with friends & family!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
You can ask, but I doubt you'll do anything but hurt the friendship!. Take this as an expensive life lesson!. You should have put your foot down BEFORE you made the prints, or when her graduation pics turned into engagement pic's!. I bet she thought you didn't mind!.
In the future, don't offer free pics, if you are, be very specific on what the "free" includes!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
You might have to suck it up on this one!. Since you did offer to pay for the pics, and weren't clear on how many pictures you would be taking or giving her, then unfortunately it was a bad decision on your part!. I would just learn from this experience for next time!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
explain to her the fact these were suppose to have been graduation photos and not engagement photos!. let her know how much it cost you, and while you were only trying to give her a few for her graduation!. if she doesnt want to pay you, then she is not a good friend at all!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
be honest and tell her that you didn't expect she'd ask for so much!. friends will understand!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I regularly do little jobs for close friends and family for free!. I shoot, correct, burn to CD and I'm through!. Usually I include a few of my favorite images as a gift "proof" 4x6 print, but that is mainly so they know how the prints should look when they get them printed at WallyWorld or wherever!. Live and learn, I'm afraid!. The only other option is to tell her you meant your photography service only to be free, and thought she would pay for the prints!. She might get huffed, or she may totally understand!. You know her, so consider how she might react and if you would mind losing a friend over this if her reaction is very unhappy!.
Best wishes to you in med school, BTW!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Dr!. Sam has it right about the time machine!.
Keep your order!. Give her the negatives or a CD (as appropriate), and tell her where she can order prints!.
In the long run, $100 is cheap for the education you got!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
You need a time machine so you can do this one over again!. It was okay up until the point that you actually ordered and paid for $100 worth of prints!. You should have settled this up front, but you certainly should have settled it when she gave you such a large order!. If you did not specify how many prints you'd offer for free but went ahead and placed the order, it's up to you how you handle it from here!. I'd just tell her that you "thought" she'd want a couple of 8x10's and a few wallets and you had "allowed" $20!.00 from your personal budget for those prints!. Show her your actual invoice and ask if she could pay for anything over whatever amount you thought you were goingto spend!. If she is reasonable, she'll just do it, saying that she had no idea what your expenses were going to be!. If she's not that reasonable, she might pay some and make you feel guilty about it!. If she's an unreasonable person, she will just try to take total advantage of you and ask for all of the pictures!. At this point, she should NOT have more than one 8x10, one 5x7 and one 4x6 in her hands!. Tell her that she's already got her free prints and she can pay for the rest of them!. If she wants to bargain, split the cost!. If she says she's not paying anything, there you go!. You already gave her one set of prints for free to do with as she pleases!. Hold onto the rest for a week or two and then shred them if she doesn't pay for them!.
If it cost you $100 for that order, you're paying too much, also!.
GREAT prints from Mpix would have cost $22!.58, including shipping!. Even with their custom retouching services, you couldn't come close to $100 if you tried!Www@QuestionHome@Com