Pricing extra photos before the client starts choosing

You send a gallery of 80 proofs. The package the couple booked includes 30 photos. Three days later the selection comes in: 44.

Nobody ever said what photo number 31 costs. It isn't in the contract or the booking email. So now you write a careful message about 14 extra photos to a client who assumed the whole shoot was paid for. It usually ends in an awkward exchange, a surprise invoice, or a discount you didn't plan to give.

All of this can be settled before the gallery link goes out. The numbers take one evening to work out, and after that every client gets the same clear terms.

Start with the price of one photo inside the package

Divide the package price by the number of included photos. That is what the client already pays per photo, and it's the figure everything else is measured against.

An example, with made-up numbers rather than a recommendation: a package of 30 photos for €900 works out at €30 per photo. Now decide what an extra photo costs and why.

• More than the package rate, say €40. Each extra means more editing and more admin, and a higher single price makes a larger package or a bundle look like the sensible choice.
• The same as the package rate. Simple to explain, and nobody feels punished for loving the gallery.
• Less than the package rate. Makes it easy to add two or three favourites, but leaves no room for a bundle discount later.

Whichever you pick, put the per-extra price in the contract or the booking email, before the shoot. A price the client has already seen feels like a choice when they meet it again in the gallery. A price they meet for the first time at checkout feels like a fee.

When clients regularly go far past the package

If couples often pick 15 or 20 photos more than the package, many single extras get expensive for them and messy for you. A second, bigger package is often clearer: 30 photos or 50 photos, each with its own price. Comparing two complete options is easier than adding up extras.

You can also make the choice itself easier. Marking the frames you would pick yourself helps a client who is stuck between near-duplicates; more on that in suggesting photos to your client.

One bundle, one threshold

A bundle is a set number of extra photos at a lower price per photo than buying them one by one. With the example numbers, ten single extras at €40 come to €400. A bundle of ten for €300 brings the price back to the package rate of €30 per photo, but only if the client actually takes ten.

That threshold is what makes a bundle work, so keep it easy to read. One offer per gallery, a round number of photos, and a saving the client can see without a calculator. If you add a second offer, make sure the two can't be confused.

Word it as information, not pressure

Leave out countdowns, "today only" and invented scarcity. People choosing family or wedding photos are making an emotional decision, and urgency tends to sour it. A good offer answers three questions:

• what they get (for example, ten more photos),
• what it costs, and how much that saves against single extras,
• what happens if they say no: nothing changes, and any extras are charged at the usual price.

If the client can decline without feeling they've made a mistake, the offer has done its job either way.

How PixiProof handles it

The client-side view of the offer is covered in how the extra-photo offer looks to the client. Here is what sits behind it on your side.

Packages. A pricing package has a package price, a number of included photos and an optional price per extra photo. While choosing, the client can see what each additional photo costs and a running "extras × price" total. If you leave the extra-photo price empty, the client can't approve a selection above the package. They have to deselect photos or contact you.

Several packages in one gallery. You can add more than one package. Before approving, the client can open a comparison with each package's total and price per photo, and the comparison can mark a package as "Cheaper than extras". By default the client is billed on the largest package whose number of included photos fits their selection, and they can also pick a package themselves.

The offer (Selection upsell). It's a one-time offer on the client's first order, and it's only available when the package has a price for extra photos. With several packages it runs only on the highest one. You set rules: "when" is the number of extras beyond the package, and the offer is a number of extra photos for a total price. Rules are read top to bottom, the first match wins, and offers don't stack. You can save a rule set as a template for other galleries, and the Ask AI button on the upsell page asks the built-in assistant for a suggestion based on your package.

What the client sees. Before confirming, the client gets a window with your title, your message and two buttons, and has to accept or decline. The window can show the saving against your standard extra-photo price. If they accept and then approve with fewer extras than the bundle, the offer drops and the extras are charged at your usual per-photo price. The gallery tells them before they approve. Extras above the bundle size are charged at the usual price too.

What PixiProof doesn't do. It doesn't take the client's payment. You write your own payment details, such as bank transfer instructions, and the client sees them after approving the selection. You then mark the order as paid or partially paid. If you'd rather not show amounts in the gallery, you can turn payment information off (extras then show as a count only), or hide the selection counters so the client picks freely and sees payment details only after approving. The first-order offer also stops applying once an order in the gallery has been delivered. If you allow buying extras after delivery, the client can pick more photos later, and that becomes a new order, delivered separately.

Plans and prices for PixiProof itself are on the pricing page.

Before the next gallery goes out

Take your most popular package and write three numbers on one line: the price per photo inside the package, the price of one extra, and the price of a bundle. If the bundle isn't clearly cheaper per photo than single extras, change it before you send the link. Then try it on a real session: your first PixiProof gallery up to 1 GB is free, with no card required (start here).

FAQ

How should I price an extra photo?

Start from the price per photo inside your package (package price ÷ included photos), then decide whether extras cost more, the same or less. Write the price into the contract or booking email so the client sees it before the gallery.

What happens if the client takes fewer extras than the bundle?

In PixiProof the offer drops and the extras are charged at your usual per-photo price. The gallery tells the client before they approve.

Does PixiProof collect the payment for extra photos?

No. You add your own payment details, the client sees them after approving the selection, and you mark the order as paid or partially paid.

What if I don't set an extra-photo price?

The client can't approve a selection above the number of photos in the package. They need to deselect photos or contact you.