Beck
07-02-2006, 03:27 PM
Ok, here's the thing. A client wanted me to digitally add furniture to a house that he's selling. The house is empty and we both feel that adding furniture digitally will help to better market the place. There are 6-8 photos and I originally gave him an estimate of $35/photo which totalled $210-280. He told me his budget only allowed $200, so I agreed to cut him some slack and do it for that much (this project could lead to further projects of this kind).
I did a walkthrough of the house with him and we discussed what kind of furniture style would be best for the type of house it is. We both agreed on more antique furniture with a modern flare. Warm colors - no black. So he paid me a 50% deposit then supplied the photos (which he took with a wide angle camera lens) and I started to add furniture based on the specs we discussed. I didn't spend hours and hours of time doing color correction or detailing the crops, etc. I want to make sure the guy's fine with the furniture in the first place.
Well, I just received my second email from him criticizing the lack of color correction and wanting me to redo the entire bunch of pictures. I've already spent at least 2 hours per photo just looking for images that would fit the distorted angle in the first place, not to mention match the description he supplied. Now, suddenly, he's changing the "antique" choice to "sleek and modern." He only paid me $200. Granted, I agreed to work for that much. However, he's being way pickier than my clients who pay me for what I'm worth and I don't know how to professionally tell him to stop being so damn fussy and realize that a green couch vs. an olive couch isn't going to make a bit of difference in selling the house.
How would you approach the situation? At this point, I don't want to just walk away with my $100 and call it done. Like I said, there's potential for future clients through this project. At the same time, I can't keep spending hours on end trying to make this guy happy. He didn't pay me to make him happy, he paid me to furnish the rooms.
I did a walkthrough of the house with him and we discussed what kind of furniture style would be best for the type of house it is. We both agreed on more antique furniture with a modern flare. Warm colors - no black. So he paid me a 50% deposit then supplied the photos (which he took with a wide angle camera lens) and I started to add furniture based on the specs we discussed. I didn't spend hours and hours of time doing color correction or detailing the crops, etc. I want to make sure the guy's fine with the furniture in the first place.
Well, I just received my second email from him criticizing the lack of color correction and wanting me to redo the entire bunch of pictures. I've already spent at least 2 hours per photo just looking for images that would fit the distorted angle in the first place, not to mention match the description he supplied. Now, suddenly, he's changing the "antique" choice to "sleek and modern." He only paid me $200. Granted, I agreed to work for that much. However, he's being way pickier than my clients who pay me for what I'm worth and I don't know how to professionally tell him to stop being so damn fussy and realize that a green couch vs. an olive couch isn't going to make a bit of difference in selling the house.
How would you approach the situation? At this point, I don't want to just walk away with my $100 and call it done. Like I said, there's potential for future clients through this project. At the same time, I can't keep spending hours on end trying to make this guy happy. He didn't pay me to make him happy, he paid me to furnish the rooms.