Why Pro Photographers Need a Non-Refundable Service Retainer

Having a non-refundable service retainer as a photographer is really, really important if you are professional photographer.

Building this into your way of doing business is a way to protect yourself in the event your client would ever cancel their booking with you. It’s the kind of thing we never hope to happen, but when it does (and it will…), it’s best to make sure you are legally and financially protected.

Please note before reading on…we are not legal professionals and don’t claim to be. We are professional photographers and have been exposed to the legal side of these things through conversations with other legal pros. Also, this information will be most applicable to photographers in the United States – other countries may interpret things differently.

Why having an upfront payment is important?

Photographers provide a service that is often scheduled in advanced. In the case of wedding and event photographers, sometimes this service is booked as early as 2 years before the scheduled shooting date.

Securing some money at the time of booking is an essential way to validate that your clients are serious about working with you. It will also provide you with some money so you can support your business and personal financial needs.

At it’s core, an upfront payment allows you (as a photographer and business owner) to have some financial security. In the event the client would be a no-show to a session, or simply not make any additional payments (resulting in a termination of the contract), you still have been paid something for the time you’ve already spent.

While asking for payment in advance can seem daunting for some people, it needs to be mandatory – otherwise there will be people who try to screw you over in some way.

Deposit or Retainer?

The words “deposit” and “retainer” are often used interchangeably. But, in practice, they represent very different things.

Deposit: A deposit is an advanced payment to be applied towards the photography service.

The application of a deposit makes more sense when the client is receiving something tangible right away. For example, when buying a car you will put down a down payment (ie: a deposit) towards the product. From there, it gives the car dealership some money up front (a sign of good faith), and you get to drive off the lot. While it may feel like “your car”, the reality is you do not “own” the car until you have paid it off in full.

For expensive products and services, a deposit payment can make these things accessible to the average person. Most of us do not have thousands of dollars lying around right now, but know we will have steady income streams coming in over time.

The problem with deposits: Because a deposit is just an advance payment towards the photography service, if the service doesn’t take place at all – the client should receive their money back. It’s possible your contract may specify that it’s a “non-refundable deposit”, but this is something that may or may not hold up in court if your client would ever file a law suit against you.

Retainer: A retainer is an advanced payment used to secure the timing of the services to be provided.

When a client books your photography service, they are really booking for you to take pictures for them at a specific place and time. As a direct result, you will be unable to book any other work on that day once the client has signed a contract and paid the retainer fee.

Why retainers are better than deposits: While deposits and retainers may seem similar (…and they are), they serve different purposes in your business transaction. A retainer is a way to clearly identify that your time is valuable. If a client was to book your services a year in advance, then back out at the last minute – this means you’ve held that specific date and time for them for an entire year, and have been unable to book additional work. This means: a loss of income and business. Having a retainer for your service is necessary to better protect yourself in the eyes of the law.

The Details Are Important

Simply going into your current contract and updating the word “deposit” to “retainer” will not be sufficient to actually be fully covered.

In order to strengthen your contract verbiage in this area, we recommend consulting with an attorney. If you feel comfortable to create your own contract, it’s recommend you include the following features to make sure your non-refundable retainer is a sure thing:

• You need to specify that the retainer payment is non-refundable. If you are discussing payment in advance with the prospective client via email, your emails can also further support your contract in this area.
• If you, the photographer and business owner providing the service, cancel or otherwise breach the contract – you will (most likely) need to repay all payments made – including the retainer. This is supported by the court case Beau Serchen v. Diana Ornes Photography LLC where a photographer was made to refund all payments made even despite having a set retainer.
• You need to include a fee schedule for when all necessary payments will be due, and how much each payment will be. If you are using a booking platform like Honeybook, this is fully integrated into your service proposal – where you can provide all payment requirements along with the contract for your client(s) to sign.
• You must include a refund policy in your contract. This section should clearly articulate the circumstances in which refunds will be issued (normally if you, the professional, break the contract). You should also use this section to clearly identify when refunds will not be issued – such as for retainer payments.
• Always, ALWAYS, have a signed contract. This is incredibly easy to do in the modern world where e-signing platforms are common. For this, we also use Honeybook as we mentioned above.

How Much Should My Retainer Payment Be?

There are different ways to determine this. The easiest (and often most legally enforceable) retainer payment is a flat rate that is “reasonable.” In our business, we currently use a flat $1,000 retainer payment. This holds true for any service package that is booked through our studio. Keeping it simple like this also makes it easier to facilitate closing sales.

In practice, retainer payments should typically be equal to around 25% (sometimes upwards of 50%) of the full value of the service being provided. Again, specifics will vary depending on your requirements and where you are based.

You need to determine for yourself and your business what makes sense. Some photographers stick with the booking percentage as we do, while others may just use a flat fee to retain their services – like $500 for all services.

No matter what you decide, there are a few key tips you should keep in mind. We’ve learned these things through trial-and-error, so you don’t have too!

• You want to have a retainer that is high enough that it shows your clients are serious about using your photography service. This is good for you as a business owner because you get more money upfront. It is also good in the event the client would ever cancel their contract with you – because it’s more money you get to keep to make up for the loss of business.
• Having a higher retainer shows that your client is more invested in your service. This is a meaningful way to showcase the seriousness of the service contract in court in the event you ever needed to go to court for some reason.

Conclusion

It’s important to know the difference between a deposit and a retainer – this post has hopefully helped clear that up for you.

If you aren’t using the right wording, we highly recommend updating your contracts to reflect this so you are legally protected to the fullest extent possible.