Fixed packages work beautifully for headshots and portraits. They work less well the moment a client asks a question that starts with "what would you charge for…"

We heard this most clearly from our real estate photographers. As one put it: pricing a listing shoot by photo count doesn't reflect how the work is actually done. The standard is to price by the square footage of the home, with a flexible image count — because otherwise you end up delivering a stack of nearly identical photos of empty rooms. Part of what the client is buying is the photographer's judgment about how to best portray the space.

Weddings, commercial retainers, multi-day events and branded content run into the same wall. The deal gets negotiated over email or DMs — and then the booking often gets completed off-platform, where there's no escrow, no protection, and no record.

What Custom Quotes does

Custom Quotes lets a photographer turn any negotiated conversation into a private, bookable link.

  1. Agree on the work. Talk it through with your client however you normally would — message thread, email, phone.
  2. Create the quote. In your dashboard, open Portfolio & Packages → Custom Quotes → New Quote. Enter the agreed price, session length, minimum image count, delivery window, and what's included.
  3. Send the link. You get a private URL. Your client opens it, sees a clean summary of exactly what you agreed, and books at that exact price.

What makes it safe

  • It's private. A custom quote never appears on your public profile or in search. Only someone with the link can see it.
  • It's single-use. Once the quote is booked, the link stops working. No accidental double-bookings at a one-off rate.
  • It expires. You choose how long the price stays good for — 14 days by default. A quote from March can't be redeemed in November.
  • It's revocable. Changed your mind, or the deal fell through? Revoke the link from your dashboard in one click.
  • It's fully protected. Your client checks out through the normal Shuttercat flow. Payment is held in escrow and released after photos are delivered — exactly like any other booking.

A note on flexible image counts

If your work is better described by scope than by a photo number, you can pair Custom Quotes with a clearer package structure. Many photographers now build tiers around scope — "Up to 1,500 sq ft", "1,500–3,000 sq ft" — set the photo count to a realistic minimum, and state plainly in the description that the final image count reflects the property. Clients read the tier, not the number.

Available today

Custom Quotes is live for every photographer on Shuttercat right now. Open your dashboard, head to Portfolio & Packages, and you'll find it below your regular packages.

This one came directly from a photographer telling us how their industry actually prices work. If something about the platform doesn't fit the way you run your business, tell us — that feedback is what we build from.