Do you guys have problems with being 'under cut' by hobbyists?
My wife works in real estate / property management but she also does some photography on the side. Mostly real estate and commercial photography (kinda ties in, see? hehe). That industry is severely harmed by a bunch of stay-at-home moms whose kids are getting older, who got their first 'nice' camera and are now doing a crappy job at a cut-rate price because they aren't factoring in their overhead. Unlike my wife, they are uninsured, don't have backup cameras and lenses, and often times have severely under-rated equipment using the old excuse "It's not the camera, it's the photographer". (Yeah that's fine honey, but you suck anyway!). Couple that with a bunch of cheesy effects in cut-rate editing software and there you have your craigslist special! Makes it difficult for my wife (somewhat; because she is in more the commercial side and has a lot of connections), because with calibrated high end displays for editing, the latest (expensive) software, a high end camera with backups, insurance, she actually PAYS taxes instead of waiting for the IRS to educate her on making money and not telling them about it, etc., there's a lot more overhead.
I just wonder if this industry is plagued in the same way. Do you guys have to compete with a lot of uninsured, under-equipped, skill-lacking people trying to 'get started' by seriously under-cutting their price?
This is just curiosity. Nothing at all I'm interested; very satisfied with my career, detailing is just something I like to do because I like my cars clean and I'm too cheap to pay any of you suckers to do it!
. But I am curious!
