Coming at this from a slightly different angle. I'm on the post-production side at Autobg.ai (we do AI background replacement and image enhancement for inventory listings), so I don't have direct numbers on the photography costs themselves. But I can add some context on what comes after the shoot, since that's often a hidden cost in the per-vehicle equation.
What we see across marketplaces and dealers is that the raw photo is only part of the cost. A lot of operations are spending an additional $5-15 per vehicle on background removal and replacing them with studio environments. Some do it manually with offshore editing teams, others are moving to AI-based tools to bring that cost (and turnaround time) way down.
So when you're comparing per-vehicle rates, it might be worth asking whether those quotes include editing and background work, or just the raw shoot. I've seen that catch a few people off guard when the "cheap" photographer delivers images that still need $8-10/vehicle in post-production before they're listing-ready.
That said, genuinely curious what the photography side looks like for you all. On the marketplace side we see pretty standardized workflows, but I imagine lot photography for individual dealerships has a lot more variability. What does a typical per-vehicle shoot include for you guys? Just exteriors + interiors, or are walkarounds and 360s becoming standard?
