Charging for Photos

[earthdragon64]

A little bit of back ground, I run an online retail business selling small collectable items from my own website and from some online auction sites. I am NOT advertising these, just looking for some photography advice.

A regular customer of mine wants to buy some of my photos for her own use to catalogue her collection. She is willing to pay for them, and is happy to keep my watermark on them, which is my company trading name.

She only wants photos relating to the items she has actually bought from me, which is fine, as I don't actually re-use photos, once the item is sold I don't really do anything with them. If I get an identical item, I take new photos.

The total number she wants is easily 100+ at an average of 3 photos per item. However, I've never sold photos before, so have no idea what would be a reasonable price, I take the photos to sell the item, not to sell the photos.

I'd appreciate any suggestions as to a reasonable price, or advice. Part of me thinks I should just give them to her, with conditions, as I've no use for them. However, I can't resist the thought of making a bit more cash, and I do take a lot of time over my photos.

[big bill]

Hello there ,tricky one this due to the amount that she wants ,
first of all you do not want to under sell yourself as you have put a lot of work and time into creating the images ,why dont you ask her how much she is willing to pay for the use of the images and if you are happy with the price that she mentions then go with that if not name your own price and see what she says.
Rates can depend on size of image and how many catalogues are to be printed ,even if you try by mentioning £3- £5 per image and take it from there if she wants them bad enough she will pay you for the use.
Hope this helps you out a bit.

[nightshade]

Make it clear you are NOT selling the copyright

[Lancashire Lad]

I might well be in the minority here, and am thinking more from the buyer's point of view (having never sold any of my own photo's ).

But, if the photo's are purely record shots of the items purchased by this person, and you don't have any further use for them anyway, I would suggest a token charge which just covers your original costs for paper/ink/time etc. might be in order.

If this person is looking at around 100 photo's and you suggest £3.00 - £5.00 each, then the outlay of between £300 & £500 might well put them off - I know if it was me, I'd probably say no thanks -I can print my own record shots for a lot less than that.

Especially if you are keeping your watermark on them, and as said above, you retain copyright, I'm sure such an approach would be good PR towards future business with your regular customer.

Regards
Mike.

[wildlifesnapper]

Hi

I think I agree with Mike. If she has bought 35+ items off you then you have already made a nice profit out of her.

What are "YOU" happy charging her for the images on a CD ? £5 ? , £10 ? , £15 ? considering they are no longer of any use to you and she isn't using them for commersial or profit making editorial use.

If it was me ( and I too sell on auction sites) I would just charge for the CD , the postage and packing , travel to post office and a little bit for my time - £4-£5 and wish her a happy new year ( of selling her more collectables)

neil

[eeyore]

I tend to agree with wildlife snapper and LL

you says shes a good customer - therefore imo her goodwill is worth preserving and I would probably just give them to her (customer goodwill is worth the price of a cd and a stamp)

that way she goes round telling everyone what a great bloke you are and you get free word of mouth advertising into the deal.

try to charge her 3-5 hundred notes and you could well lose the deal, lose her buisness , and get negative word of mouth.

[Badllarma]

The only problem with charging a pittance is what if she passes your details on to someone else they come along and say can you shoot xyz for me and you say yes that will be £xx.xx per hour plus materials they will either fall on the floor or say but you only charge "mutual contact" x per image and then your screwed at trying to charge for a proper photographic job.

Your gear, your experience and your time are worth something, the way to sort of get around it is this is not a commission it's more of a library sale, how much you want to sell therefore is entirely up to you have a look at what you can buy similar images for online from libraries and maybe price accordingly, or ask what she had in mind as others have said, you may be surprised, in a good or a bad way

If it's too low you could say well for that you can buy x amount but for y you would be looking at £xyz

The one main thing is you give NOTHING away for nothing it all has cost you something gear (camera, computer, software, storage) , time learning, time doing (photography and post work) all you will do is undervalue your skills other wise, there will always be someone to under cut you it's about how much you value yourself, and your product or service.

[earthdragon64]

Thanks for the replies, I hadn't even thought about how to get them to her, I'd assumed I'd email them, but depending on her email client, that could take a while, a CD or DVD would probably be the best and cheapest method for her.

I was thinking about no more than a few pence per photo as a maximum, but I like the idea of putting them on a CD or DVD and just charging for the CD, postage and a very small amount to cover my time, it seems fairer. If she wants them printing on photo quality paper, that would be a different matter of course. I think I need to find out a bit more about exactly what she wants.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Badllarma

The only problem with charging a pittance is what if she passes your details on to someone else they come along and say can you shoot xyz for me and you say yes that will be £xx.xx per hour plus materials they will either fall on the floor or say but you only charge "mutual contact" x per image and then your screwed at trying to charge for a proper photographic job.

As far as a photographer selling photos goes bl , you are absolutely correct - i'd not encourage an amateur to give photos away not only for the reasons you outline but also because it devalues the market for those of us who sell proffesionally.

however earth dragons situation is different - his buisness is not as a photographer per se but is selling collectibles and his photos have no value to anyone other than the customer who bought the collectible who only wants them for her catalouge of her collection.

in this situation giving her the photos is inherently part of the process of selling the collectible ( in future i would recomend offering a cd of images as part of the sale and inflating the price slightly to cover your costs) , and he would not be "giving them away for nothing" but exchanging them for her goodwill as a customer.

and a happy customer is the best advert for your buisness.

[larachmor]

I don't try and sell photographs, but occasionally get enquiries to buy particular images. This year I have had photos published in two books - "The Life of Ospreys" by Roy Dennis, and some capercaillie shots in "Grouse" by Robert Moss & Adam Watson. On being approached by each of the authors they have both asked "How much do you want ?" On each occasion I replied that a simple credit in such books is sufficient, and agreed on a signed copy of their books. I'm certainly no pro, so the books are more than enough payment - the money's soon spent, but I'll always have the books.