How Much to Charge for Hi Res Photo(files)

[jmknights]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. However, I've been on Sony SlR and Sony Talk for several years. Started in film photography in the 70's. Now I'm a drag racing photographer and sell several thousand worth of prints per year via SmugMug.

I need your help.... Have been recently been contacted to sell some hi res photos to a freelance photographer "writing a book on sleepers for CarTech Books" and he wants hi res photos. So far he has identified 9 photos. This is probably a redundant question, for which I appologize but really need help.
my photos can be seen at
http://photosbyjim.smugmug.com/

My equipment, two A700 APS-c 12mps, and A900 Full Frame 24Mp, 16-80Zeiss, 24-70Zeiss 2.8, 70-200G, 70-400G, 50mm 1.4, 100mm macro 2.8,etc.

thx in advance, and again sorry for the redundant question, I did a search but couldn't find the info I needed.
Examples of the photo(s)





Jim in VT

 

[Tom Bennett]

you must first decide to give a certain type of written copy right release full or limited.
then base the use value of the print
Different parts of the country charge more or less.

My area, it is from $100.00 per file to $15.00 per file and two companies give certain files away based on content in my town. it is hard to expect to get much for a photo file here. Example I did a recent senior session. I do not sell these files

then another company did the whole baseball team for an unknow price I heard cheap and gave every player a cd of 50 pictures with a full copyrignt release.

I may have lost that customer now because I was high compared to the other company.

 

[Richard Weisgrau]

This is what I wrote in my book, Licensing Photography, about pricing stock photos.

Stock Pricing Components

In chapter 1, Licensing Concept and Reality, you learned about the various control factors available to you when you license. You will remember the circumstantial questions and the checklists. Now let’s look at how those factors are used at many stock photography agencies’ Web sites.

Generally, agency Web sites allow you to select a photograph that you might want to license, and when you ask for the price you are asked a series of questions. Here’s an example of some of the questions that might appear at a typical site.
• How will the image be used?
• What will be the specific application?
• What will be the size of the image relative to the whole page?
• Where will the image be reproduced?
• What will be the print run?
• What will be the circulation?
• What geographic territories will be covered?
• What will be the language of publication?
• What will be the starting date of use?
• What will be the duration of use?

The first few questions will determine what subsequent questions should be asked. The questions for a Web use are different than those for a magazine use.


If you go to a major stock agency online like Getty of Corbis, you can find a price for the use you are speaking about, but you will have to have answers to questions like those above to get the price
--
Richard Weisgrau
http://www.weisgrau.com
Author of
The Real Business of Photography
The Photographer's Guide to Negotiating
Selling Your Photography
Licensing Photography

 

[Richard Katris]

In photography the term sell or buy is better replaced by the concept of licensing. Rarely do pros "sell" an image in the sense that the buyer "owns" the image after the sale.....more likely they license usage of the images for a particular application which can have usage limits as to the actual end product it is to be used in (a book, or magazine) usually the edition, and the number of copies it is to be printed in...the languages, and the geographical distribution of the finished work.

a common line in a contract for usage in a book or article might contain the following:

"one time book use, north American English language rights for the 2010 edition of "name of book or project."

a later usage book brought out in French...for the Canadian market...would pay an additional fee for the right to bring out that version and continue to use that image....in my experience this is typically 25% of the original licensing fee. Usage in copies to be sold in France, or other French speaking areas of the world would likewise for for an additional fee....

Today often electronic publishing rights may be included in the client's needs...and that should be itemized and charged for separately.

Think about it...the more additional usages the client wishes to make of an image...the more it will be used...the higher the fee should be.

Exclusive usage rights should also be charged a premium as it takes that image out of your portfolio for possible sale to other end users....and it is a value that the client should see as being worth more in order to maintain exclusivity in the usage of the image.

If a client says they just want to "buy the photo outright"....you can ask WHY...what the usages would be they will use the images for....and offer a lower fee for that specific usage...than the "buy it outright" request should be quoted.

Typically the "buy it outright" fee should be huge compared to the fee you ask for the limited usage that the client envisions they need it for today in order for them to see the reason to allow you to limit that usage in other areas. Buy out rates should be 10X--20X whatever your limited license fee would be.....that will make them see the light to limiting their usages of your image(s).

The client has to have an incentive to license your photo for a limited period rather than push their own agenda in "owning" the image...in order to chose that image over others that may be made available to them. It either has to be something unique about your image....or price is going to determine where they go...and limiting the usages...is what will allow you to compete in price with others less savvy about licensing the usage of images.

There is always going to be a cheaper option...down to free...in the mind of the client...so you have to offer service, or quality that makes the client still want to use your work...over what they can get for "free"......even if "free" means they have to search on the intenet for 10 hours to find a half way decent substitute photo for the one they want of yours......you need to show them that your option is more cost effective than their "free" one in real terms....
--
Richard Katris aka Chanan

 

[jmknights]

Thx all for your replies, and help. Unknown to me my host photo site(SMUGMUG) allows for commercial downloads, covered by a commercial license. Because this was my first request the downloads for a book,I chose pricing that was to say "reasonable"...
thx again for your help...
--
Jim in VT