what to charge

[rascal64]

I'm sure the answer is in the archives somewhere, but I can't find it.

Question: Someone is interested in obtaining a high-res scan of one of

my posted images. Here in the 3D world, I charge $25-$35 for an

unframed 8X10. Anyone out there have an idea on how to price (or trade

for) a scan? Thanks in advance!

[ellis_vener_photography]

The answer to your question lies in understanding what the client's answer is to another

question: "What do they want to use the iamge for?" What the intended usage, along with

uniqueness of the image, what kind of exclusivity they want for the iamge and for how

long, etc. are what determines the value of the image to the client. Once you know how

the client is going to use the image, you have a better sense of what to charge.

 

As an example , let's say they want to use it as the central image for a national ad

campaign. That kind of usage -- high end advertising in lots of magazines, newspapers ,

on a website, maybe on a product label, in store displays and maybe on billboards, and

even in TV ads, is potentially worth many thousands of dollars to the client. You know

that simple photo of a rolling green grass covered hillside with a beautiful blue sky

above? The one that that Microsoft used to announce one of the recent versions of

Microsoft Windows software? It was licensed (not sold outright) to Microsoft for well over

$200,000 dollars (the stock agency got half, and the photographer got half). Hopefully

that is the situation with your photo. But if the same image were only being licensed on a

non-exclusive basis for a quarter page or smaller image in a textbook or a small ad only

running in a local newspaper for a few weeks, the correct usage fee might be only a

couple of hundred dollars -- or less!

 

So you have to try to teach yourself to look at usage fee questions from a different

perspective: not "what can I charge for the usage so I that i don't scare the client away",

but from the perspective of the client: "what is the value of this image worth to this

project?". And the way you find the answer to that question is to ask questions and listen

to the answers.

[shawn_hooper]

Ellis is exactly right. The value your image has to you is one amount. What it has to others is what you have to find out. What are they going to do with it. And is your image the "perfect" one? The more perfect the fit is of your image to what the client needs, the price usually goes up. (Everything else being equal.)

[damian_tinsley]

FWIW I don't even like the rolling green hill with blue sky. It looks like a cheap take on some of one A. Adams colour work in the hills around Livermore, California. But a nice payday I guess :-)