So a real estate agent wants to use one of my pics on a bus stop....

DeepSpring · Jul 26, 2007

If you have seen some previous posts today I had my "free head shots with a haircut" all day special going on at the salon.

One of the guys who came is a real estate agent and he wants to use one of his head shots for those bus stop ads those guys always have. My plan was to e-mail the clients relatively low-res files with my name in boarder but for this I have nooooooo idea what to charge him.

I'm going to have to upload all the shots (pr decent ones) online so he can choose his favorite, edit that one,and give him the digital file for the bus stop.

How much do you think is acceptable to ask for something like this?

Iron Flatline · Jul 26, 2007

Ah, I had to rewrite this whole response because initially I misunderstood you.

So... you know what to charge him for the headshot, because you do that part for a living. You want to know how much extra to charge him for the upload, processing, resizing, and all that is related to the bench ad. Right?

Having said that, you said that they were free with a haircut. Did he get a haircut?

I know this is a little different, in that he's not printing them with his resume on the back and leaving them behind at auditions, but rather wanting to post them on a bench. (LOL, where? In Century City...? LA realtors are SOO weird.)

How much post-processing work do you need to do? How much is your time worth?

I'd say about $100, when I look at your posted rates on your site.

DeepSpring · Jul 26, 2007

Yes the headshot I took for free cause he came and got his haircut. I wasn't planning on giving away hi res files or pritns or anything like that, just the low res file with my name at the bottom.

He's obviously spending a fair amount on the bus stop (renting it,printing, and designing the rest of the flyer)

Should I make up a usage form and only release the picture to him for the bus stop and nothing else? I don't want to end up seeing my shot suddenly on business cards, websites, mailers, notepads, and all the millions of other things real estate agents have if he's not going to pay me appropriately.

JIP · Jul 26, 2007

Charge him more and sell him the rights to the image. Also I think you are going to need to give him a higher resolution file to go on a bus stop. This is why you should just sell the rights to the imae outright.

Iron Flatline · Jul 26, 2007

I agree with JIP, sell him the rights for a fair price. You have no further use for it, and he should have the ability to have a consistent appearance across his various representative media - and I know LA realtors, it WILL go on every post-card, business card, letter, etc.

Fair price is typical cost of a head shot. Don't worry about where he's going to use it, or how often. After all, if he were an actor and moving on to a multi-million dollar career you wouldn't get a piece of that, either.

Also, just to discuss the worst case, what are you seriously going to do if he DOES start using it everywhere? You probably wouldn't find out about it, and the cost that would be appropriate compensation for the usage wouldn't even cover the cost of a cease-and-desist letter, never mind the attorney's fees you'd incur trying to recoup lost income.

Iron Flatline · Jul 26, 2007

Oh, head shot fee, plus a cost for providind him with resized and edited images, offer a helpful service and tell him you'll get him the image properly sized, etc. for a sensible hourly rate.

Christie Photo · Jul 26, 2007

Iron Flatline said:
...and I know LA realtors, it WILL go on every post-card, business card, letter, etc.

I've never been to LA, but I'm certain there are hundreds of other sources for portraits that includes all rights. I doubt you'll be able to charge for each use of the image.

Good luck!

Pete

craig · Jul 26, 2007

Sell the image and it's rights. Toying around with "ok to use here, but not here is destined for failure. Make sure that everyone is very clear on how the deal will go down. Grey areas will bite back.

General usage is a tough deal to price. Even tougher since it was a free head shot. In your case I would charge him 1 hour and post production time. I think you are stuck to that because he wandered in and you were offering free head shots. Had he commissioned you; the price could be considerably higher.

LoVe & BaSs