How much to charge for photo's used in Advertising?

[shorty97]

Hi All,

I have been approached by a professional sports person to use one of my images in his advertisements on websites.
He didn't offer me any money, but i am hesitant to give it away when it is to be used in a commercial platform.

Please bear in mind i am a amateur photographer and photography is presently just a hobby.

I would appreciate anybody's views or opinions on whether or not i should charge and if so how much?

Thanks

 

[JSER]

Ask him if he would be willing to agree to placing a link to YOUR website on his with credit for the photograph, if not, at no cost to him then you have MY reply.

 

[KmH]

Watch this video - F*ck you, pay me - a must see for professionals in web design - JoomlaWorks

A credit is essentially worthless even to pro photographers. The sports person is counting on you being flattered so they can use your photo to keep their income rolling in, for free.
Plus the websites he/she would be advertising on may not allow a link to your web site, or a photo credit.
Basically, they want to take advantage of you.

A commercial photographer would sell a use license, and a commercial photographer in the US would register the photo copyright ASAP. If the professional sports person is in an AU sport and has a world-wide reputation, then it might be a good idea to register the copyright in the US too.

The photo used on one web site at up to 400 x 400 pixels would be $35 for 3 months of use. Over 400 px and up to 600 x 600 px would be $50 for 3 months of use.

As an example, if the customer wants to use the photo at up to 400 x 400 pixels on 6 web sites for 1 year - $35 times 4 quarters times 6 web sites = $840 a year.
For many professional sports persons $840 is a very small amount.

 

[tirediron]

I am more than willing to donate images for charitable causes, but I'll be damned if I'm giving anything to anyone so that they can make money off of it! If this were a very small start-up company, I suppose use for credit might be enough, but for any established 'site? Not a hope. Ask yourself this: If you wanted something free from them, are they likely to give it to you? I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is. Really though, there are too many unknowns here to really provide a good answer. Elements to be considered are: How big (in pixels) will the image be? How much traffic does the website receive? How long does he want to use the image for? Does he want exclusive use? Typically, the greater the answer to each of the these questions, the more the price increases. The other major factor is the quality of your image? Is it a once-in-a-lifetime shot, or just a nice shot that this person wants to use because it's there and he/she figures they can get it for free?

 

[Mully]

When you give it away you kill the industry just a little more.

 

[Brandon Hill]

When you give it away you kill the industry just a little more.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[Buckster]

I'm an amateur as well, but I don't give it away, other than to select charities that contact me, and even then, with stipulations.

When commercial businesses contact me, I don't hold back on the prices. Some pay, some decide to move on, looking for a sucker that will give them something for free. But since free is likely the only price those who moved on had in mind anyway, I've lost nothing, while they've lost out on using whichever awesome photo they contacted me about. In the end, I've not undervalued my work, nor hurt the pros out there trying to make a living.

That lets me sleep at night.

 

[pixmedic]

 

[gateeway]

The industry is facing lot of challenges due to world economic crisis.Thanks for some interesting sharing.

 

[ghache]

I refused a gig the other day for one of the biggest rock radio station in town to shoot a monthly contest of babes for their anual calendar, billboard in town to advertise the radio station and so on. they offered exposure. i politely told them to suck my toes.

 

[EdwardRonald]

Nice question! Charges are not fixed but it depends on the opportunity and source of advertising channel. Sometime events and opportunity increase the price and sometime atmosphere not allows to charge much.