How much to charge?

[Gavjenks]

Yeah, when Steve says make an outrageous quote to begin with (which is good advice), $50,000 is probably not the best interpretation of that strategy.

 

[ronlane]

Yeah, when Steve says make an outrageous quote to begin with (which is good advice), $50,000 is probably not the best interpretation of that strategy.

Why not? They asked the OP on short notice and wanted the rights. They can pass or counter or they may just say okay and cut the check. You never know until you quote the price.

 

[strummin365]

This forum is awesome! The first post in this thread was the first post I've put up here, so thank you guys for being so open.

My last e-mail to her was:

"I only shoot in RAW but generally do most of my own editing into maximum quality JPEG format @ 300DPI. All of the images would likely be 24MP resolution @ 100-200 ISO. They are all high quality digital renders.

Regarding the rights, what the ad agency likely needs is a license agreement in which I agree that they can use a photo or photos for a specific amount of time in various manners. I don't ever generally sell the rights to a photo I've taken. If that is the only solution for the agency, it would greatly impact the quoted price. What is their budget for the project? Also, if they wanted me to do the editing, the price would be higher because of time spent editing (but the results would be better in my opinion, because my point of view really comes alive through my cropping and post processing). If they just want all of the RAW files mailed to them in a DVD with no editing, I could do that as well, which would only cost them the cost of the DVD and mail.

So in summary, the basic half-day rate is $500 but the rest of the cost depends on licensing and editing. Whatever the case, I'm sure something can be worked out.

Thanks,
Chris"

I tried to draft that with the advice I had at the time in mind. It was almost 24 hours ago and haven't heard anything back, so I may have lost a job, but oh well. They may have been hoping for someone for cheap or to take advantage of; who knows. Maybe I'll still hear something back... I'd like to do this project because it may open some doors, but I just want to earn what I'm worth.

This is an interesting scenario because I'm not even speaking to the ad agency directly. Also, I found it weird they need the images done this Friday OR Saturday and yet there is no deadline according to the person I am speaking with.

lol @ Dr. Evil video

Gavjenks: Totally agree with you on that one. I have been disappointed at her replies because I'm not getting back the information I am seeking.

Steve5D: Just out of curiosity, did you just hand him the SD card right there or did you wait until the check cleared first? Pretty cool story and solid advice.

 

[TheNevadanStig]

OK, I am a complete newbie in photography. But NOT in business. And there are a few red flags in these conversations. The major one being it seems you are trying to attempt this deal though a "middle man" of sorts. Which makes me wonder, why? Why does this agency hire a videographer to then hire a photographer to get these shots? My concern would be that they already have a deal with the agency, and are now looking to just get some great images from a lesser known with little to no work, on the cheap, then take full credit for all work done. In which case no matter what your fee is, if you get the job it still wouldn't open any doors to you as no one would ever even know you existed in the whole project.
I would be tempted to contact the agency directly to get an idea of what THEY expect from the project, nd get a feel for whats actually going on. Something about this whole thing is awfully fishy.

 

[Gavjenks]

Why not? They asked the OP on short notice and wanted the rights. They can pass or counter or they may just say okay and cut the check. You never know until you quote the price.

If you quote truly outrageously too high, then they won't counter, even if they might have otherwise, because they may just assume there's no realistic way that you can come together in negotiations and/or be insulted.

So like, if $700 might be a reasonable rate with restrictions and rights withheld, and $2500 might be something you'd CONSIDER with rights sold, then 5,000-10,000 I think would be a good place to come in just to see if they bite, but still close enough to your actual price that realistic negotiation seems possible.

Whereas if you come in at 50,000, you are 20x higher than the amount you'd actually accept. So if they might be okay with $2500 too, then you could be losing yourself a lot of money, because most people aren't going to expect you to be willing to negotiate down to 5% of your offer. So they just scoff and stop talking to you, and you earn $0 instead of the $2500 or more you might have gotten if you didn't scare them off with an absurdly high figure.



I think you should think of the lowest you would actually accept for rights being sold, multiply that by about 3-5x, and suggest that.

 

[yioties]

If you give a price of 5,000-10,000 as a start kiss the job good buy Strum. This is a project that is last minute and you should be compensated for that. For a half day the $500 is a little too low in my opinion. I you come in with a price of around $2000 you guys will settle around $1500. Never go in too high because 9 out of 10 times you lose the job and any future jobs. Get all the details of the job and come up with a fair price for your time and work and to benefit the Ad Agency.

 

[Gavjenks]

If you give a price of 5,000-10,000 as a start kiss the job good buy Strum. This is a project that is last minute and you should be compensated for that. For a half day the $500 is a little too low in my opinion. I you come in with a price of around $2000 you guys will settle around $1500. Never go in too high because 9 out of 10 times you lose the job and any future jobs. Get all the details of the job and come up with a fair price for your time and work and to benefit the Ad Agency.

Everything you just wrote is super reasonable... for a normal job where you get the rights to your images and some control over how they are used.

If you quote something like $5000, obviously you should make it very very clear in the writing of the email that the reason for that is the copyrights. You don't just say "How bout $5000 lol kthxbai"

You say "Well my quote for half a day's labor plus more typical licensing where I keep the copyrights and we work out an outline of allowed usages for a local business/tourism(whatever it is) might be around $1500. But if I'm transferring all ownership to you, then I'm giving up my ability to negotiate future revenue if your ad campaign or your company gets bigger, and I'm letting you sell the images to a stock agency for profit as well if you want, and I'd see none of that. So if you need the copyrights in full, my quote is $5000 to account for those details. I'm happy to pursue either option." or whatnot.

 

[Steve5D]

Steve5D: Just out of curiosity, did you just hand him the SD card right there or did you wait until the check cleared first? Pretty cool story and solid advice.

Well, it was a CF card but, yes, I did hand it to him before leaving the venue. He was a known entity, and I had no concern, whatsoever, as to whether or not the check would clear...

 

[Steve5D]

"I only shoot in RAW but generally do most of my own editing into maximum quality JPEG format @ 300DPI. All of the images would likely be 24MP resolution @ 100-200 ISO. They are all high quality digital renders.

Did they ask for this information? If not, save it. They don't need it. If they have requirements, they'll let you know what they are. There's no need to volunteer information which may well just be dismissed anyway...

This is an interesting scenario because I'm not even speaking to the ad agency directly.

If you're not talking to the ad agency, how do you know that's who you're shooting for?

My three questions here (wait, let me get out of the shadow of this ENORMOUS red flag) are: Who have you been talking to? Why haven't you been talking to the ad agency directly? Who's writing the check?

Short-notice jobs happen all the time, and they can be pretty lucrative. But this one just got a little weird...

 

[Jamesaz]

Hmmmm....... No comps, no art director, rush job, haven't scouted the location..... Seems like a recipe for failure no matter how good a photographer you are.
Good luck whatever happens.


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