Standard fee to license a photo for print.

[freixas]

Let me try to clear up the wholesale price question. It sounds like they operate like a gallery. If you put your work in a gallery and it sells, what you get is not 100% of the selling price—they get a commission. In this case, the commission looks like 50%.

What I find unusual is the statement that they are going to do the printing. Generally, a gallery has the artist assume all the costs of printing and framing. You price the final product and you get a portion of the sale. It sounds like they may double the image price and pocket that, but they might also double the printing cost and make even more. This part just sounds odd and it sounds like you'd get cut out of any of that profit.

 

[ImSoQuazy]

Very educational friends!
Great advice too...

 

[dLSK]

I do this a fair amount, for certain businesses actually. The thing you need to know - they have not conveyed because they probably don't know either - is : do they want the print or the file itself so THEY can print?

If they just want the print, that you will get printed for them, go 30%- 35% higher than you would to a private sale. The reason higher is they contacted YOU because of an image YOU took. They'll pay out the yin yang for a stock image equals to what you have to offer. So, you charge a little more for providing the convenience.

If they want the file, this means ( as a professional ) you should remove it from your portfolio. If you give them the image rights, you're removing YOUR rights to that image. That is worth money, especially if it's a good image. You need to factor in potential sales to other clients, the rarity of said image, the ability to recreate said image, how many times they intent to print / distribute ; this all adds to the price.

Someone above said $750, that's quite reasonable. Personally, I sell to bird magazines / encyclopedias and sometimes they want a 'one time' image, sometimes they want the image rights for future prints. For a single use file, full size TIFF, I charge $150. The want the RAW file it's right around that $700 / 800 mark.

Sure, sounds like a lot. If it's a great image, and they want the file for themselves, you can't sell it to anyone else and you need to be compensated for that.

Sounds dumb, but don't charge a flat rate, just to get money for your images. Things like.. wear and tear on your equipment, SD cards maintenance, gas to go out and get the shots, time to sit and process, time to set up print / send to print company, pick up, drop off... all this should factor into your pricing.

Hope it works well for you, good luck and congratulations. It's always nice when someone comes looking for you

 

[kalgra]

Thanks all for the information it was all very helpful. For those interested this was the outcome.

I asked $1000 usd to provide a tiff file for a 30”x 45” 200 dpi print. The original 30 x 40 they requested did not fit the aspect ratio of the image. I let them negotiate me down to $800 to license a one time print of the file provided. I retain all rights to the image and am credited for it.

 

[tirediron]

Thanks all for the information it was all very helpful. For those interested this was the outcome.

I asked $1000 usd to provide a tiff file for a 30”x 45” 200 dpi print. The original 30 x 40 they requested did not fit the aspect ratio of the image. I let them negotiate me down to $800 to license a one time print of the file provided. I retain all rights to the image and am credited for it.

Perfect!

 

[dLSK]

Thanks all for the information it was all very helpful. For those interested this was the outcome.

I asked $1000 usd to provide a tiff file for a 30”x 45” 200 dpi print. The original 30 x 40 they requested did not fit the aspect ratio of the image. I let them negotiate me down to $800 to license a one time print of the file provided. I retain all rights to the image and am credited for it.

Perfect!

I agree, excellent job! Very well done, love seeing other photogs get opportunities like this

 

[vintagesnaps]

I saw this and I've done submissions to juried exhibits and am familiar with how those work, then never got back to this and wish I'd posted sooner... There are key words that were somewhat red flags. So I guess for future reference...

The client wanted to purchase it for their 'space' - that says most likely business. 40"x30" is larger than typical in exhibits for most artwork priced that's intended for personal use (so this size would likely be for a business or large private space).

It says the client is interested in purchasing artwork from 'photographers' - that says they need a number of large prints which again says retail or business space (a number of offices? locations?).

They operate 'like a gallery' means they aren't a gallery. NINEdotARTS does not seem to have a gallery or hold exhibitions; their site says they acquire artwork for corporate/business use. (I found a video of their offices in a renovated brick warehouse; they have art on display but it looks to be their office decor not for sale.)

This is 'our wholesale price'. That's their price, which is obviously up to them; galleries/exhibits usually retain 30-40%. In my experience prices are usually in the $200-500 range for smaller prints/photographs up to $1000 for larger pieces and/or works by more well known local/regional artists/photographers. For corporate/business use in a large city I'd probably have been pricing at $1500.

Companies seem aware that people are putting their photos 'out there' but most aren't familiar with business/corporate pricing much less contracts, licensing usage, etc. I suggest looking up pro photographers organizations like American Society of Media Photographers - Homepage or PPA for info.

edit - I'm not sure what's meant by being credited for it; how and where? Usually a photo credit is given for publication such as in a magazine, but not in ads. An artist's name and info. may be displayed next to the artwork in an exhibit, but I don't think it's necessarily done in business (it could be, and you should have been told specifics).