Working for a car dealership?

[o hey tyler]

I work for a car dealership selling Mini Coopers. The owner had "cautions" about letting me do car photography for whatever reason. He hired me as a "sales associate", and was fully aware of my photography background, yet was hesitant to let me start taking the photos of the new Mini's on the lot. Now that I'm actually doing the photos, and using strobed light, he seems to be pretty happy. I think the hesitation mostly came from the fact that the 18 year old girl that has worked for him for 9 months 'REALLY ENJOYS' taking photos of the Minis. However, she has limited photographic knowledge and only has access to a Nikon P&S from 2001.

I was SUPPOSED to do photos for the Saab/Volvo dealership in my area (I drive a Saab, so it would be fitting), but that seemed to fall through. I was going to charge them 10 dollars per car (because I hadn't done car photography at that point, I'd charge them more now). And I told them I'd photograph cars if they had a MINIMUM of 3 cars per trip (it was about a 30mi drive for me, and wouldn't be worth it unless I made my gas money back).

What Bo4key said was somewhat incorrect. Maybe the car dealership that HE works at doesn't care about composition or framing, but I've imposed on the owner of the company I shoot for that better composed photos will draw more customers in. It's a fact. In 2007, roughly 33% of car sales ORIGINATED online, that number has only gone up since then. It's probably closer to 50%. Putting your best foot forward and having nicely composed images with the company logo in them is important. Having a 3/4 "hero" shot as the 'default photo' is important. SOCIAL ****ING NETWORKING is important, if not the most important. I work closely with an advertising analyst from AutoTrader.com. Next on my bill is photographing a lot of Mini Coopers, and starting both a Twitter for our business, and a blog attached to our website via a subdomain.

 

[o hey tyler]

If you want to get into car photography, Lyonsroar, I'd look for a USED CAR DEALER that has a GOOD PRE-OWNED selection. If they don't get a lot of ****ty cars, but also doesn't have anyone to photograph their cars well, go there first.

If you have additional questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer them as best as I can. However, right now... There is a bong calling my name. And it's full of "The What?", so I feel as if it's necessary to tend to that.

 

[Bo4key]

I totally agree with o hey tyler on the importance of online marketing and social media. What I was getting at, and should have made clearer, is that there aren't a lot of dealerships out there that will pay a lot of money for "better" photos, and that it isn't a venture that is going to allow someone to retire early. There isn't a lot of money in it, but would be great as a side job to supplement one's income.

 

[dl4449]

I also work for a dealership and the sales department uses a P&S
I don't think any of them would pay some one to do it at lease here in California.

 

[lyonsroar]

I also work for a dealership and the sales department uses a P&S
I don't think any of them would pay some one to do it at lease here in California.

Well they're obviously paying for it or else they wouldn't be posting a help wanted ad. It's just a question of how much. I'll email them tomorrow...

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

EDIT: I work for the largest car dealership in town (no brag)

This made me laugh.

It lacks a sense of scale.

I guess you're name suits you. I've read a few of your posts and you are always looking for something snide to say.

There are 100k+ people here and we are also top 5 in the province/state for our brand. Does that provide enough "scale" for you?

I really am not actively looking for something snide to say. I can't help that the opportunities on this forum are quite bountiful. I thank you for that.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Just like photographers, not all car dealerships are created equal.

Smart ebayers do recognize the fact that decent photos DO help the sales but that doesn't mean they are willing to spend a fortune on a photog. I think most of them do what a friend of mine did. Learn just enough, with some very basic gear, to produce clear, sharp decent shots.

That said, you won't know if this dealership is smart about the photography until you talk to them so I wouldn't worry about it other than getting yourself ready for all possibilities. And by that I mean, set yourself two rates (somewhat higher than what you really want to get so you can give them a discount, lol) and go talk to them.

First rate would be scenario 1: work for hire, they provide the space to shoot and all the gear you need (think about it in detail in case they are not set up but are interested in the idea.) Scenario 2 would be you shoot as an independent with your own gear and they bring the vehicle to your chosen spot if their lot is just too ugly.

Offer them both scenarios as you can get something for yourself in both cases. Sc 1: No need to put out money for any gear (lights is what comes to mind mostly) but you make some pay. Not having the rights to the shots is not a problem, why would you want rights to those shots?

Sc 2: Has the advantage, through higher pay, of financing gear for you that you can use somewhere else. You would need however to have a contract ready for them when you meet. And it needs to be a serious one, not something you're going to make up in the next 5 minutes without any knowledge of contract law.

Which scenario you push more will depend on your financial situation. For example, with sc 2, you need to get yourself some liability insurance. Imagine a light stand killing over and your strobe falling right on the car... you may have just bought yourself a paint job for a car you don't own. You also need to put out the money for the gear you don't have before anything comes in.

Going with sc 2 I would definitely put in a clause about a minimum number of cars per month so that you can come out ahead no matter what. What would be the point otherwise?

Lots to think about and figure out before you talk to them. Get set, ready, go!

 

[gsgary]

You will only need a cheap point and shoot

 

[sbakewell1101]

A few years ago this was my exact job... amoung other office things was to photograph the cars... they gave me a point and shoot camera and a blank white wall. Knowing that the point and shoot camera was not really the best option, I opted for my dslr... i would bring it in with me every day and set my flash up to help with shadows on the tires and in the engine.. after a few weeks of me doing this and noone appreciating me using my own camera i stopped bringing my own camera.. they were pouring money into internet sales like no other doing this doing that... BUT the men that were in charge of this were like children and they would not stick to one thing or the other.they were constantly switching the way they wanted things done.. i kept my head on my job doing close to 25-30 pictures of every vehicle (we had about 100 vehicles on the lot at all times) this to me would of been a full time job... it seemed everytime i would find the vehicle, find the keys, make sure it was clean (if a used car) i would get the pictures done and then they would turn around and WHOLESALE the car.. not to a customer but to another dealership or auction so all the work I did adjusting it so it looked right, renaming the pictures so they would appear right on the site and whatever else I did was really just a waste...i would get soooo frustrated. because they were not making money off the wholesale.

Not to mention having to redo the shots once it was a different seasons... noone wants to buy a car that has been on the lot since winter which is evidenced by the snow in the picture... so in my job it was a lot of work because I also handled the website... filing... various other office stuff, and i did alot of their marketing plans like designing flyers... plus i only worked three days a week cause i was going to school... but i did a good job about keeping up with the cars cause to dope that was supposed to help me was always busy when it came time to go outside in the freezing winter or in the blistering sun (you know how cold it is in michigan in january in a cold car? or how hot that same car will be in july? lol)

also know that car dealerships is a tough club.... mainly for guys (IMO) and a family thing... I worked there for one year and never once did they say I was doing a bad job.. in fact me and the office manager got along VERY well.... then one day I walked in and knew something was up.... there were new people... i i figured out that they were going to let me go because they came to me asking passwords and stuff... i confronted my boss and he said it was not his decision but the owners... who hired two people to do the job i was doing (why didn't they just have me do 5 days a week?!) my bosses tried to save my job, but since it was the owners neice and friend coming to work there i was up a river.. oh well ten days later i had a job at a law office, where I am doing what i go to school for lol...

so yeah take the job if you want lol but it is a lot of hard work lol

 

[sbakewell1101]

as a side note i checked their website and like 5 cars have the photos done... looks like the owners friend and relative did not do such a good job HA!

 

[sbakewell1101]

i tried starting facebook, twitter and thought about a blog, but really they there was no way for me to show them in their minds that this was working ..i had trackers on websites even could tell them the most viewed car on the website but they did "get it" at least i dont think... i tried to implement a program that would find out HOW the customer found us but was not successful.

to the people who are succesful at it i applaud them!

 

[mrpink]

Internet sales is the future for the auto industry. The other week I was in the dealership, back where the sales staff sit and do their email responses and calling, the sales manager came in and said that there was a couple on the lot looking for a used car. No one's head even twitched, he asked if there was anyone available to go help them out... dead silence. Now anyone who has ever been on an auto lot knows, you seem to be hounded at the very second your look at a car for more than 3 seconds, not anymore. Internet ups, credit pre approvals, carfax certifications... it's all online.

Our photographer at work even does personal shoots for the Porsche and Maserati customers... I think he charges somewhere around $400 for 10 shots of their "baby". Rich people love to have a photo of the car they spent a small fortune on, I guess it makes them feel better about themselves.

So, OP. Do some research on the dealership you are soliciting. Go to their website, print out some photos... have photos printed from a more professional photographer (not sure about copyright laws there- tread lightly) You need to show them what they have, and what they are missing. You would be surprised at how many General Managers have never even seen their own photos online, good or bad.

Good luck, dealership groups are a funny bunch.





p!nK