How to negotiate web usage fee with photo editor?

http://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/fotoQuote-Pro/index.html

And from the same company, http://blinkbid.com/ for easy invoicing/estimates/contracts. You can easily set up the time of use specific to each job.

no time to answer everything but you should have a minimum usage fee for $200 / picture. otherwise, it will be impossible for you or anyone else to stay in business.

always limit the amount of time they can use the images. be strict. there are a couple of software programs that give quotes. i think it is photo quote??? you can do a google search. editorial photographers (ep) has good information as well.
S

I’ll add one more: NPPA Cost of Doing Business Calculator.

Steve,
I don’t want to sell my images for next to nothing, but i’m also concerned about pricing myself out of this job, and my first (big name) prospective freelance client… Not sure your $200/picture base (4x the rate they offered) will fly, but i guess i can try to negotiate it. Worse case they say no. Will also look into all the software mentioned here. Thanks everyone. Again, i’m not a pro who needs these sales to make a living, but there has to be a happy medium.
C

As Steve said: «it will be impossible for you or anyone else to stay in business». I don’t want to be rude, but it is because of people like you that we are having trouble staying in business: we invest a lot in time and equipment (and school..) so we must charge a certain amount for our images that clients will not accept because someone who is not «really» a photographer will give his images for an unreasonnable rate just because he is happy to be published. Please think about it for a few minutes!

“Again, i’m not a pro who needs these sales to make a living, but there has to be a happy medium.”

Craig, I can appreciate your effort here to get a good rate for your images, but the comment like the one above might get your ass kicked if we were all sitting at the bar. I mean that lightheartedly but hopefully making a real point: most of the rest of us here are trying to make a living at this and struggle mightily in today’s business environment, so PLEASE don’t devalue photography just because you don’t need to make a living at it and want to get published for the first time.

Good luck with your negotiation, check out FotoQuote, and PLEASE approach this professionally. Cheers.

One more reason to plug FotoQuote: it gives one ammo to negotiate. When asked what my use fee will be, I ask for all the particulars (image use size, edition number, etc.) and tell the prospective client up front that I’ll be giving them the quote provided by FotoQuote. Yes, I do send them the link I posted above so they can check out what I’m talking about, before they answer. Once they answer with their exact use needs, I make a screen grab of the FotoQuote output relevant to their use needs, and email it to them. Beats a stupid figure pulled out of thin air any day, and most times it gets me the rate I want or – worst case scenario – the negotiating power to get more than the client offered.

Lance we should have a bar brawl for shits and giggles….

Seriously though, if you are taking the time to produce work (regardless of your income or needs to make a living) then get paid and well. Never forfeit your copyright EVER and always charge for usage in addition to the sale. Use fotoquote or NPPA or ASMP as a guide. Never undercut the business by selling out for cheap just because you can and feel that you need a tearsheet for your book. It fucks all of us in the long run and lowers the bar for the profession.

If the quote is fair and professional and the client still wants it cheaper walk off and do not look back…getting published is not worth losing the respect of your community.

-M

Friends,

First let me say that i walked away from the offer, which was fixed at $50. Second, I understood that if i took a lowball offer, I’d be sending a very bad message to photo editors/companies that they can continue to take advantage of those struggling to make it in this business because there are those of us out there willing to get published for nothing. I’m hoping that by taking a pass on this job that the folks at this big media firm and others will wake up to the fact that they need to pay to play. The photo editor who would not go above $50 dangled the we’ll-keep-you-in-mind-for-bigger-paying-jobs carrot, but i didn’t bite. I’m not willing to compromise on income to get some exposure on their website. It’s not worth it. The clients will come and I’ve got other projects in the pipeline I’m much more excited about seeing published. Thank you all for your sound advice – SP, I like the idea of sending the link to clients in the future. Matt, I’d much rather have the respect of the LS and photo community. I hope to do this for a living one day, and it’s great to have this amazing network to bounce ideas off. Thanks for the sound advice. I’ll be much more prepared next time.

Cheers,
Craig

Good on you my friend. Now get to work…much to be done as this ain’t no city boys rodeo! All things happen for a reason and I hope that the reason is better pay…keep it up!

Cheers,

-M

Craig,

I’ll second Matt’s fine words.

Well except for the rodeo part…I don’t use rodeo imagery in my writing.

Good luck.

Doug
Windsor Canada

you’re a good man, craig. that $50 would be like drinking skunky champagne, and you would have regretted in the morning. hell, i think you can sell prints of the overall boxing picture for well over $200. it’s not easy waking away but like matt says, good on ya. ps – did you look into FotoQuote or Blinkbid yet? they’re very good resources.

Funny, I have sold individual prints of a boxing photo from the series for $200, twice actually. I said to myself no way a big name media company is going to get that same image or one like it for a quarter of that price just because they want it for a little article. Gives me a lot more pleasure seeing someone take home and hang up a photo i took and give it to a loved one as a gift. I’ve only quickly looked at FotoQuote and Blinkbid… will examine them in greater detail this weekend. Thanks again. -Craig

http://www.asmp.org/commerce/estimator.php

I wish Craig tried to negotiate up from the $50 figure.

I should check their initial number, but I was able to negotiate a settlement of a stolen web image from below $50 to $185 at the end. It was a long battle with the lawyer of the parent company of a website which used my image without my permission. The next to the last offer was $125 while I was maintaining my figure of $250 for a while. Since there was a theft involved, my initial demand was higher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T43NmjKoUfQ