Author Topic: Exclusive rights forever (Read 2990 times)

VisitorQ · « **on:** February 14, 2018, 01:47 »

One stock agency want sell my image for exclusive rights license forever to one customer. They ask to me is 280€ good price for that rights. I get this sell 60%. I think that is too low price for that rights?

dpimborough · « **Reply #1 on:** February 14, 2018, 02:45 »

280 euros out of which you get 60% is way too low

Tell them to improve the offer or walk

Pauws99 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 14, 2018, 04:02 »

That depends on the picture and your estimate (guess) what it will earn in the future. Some of my pics if someone offered me $10 I'd take it if I had been unable to sell them for the last 10 years ;-). (Which Shutterstock do incidentally for Shutterstock Custom).

niktol · « **Reply #3 on:** February 14, 2018, 10:53 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 14, 2018, 04:02

That depends on the picture and your estimate (guess) what it will earn in the future. Some of my pics if someone offered me $10 I'd take it if I had been unable to sell them for the last 10 years ;-). (Which Shutterstock do incidentally for Shutterstock Custom).

This. Depends on the pic.

StockbyNumbers · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2018, 11:51 »

Might also be worth it to start a relationship if you wanted to do this more often down the road. Could be worth just asking whether this might happen more often.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 14, 2018, 12:08 »

Quote from: StockbyNumbers on February 14, 2018, 11:51

Might also be worth it to start a relationship if you wanted to do this more often down the road. Could be worth just asking whether this might happen more often.

I know its Valentine's day but.........

everest · « **Reply #6 on:** February 14, 2018, 12:11 »

I would say no. If they put another zero behind maybe.

Some of my images have made me over 10k .And many hundreds over 500$. Simple shots in micro (Concept drawed on blackboard, object on white,....) or more complex,scarce images. You never know when a well executed image might go up in one of the search engines at any agency and start selling well.

As an example, a few months ago I was approached by a publisher for a book cover. They wanted one of my images for 1200$ with exclusive rights for ever. As this was an image from an expensive shoot that would invalidate also some similars I refused. Finally we agreed for 1500$ for 2 years exclusive rights for editorial use ( no use in books etc ). In this case I had the winning hand because the image is very unique and I knew my bargaining power. If it would have been a more common subject I might have accepted. So it always depends.

But unless it is a very mediocre/bad image I would not accept if at least my share was under 500$. This is the reason I also do not participate in any of the custom clients requests at istock. Prices are just too low.

wordplanet · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2018, 13:44 »

A few years ago one of the microstock agencies licensed one of my illustrations for exclusive use for 2 years for $750 and I got half. It was one that was rejected by other agencies but has been a good seller for me on that agency after the exclusive period ended. So less than 300 Euros even for a few years is not a great price, though it could be worthwhile if they are more flexible.

First, see if they really need "forever" - that's what you want to avoid IMHO. If they only really need exclusive for a few years, it might be worth it.

I'm assuming you're relatively new to this, so just to help you assess what is possible, although I have a very small microstock portfolio (350 images on SS and fewer on the others), like many here I have a handful of images/shoots that make me hundreds each year. Your image could well be a top seller - and there are people here who make thousands from a single image or shoot each year - so you don't want to give up that possibility by selling all your rights - "exclusive forever" is pretty much the same as selling your copyright (though perhaps "exclusive" would still let you sell the image as fine art, if that's appropriate). With rights-managed images, sometimes a client wants exclusive rights but only in a certain field - like exclusive book covers - and the time is still limited. I'd try to get more information first and also assess how much you think you would make from that image and any that are similar enough that you would have to refrain from licensing them too if you made an exclusive deal.

If you agree to "forever," you might want to add a couple of zeros on, at least.

Good luck!

Pauws99 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2018, 04:50 »

Given there are now 188 million pics on SS the chances of any picture not already established as a big seller being able to generate sales of several thousands must be literally 1 in a million or less . Just something to bear in mind when coming up with these estimates ;-). Some artists sell their work for millions the vast majority for a few $.

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Author Topic: Exclusive rights forever (Read 2990 times)

VisitorQ

dpimborough

Pauws99

niktol

StockbyNumbers

Pauws99

everest

wordplanet

Pauws99

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