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Author Topic: Now Available: The $100 Buyout  (Read 6640 times)

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« on: October 08, 2006, 13:38 »
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Here is an article that discusses some of the issues involved with selling images outright:

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003219743


dbvirago

« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2006, 14:04 »
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Interesting article and a good link.  I hadn't seen that site before. At Fotolia, your image has to be exclusive to check the buyout option. I couldn't find anything on LO about a buyout. Can someone show me where that is?

I like the way DT does it. You can check a buyout option when you upload. The default price is $350 but you can change it to what you want. The nice thing about leaving the default is, every time you sell the image as RF, the buyout price changes. I have images on there with a buyout of $3000. If you change the price, you will have to make all future changes.

Greg Boiarsky

« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2006, 14:44 »
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I strongly urge everyone on this site to consider how much they're willing to take for all image rights.  The lower the price you set, the less others are able to sell their images for.  There is tremendous downward pressure on prices as it is.

Let's not undervalue our hard work.  An image is worth more than $100 or even $350.  You can sell a print of your photo for $75; why sell all rights to it for a mere $25 more?

« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2006, 14:57 »
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JEEEZ! I would never, ever, sell all rights to an image for 100 measley bucks.

1.  It shows that I don't value my work at all

2.  If someone wants to buy all rights it means they must consider the photo valuable or unique. So they should pay the creator well for it, just as they'd have to pay anyone else who has created something valuable or unique.

3.  Already, the people who make the really big money out of this are the ones who sell our photos on ... the owners/shareholders of the agencies. Let's not do ourselves down as the creators of the foundations on which their wealth is built.

4.  History is littered with artists/creators who have sold their work for a pittance. And those same works have later sold for millions. (Not that I'm saying any of our work will sell for millions. But a few thousand? It is possible. Believe it!)

Value your work. if you don't, no one else will.

« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2006, 15:10 »
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I couldn't find anything on LO about a buyout. Can someone show me where that is?


Here is the link:

http://luckyoliver.com/guide/buyout_price

dbvirago

« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2006, 16:56 »
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It must be relevant to exclusives also. I can't find any link or info on submit or edit pictures than mentions buyout.

« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2006, 16:59 »
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It must be relevant to exclusives also. I can't find any link or info on submit or edit pictures than mentions buyout.

I believe that it is only an option for exclusive photos.

« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2006, 17:52 »
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It all depends on the image and the offer and what you think the image is worth.

Yes, I sold an image on LO (and i was the first by the way) - and I was glad to sell it for what I got. It had sold 2 times on the 3 sites I'd uploaded it to (and it had been online almost a year), so I felt it was well worth the cash I got for it! I don't think it would have gotten anywhere near the money in 10 years here or at the other micros so I honestly was thrilled to get the money for it now.

Would I sell my best sellers? Sure, for the right price - but that would be much much higher than what I got for that one buy out.

And no, I wouldn't make fun of anyone who got even $100 for an image. Who's really to know how many times it really would sell??? I read all the time in the forums about how surprised people are at which image is their best seller. So who could really know what the right price is?

Would that image have sold for big bucks on some other traditional site? Gee I sure don't know.

A bird in the hand...

« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2006, 18:04 »
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JEEEZ! I would never, ever, sell all rights to an image for 100 measley bucks.

1. It shows that I don't value my work at all


I have to disagree with you a tiny bit... I value my work and I'm willing to sell some of my images for $100 (net). All depends on what I think the image is worth and what the customer is willing to pay. In my one buy out - I thought the price was good for me and I am pleased with my deal.

If I set my price too high, the buyer might not buy. Too low and i might lose out on revenue. That's a hard thing to figure out!

And remember - hindsight is 20-20!

Greg Boiarsky

« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2006, 18:13 »
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But, here's the rub:  While you may think your lesser photos are only worth $100 net (who wouldn't like to sell his/her castoffs for a profit?), selling your weaker work for such a price brings down the price of your better works.  It goes like this:  A buyer purchases the weaker image for $100.  That buyer comes back for more images and sees one of your better photos and thinks, "That photo is no way worth ten times what I paid for the other photo."  Voila, no sale.  So, you create a short-term gain and sacrifice the long-term viability of your portfolio.  Why?  Because buyers don't have your discriminating eye.  You're a pro--the buyer isn't.  And, the buyer is often willing to settle for lower quality because it's cheaper.

Don't get me wrong--I'm happy you're making sales on LO and getting more out of the image in one day than you'd ever get out of it otherwise.  I just think we need to consider factors beyond our current sales.  If the sold image is markedly, clearly inferior to the better work, no problem.  But, will it be "markedly inferior" to the buyer?  I wonder.

If I set my price too high, the buyer might not buy. Too low and i might lose out on revenue. That's a hard thing to figure out!

And remember - hindsight is 20-20!

« Reply #10 on: October 09, 2006, 00:42 »
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...  I read all the time in the forums about how surprised people are at which image is their best seller. So who could really know what the right price is? ...

You've said it there, Maunger. That's why I'd never sell all rights for $100. You think 'Wow! Why does they want to buy this image?' You sell it for $100 and then you see it used in a major advertising campaign and realise you could have got thousands for it.

That 'bird in the hand' proverb is a dangerous one as far as artists go (and I class photographers as artists. We're creative people)

Can you bargain with them? You can bet that any buyer is going to want to get the picture for the lowest possible price. See how high they'll go. How they really value it.

« Reply #11 on: October 09, 2006, 08:57 »
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... I read all the time in the forums about how surprised people are at which image is their best seller. So who could really know what the right price is? ...

You've said it there, Maunger. That's why I'd never sell all rights for $100. You think 'Wow! Why does they want to buy this image?' You sell it for $100 and then you see it used in a major advertising campaign and realise you could have got thousands for it.

That 'bird in the hand' proverb is a dangerous one as far as artists go (and I class photographers as artists. We're creative people)

Can you bargain with them? You can bet that any buyer is going to want to get the picture for the lowest possible price. See how high they'll go. How they really value it.

Well Bateleur, just think of the people who are getting $0.25 for an image over at SS or less than $5 at any other site only to find their image on the cover of a magazine. Same thing holds true, couldda gotten $1000 for it. There's a thread right now in SS about a guy who found his image on the cover of a magazine and he's thrilled - yet he got probably $20 tops (if he got an Extened license for it) but most likely got $0.25.

You just never know

« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2006, 16:10 »
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There's a thread right now in SS about a guy who found his image on the cover of a magazine and he's thrilled - yet he got probably $20 tops (if he got an Extened license for it) but most likely got $0.25.

Yes. I read that guy's post. I must admit, I think I'd probably feel a bit sick if that happened with one of my images. Front cover of a big-circulation US magazine for maximum $20 (and probably only 25c)!

But think of these points:

1.  He'd still only get $20 (or 25c) for that. Why? Well, the magazine was legally able to buy the use of it for that purpose at that price. So why would they pay more by buying the picture outright? In other words, it doesn't make any difference.

2.  Even after that usage he can still sell the image again and again. That's something that people overlook in this game. I get people saying. "What! You sell a picture for 25c! Are you crazy?" But what they don't understand is that a good picture will sell again and again and again at that price. And may even pick up several $20 extended use payments, too. You only need 5 of those to match up to what you may sell the image outright for.

You could end up selling a the rights to a picture that would earn you far more in the long run, especially as you can have it with a number of agencies.

As you've already observed, you never can tell which pictures are going to be the biggies. I've had extended sales on the most weird pictures, some which I even hesitated about uploading (one was of a jumbled pile of wood ends that I took on the spur of the moment.)

And there's a guy over on Alamy who's just sold a picture of some ropes and climbing shackles (carabiners, I think they're called) that he took on the spur of the moment too ... and he sold it for $6'800 to a bank for their advertising, but he still keeps the copyright.








 

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