Thank you for filling me in. I got my MISC 1099 today as well - 3 days AFTER I filed my taxes - so now I need to file an amended return. (BTW - don't they have to send them out sooner by law?)

2015 was my first year with CM but I knew right away that the number was not right - way way too high.

This must be illegal to pass their earning onto the contributor. I'm really outraged! The amount is NOT what they paid me. I think I have to delete my files now. It hurts me too but why do I have to pay their taxes. Unbelievable!

Is Wayfair allowed to sell my photo like this?
http://www.wayfair.com/Old-Tree-Reading-Story-Book-by-Angela-Waye-Graphic-Art-on-Canvas-2355608-GBCN2390.html

I have never gotten an EL from this file. Should I contact Wayfair? Anyone else have their up there?

In case you don't know, 123 has finally issued your MISC 1099's however the amount is way way lower than what my PayPal earnings say. Anyone have the same issue?

I don't have time to email them and wait weeks more. Taxes are due very soon. I'm just going to subtract PayPay with their amount and list it under "OTHER" but I wonder what the heck is going on with 123 and how they figured it out?

Thanks for your feedback. I feel very reluctant to show the clients unedited images. Even if they are watermarked and small.

The problem is I can't choose which ones to edit so I end up editing a whole bunch (60-80). It's funny because the photo I think is the "best" version is not always the one the client likes the best (I see from their facebook profile or cover image). Poeple are very funny about how they look. This one girl was so picky about her face and I thought she looked beautiful.

I know some photographers have clients come over for a "proofing meeting" and go through them but that is another hour of time for me and not worth it when charging $100 for everything.

I just wish I had a better way to streamline the process without editing all of them and showing unedited ones.

Cathy, I do "packages" like this on my website:

$100 = 1 hour of shooting and 20-30 edited images - I always give way more
$60 = 30 minutes of shooting with 10-15 edited images - I always give them way more

It isn't like I'm charging $100 an hour to edit - $100 covers EVERYTHING so that is where I make no money.

I also do graphic and website design and never do "hourly". I like the client to know right away how much a flyer or basic one page website will be.

Am I presenting this the wrong way to clients? It seems like that is how others do it.
Even though I say $100 for 1 hour of shooting, I'm not really making $100 per hour off the entire job.

I did get one for .30 cents too ...

Thank you for the links. People in Buffalo charge $200-$400 for 1 hour (usually 20 -40 files)

Jamie, thank you for sharing your experience.

I could live with only doing 1 family photo and that's that! (I don't take checks though)

Maybe I should consider something like this. People expect so many photos and it wears me down. If I only had to deal with 1 final version, I could see the light!

Oh gosh no! I don't want the liability. I've seen my own work in things it shouldn't be in and can't fight it...

Hi everyone, My main income comes from stock but I also do family photography on the side and lately I think it just doesn't seem worth it as far as the post processing time. I can't find a good way to streamline the process either. Any suggestions? I hate showing clients all the raw images. I take about 500 in 1 hour so it is tedious to open all and crop, color correct and rotate them.

I charge $100 for 1 hour which includes about 60 edited images. I show clients 20 on Facebook and then they say "I can't wait to see the rest!" which stresses me out because the first 20 were the best!

I was charging $80 for one hour last year but everyone seemed very taken back when I raised it this year. I want to raise the price again but worry about backlash which makes me just not want to do it anymore. I don't even know if I am worth more  ... I live in small suburb so most of my clients are from referrals.

Plus, during christmas everyone waits until the last minute to take their family portrait and they want the disc in 2 days and don't understand why they can't get it sooner. I barely get to spend any time with my family during christmas because I am in front of the screen post processing dog hair, snot, or blemishes from people's faces.

Any people go through this? If the money was good, I probably wouldn't be complaining... Sorry for the rant ...

As I mentioned in another thread, I opted out of ELs after the royalty change and earlier had turned down customer support when they offered to process a $22 EL for me.

Today I received another e-mail from support, but this was for $40 royalty, so I said that was fine to process (I'm still opted out; they just process one sale). I then got an e-mail saying the customer wanted another image as well, same $40.

So this seems to work OK for me: if it's below $28 the answer is no; if it's $28 or higher I'll let the sale go ahead. I might miss out on some if a customer doesn't want to bother contacting SS to ask, but I'm OK with that.

I'm doing this strategy as well! I wait for an email and see if it is worth it. I'm still opted out of EL's. I want to make a point that they cannot keep lowering our earnings.

I download all my PayPal earnings for each month and calculate it that way. If they send me a 1099 I deduct it off my PayPal download. Put the PayPal earnings (that don't have a MISC 1099) in OTHER EARNINGS on your schedule C.

Glad the forum is back to normal. It was insane last night!