Pricing opinion

bakerphotography

I have neved entertained the option of setting a price for personal / commercial download, however as of recent I have a demand for it. What is a valid price (or range) for original copy downloads. The shots are mostly sports - softball?
Thank you in advance!

mercphoto

I would only do personal downloads myself. Commercial use downloads opens up a whole big can of worms that you don't want to go down.

Exposure Manager recently had a blog about pricing digital files:
http://blog.exposuremanager.com/2010/04/the-key-to-unlocking-your-best-spring-sales-ever-a-reasonable-download-price.html

bakerphotography

Thank you 'merc' that blog post was enlightening. I think I would have naturally priced it high like he mentions. I'm going to give some serious thought to the lower pricing and see how that affects sales... thanks again for that quick reply!

mercphoto wrote: »

I would only do personal downloads myself. Commercial use downloads opens up a whole big can of worms that you don't want to go down.

Exposure Manager recently had a blog about pricing digital files:
http://blog.exposuremanager.com/2010/04/the-key-to-unlocking-your-best-spring-sales-ever-a-reasonable-download-price.html

mercphoto

bakerphotography wrote: »

Thank you 'merc' that blog post was enlightening. I think I would have naturally priced it high like he mentions. I'm going to give some serious thought to the lower pricing and see how that affects sales... thanks again for that quick reply!

FWIW, I have found my two biggest sales are either individual digital files, which tend to be bought one or two at a time, or as CD sales, which have a larger number of images for one set price, delivered on a CD by mail. My CD price is $60 and usually includes about two dozen images. (the price per image is obviously lower, but the average sale-per-order is higher).

zack75144

I shoot little league sports. I offer personal licenses for $10 each or $65 for a single player CD.
I don't have to worry about magazines or corporate sponsors etc. These shots are only important to the player's parents and grandparents.

I have donated usage to our playground for a tounament brochure. They gave photo credit to me on the brochure.

chrisjohnson

zack75144 wrote: »

I shoot little league sports. I offer personal licenses for $10 each or $65 for a single player CD.
I don't have to worry about magazines or corporate sponsors etc. These shots are only important to the player's parents and grandparents.

I have donated usage to our playground for a tounament brochure. They gave photo credit to me on the brochure.

I regularly buy photos for commercial use. Often this is as simple as including in a ppt presentation for a small audience or a background video at a show or presentation.

When you are not sure what your photo is worth you should embed a small and unobtrusive copyright statement and sell a clear license for limited use. Price it low to get it out there. 30$ might work for me, but 99 cents is better. Critical thing is the photo is easy to find, licensing is simple, and I can crop the download - my time is also money. I am not going to shop around to save 20$.

In the event that someone else wants to use it more broadly they will almost always come back to you because it is clear that they will infringe copyright by ripping it off. Then you can make another deal.

Your copyright statement should be direct - an email address with a fast response. Someone who wants your photo needs to contact you quickly and get a fast clearance to use again.