Selling your negs/files...

[WilliamClark]

I show reservations about selling or including my digital and/or film images. It's not just the money but it's my original art they are asking to buy! How much is my ego involved in this process? Don't other artists such as painters sell originals, albeit at a high fee commensurate with their notability?

I have Pictage as a supplier and this topic has been discussed on their forum. I do supply a low res scan of images from my client's wedding as part of my up front offerings. These are available from Pictage for a small fee. Then if they like what they see I offer the others at an additional charge.

Could perhaps some of this thought, prejudice, artfulness, be in between my ears and maybe I need to change my ideas and thought processes about this? How can I and do I put up a wall when a client asks for something? Do I say no and risk, the ultimate risk to me, is they copy from a low res scan or from another paper photo or do I work my pricing to get more profit up-front and realize I'm loosing re-print sales anyway? Are today's young engaged folks of a mind set that this is a part of the deal?

I pose these rhetorical questions for all to ponder!

Digital has changed this. If I ignore it the concept won't go away.

Within my new price regime, and it's proving to be successful in generating bookings... I offer a copy of the files on CD or DVD so that the customer can do as they wish in the future.
I don't just give them away. I offer a few packages hence within the quality photo albums and poster shots, the customer can have their "negatives".
Within digital imaging we all understand that the files are only a copy of the originals and I do archive on what I see as quality (you know... the gold coloured stuff) CD/DVD.

In every contract my fine print states that I can use the photos for self promotion. After some time passes... the couple may never see themselves and come to complain(People usually want some reward or discount for letting photogs use them in advertising). Frankly; after I've handed them their final product... I hope I never see them again.

"Out of sight, Out of mind" Keeps up the good will I reckon.

My only promotion at the moment is some minor web adv' and the posters on my wall in my garage of models and brides among other snaps. My website just isn't ready yet.

I'd sooner punch a bride and groom out if they came around to bug me about nothing... after I pretend to like them for a whole Lo o o ng day, giving them their 'negatives' is good business.
They always ask for them... just hand 'em over for a price and be done with them for ever!

Regards,
Bill.

[Doug_Sheppard]

Chris:

I'm going to go out on a limb and admit that I sell my images (hi-res) with my packages. The following reasons being:

1. Tax consequences.
2. It gets the bride to committ to a booking faster!
3. As an agregate, reprints are costly to me.
4. Gross/Net Profit is higher.

I look at all of my photography from a 90/10 perspective - 90% biz & 10% photography. Wedding packages are no different. I can't compete with a B/G copying my work, so why not give them the ability to to use the original? I'm also in the same boat as to files piling up year after year. For me it's easier to collect (at a discount) on the front-end of the sale when there is interest than trying to create a need for one's images years down the road when there is little interest.

Doug Sheppard
C&J Studios
PodiumFotos

[Mike_Guilbault]

This has turned into a very interesting thread. At the moment I do not include the digital files, only as a CD or DVD quicktime movie. Most of my reorders are around the $250-$500 mark, although I got one today for $1100. If I sold the files for an additional $500 on top of the album, that would certainly work out in my favour. Most of my bookings come from referrals, and mostly because the bride's friends have seen the finished album. I wonder if my bookings would drop if my brides started NOT getting albums and only CD's of digital files. The 'wow' factor is gone. But, at least if they ask if they get the files, I can say yes... for a price.

One of those things that makes you go hmmmmmmmm??????

[David_A_Smith]

[ QUOTE ]
It's not just the money but it's my original art they are asking to buy! How much is my ego involved in this process? Don't other artists such as painters sell originals, albeit at a high fee commensurate with their notability?

[/ QUOTE ]

I understand where your coming from Bill. This is the same type of argument that prompted me to keep all these negs in the first place. Thing is, how much is all this "original art" of mine worth now? The way I figure, its worth about $100 which is what it is going to cost to have someone haul it to the dump for me!

If we were shooting landscapes or new images or a host of other things it may be worth something but as we are shooting images of people that only have value to them, then the total of what this art is worth is only as much as they are prepared to pay for it. If it has so little value they haven't bothered to ask for it in the last 5 years or more, well.....

The best I have done so far with digital Cd's is to sell them for $1000 on top of the $4000 album they bought. I actual fact the client offered me more but as they had been great clients I felt than another unexpected grand was bonus enough.

I agree with you Doug. One of the main arguments I have heard over the years for not giving negs/images is that the clients will have them printed cheaply and badly thus deterioating the quality of your work and image. I have always wondered though, how good a laser photocopy or a photo of a photo looked when the clients made their own copies and what that did for the photographers professional image as well as their bank balance [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Shad_Reed]

Doug,

Can you expand on what you mean by tax consequences? Also, can anyone answer the question of shared copyrights? Can we both own the copyright?

Thanks,
Shad

[Bill_Jurasz]

> Also, can anyone answer the question of shared copyrights? Can we both own the copyright?

No. You should retain the copyright for yourself. No need for the bride to own the copyright as well.