John Mitchell Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 No doubt the pros and cons of this idea have been discussed before, but perhaps the discussion is worth reviving. Should Alamy consider getting into the POD (Print On Demand) business? Given that there are so many print-worthy images -- and more being added all the time -- on Alamy that will probably never sell as stock, wouldn't this make sense? Or would it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bell Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 It is a good idea John but I think Alamy might not consider it as commensurate with their core business. Do G and C offer this service? Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 It is a good idea John but I think Alamy might not consider it as commensurate with their core business. Do G and C offer this service? Allan Don't know the answer to that one. Perhaps someone else does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arletta Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I thought about it long time ago. Alamy has wonderful base of material ready to order as prints. Strange that they didn't do it already... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustydingo Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 A big NO vote from me on this. Alamy already have a core business, I for one hope they continue with that and don't dilute effort and resources elsewhere. dd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 A big NO vote from me on this. Alamy already have a core business, I for one hope they continue with that and don't dilute effort and resources elsewhere. dd +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 I would give a big NO if the prints were sold for peanuts and contributors ended up with shells. However, if it were an opt in/out (per image basis) situation and we could set our own prices -- say within fixed bands -- then it might work. Now that I think of it, G sells -- or was selling -- prints on FAA for less than peanuts, which I believe has caused a big kerfuffle. But that's another story... I do wonder, though, about the ultimate fate of all those really good, non-stocky images languishing on Alamy's back pages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 One of the Novel Use clients is just that: prints from Alamy (and maybe other) images. Where do your images come from?Having partnered with the world's largest online photo library, Alamy, we are able to offer images from thousands of photographers and hundreds of stock agencies around the globe. It's a US (NJ) operation, but I'm sure they ship to Canada. Now I'll have to find the name and a link somewhere. Here it is: http://www.art4life.com/ wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Brook Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I've sold my Fine Art prints for hundreds and max $2200 for a signed print. I also have a big gallery exhibit tentatively next year where prints will be sold for $2500 or so. I am on FAA and other sites and happy with that. In addition,I have some corporate accounts and designers that buy my work directly thru me. Years ago I was with a small agency that sold prints and the net was pretty good. They sold a large print of my photo and the profit was slightly more than $100. They took less than 50% commission.Perhaps 30%? If they would be selling for more money than stock I would consider. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoDogue Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 I suspect the majority of print sales are to one-time buyers while the majority of Alamy clients are probably industry professionals who license a number of images at a time. Marketing to individuals, and print fulfillment tends to be less efficient and considerably more time consuming. Not only do individuals tend to be less familiar with cropping and paper proportions but they sometimes expect the print to be framed... not to forget paper texture, matting and other options that are usually only available on print fulfillment sites. Maybe ten years ago I made a direct "print sale" where the organization needed a print to enlarge into a mural sized photo for the lobby of a new building. So I dug a print out of my archive and sent it FedEx. Nowadays they'd probably just use a digital file and send that to their printer. Of course if someone wanted to buy a print there's no reason to believe Alamy would refuse. fD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 One of the Novel Use clients is just that: prints from Alamy (and maybe other) images. Where do your images come from? Having partnered with the world's largest online photo library, Alamy, we are able to offer images from thousands of photographers and hundreds of stock agencies around the globe. It's a US (NJ) operation, but I'm sure they ship to Canada. Now I'll have to find the name and a link somewhere. Here it is: http://www.art4life.com/ wim Thanks for the link, Wim. I'm quite happy with FAA. Sales aren't exactly brisk, but they do happen. I hadn't heard of the POD outfit that you mentioned. Shall check it out. I opted out of NU a couple of years ago. It was a bit too novel for my liking, I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 I've sold my Fine Art prints for hundreds and max $2200 for a signed print. I also have a big gallery exhibit tentatively next year where prints will be sold for $2500 or so. I am on FAA and other sites and happy with that. In addition,I have some corporate accounts and designers that buy my work directly thru me. Years ago I was with a small agency that sold prints and the net was pretty good. They sold a large print of my photo and the profit was slightly more than $100. They took less than 50% commission.Perhaps 30%? If they would be selling for more money than stock I would consider. L The thing I like most about FAA is that we can control our prices. If photographers don't do this, no one else will these days, that's for certain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 I've sold my Fine Art prints for hundreds and max $2200 for a signed print. I also have a big gallery exhibit tentatively next year where prints will be sold for $2500 or so. I am on FAA and other sites and happy with that. In addition,I have some corporate accounts and designers that buy my work directly thru me. Years ago I was with a small agency that sold prints and the net was pretty good. They sold a large print of my photo and the profit was slightly more than $100. They took less than 50% commission.Perhaps 30%? If they would be selling for more money than stock I would consider. L The thing I like most about FAA is that we can control our prices. If photographers don't do this, no one else will these days, that's for certain. Agreed. I've made some sales with Red Bubble lately as well.The least of my favorite places and I was considering removing my images.What I liked about the agency that sold art prints is they also did the framing and you'd get a cut of that as well. They set the prices and $100+ profit was quite nice and unexpected. The agency was a small one man operation and they folded.He found it hard to keep up with the low ball pricing. Very hard to have a stock agency when you have to do all the work and pay money for the servers. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve B Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 A big NO vote from me on this. Alamy already have a core business, I for one hope they continue with that and don't dilute effort and resources elsewhere. dd +1 And another +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 Alamy could consider partnership with major, established company that would print & deliver prints, posters. Those types of orders would have to be paid up-front, I'd think. For example, CI and a 'warehouse club' teamed up to offer prints and posters. Don't know if this service is even mentioned on CI's site. (GI Gallery offers photographic prints, w/wo framing.) It is a good idea John but I think Alamy might not consider it as commensurate with their core business. Do G and C offer this service? Allan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Smart Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I would rather not Alamy compete with my images on POD sites as, like Getty, they will more than likely undercut my prices. IMHO a large percentage of "editorial" type images do not necessarily make good prints for the wall. Conversely, FAA are now offering contributors images for stock licensing where you can choose the pricing - now there's an idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arletta Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 IMHO a large percentage of "editorial" type images do not necessarily make good prints for the wall. Conversely, FAA are now offering contributors images for stock licensing where you can choose the pricing - now there's an idea! Large percentage of people don't care the quality. I know some of them personally. They do prints from my 900px files! Let's not talk about quality here Own pricing is great idea for author. And as I can see on FAA, people sell with really high prices. If it's possible, why not doing this that way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila Smart Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 IMHO a large percentage of "editorial" type images do not necessarily make good prints for the wall. Conversely, FAA are now offering contributors images for stock licensing where you can choose the pricing - now there's an idea! Large percentage of people don't care the quality. I know some of them personally. They do prints from my 900px files! Let's not talk about quality here Own pricing is great idea for author. And as I can see on FAA, people sell with really high prices. If it's possible, why not doing this that way? Actually, I was not referring to quality - just the content of editorial style images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Palmer Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Under no circumstances would I want Alamy to compete with me for print sales. As others pointed out, they would likely undercut my prices since some images are posted both here and on my POD site.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Under no circumstances would I want Alamy to compete with me for print sales. As others pointed out, they would likely undercut my prices since some images are posted both here and on my POD site.. I agree 100%, Lynn. I just can't help wondering what will happen to all those thousands -- or even millions -- of Alamy images that never see the light of day, so to speak. What might be some other options (other than giving them away like you-know-who) to generate some income for both Alamy and contributors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Jordan Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Under no circumstances would I want Alamy to compete with me for print sales. As others pointed out, they would likely undercut my prices since some images are posted both here and on my POD site.. Yes I agree! I currently find myself in the "sin bin" and so I am having a month's rest from chasing stock photos. Amongst other things, I am working on my collections on POD sites FAA, PHOTO4ME and Artflakes. I am enjoying doing this and hope in time to make it a paying business, but I would not want to have Alamy competing in it. There is so much for Alamy to continue to do to keep competitive in the stock business without the distraction of something very different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Under no circumstances would I want Alamy to compete with me for print sales. As others pointed out, they would likely undercut my prices since some images are posted both here and on my POD site.. Yes I agree! I currently find myself in the "sin bin" and so I am having a month's rest from chasing stock photos. Amongst other things, I am working on my collections on POD sites FAA, PHOTO4ME and Artflakes. I am enjoying doing this and hope in time to make it a paying business, but I would not want to have Alamy competing in it. There is so much for Alamy to continue to do to keep competitive in the stock business without the distraction of something very different. I agree, the prints route is my plan for when the days get a lot shorter and greyer. Currently I am making a point of getting out every day and being purposeful and thoughtful about producing something for stock (or news). I have made a completely fresh start and have made photography my full time job, essentially unpaid at the moment though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Palmer Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Martin, I have the unpaid part of photography down pat. Even the images that have sold here on Alamy haven't paid up yet. It's definitely a labor of love for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 In the past,I've found people selling images from low res files on auction sites such as ebay.Not only prints but compilation CDs as well. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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