Image buyout

[Alex Ramsay]

Hi - this may not be entirely appropriate here, but would be interested to hear your thoughts - I did a shoot a while ago for a specific PR usage at an historic property undergoing renovation . That usage is now completed under the terms of the agreement I had with them. Now the owners of the property want to buy out my images - they are considering a big leisure development, theme park etc., money (I gather) no problem. Anyone have any thoughts as to what might be reasonable in the circumstances? About 150 images in all.

[Robert M Estall]

Your ship may have come in! But go about it the right way for best outcome. Do quote them on a per image basis and perhaps a bit of a sliding scale. Try to get them to select their "must have" two or three at six or  seven hundred pounds each. That leaves the possibility of adding extra images and indadvertedly upping the total nicely Certainly don't bundle up the whole 150 image package and agree to a couple of thousand all-in.

 

worth a try and hold your nerve! Just throw out the figures and wait for their reaction. Do not phone them up and ask "what do you think?"

 

good luck!

[Alex Ramsay]

Thanks Robert!

[Imagery by Charly]

That price for the images seems low to me, then again I'm pretty new to all this stuff. My way of thinking would be: 1. They prefer me not to have the option to make money off of them, 2. How much money over my lifetime could I possibly make would be thought on carefully and 3. They will use them for the cost agreed upon forever on web site, for advertising, etc.

[Robert M Estall]

I was mostly an agent for about thirty years, but have pretty much reverted to being a photographer these days. Put together a quite a few deals over the years; every one was different, but the format remained similar. Actual buy-outs were rare, extended rights over a longish period more likely.

 

Perhaps I might have been a little hasty in suggesting any figures; might be too high, might be too low, only you and your client have any idea about the potential earnings of the photos. Do lots of other photographers have coverage? Non-mainstream historic buildings can make sales, but the pix do have a habit of being pretty dormant. And they date as the site is developed. I have cracking shots of Battersea Power Station belching smoke and steam. They used to sell nicely, seldom a nibble these days

 

You want to walk away with a good wedge in your pocket without the client thinking "greedy sod, we wont be using him again" A good trick if you can pull it off!

[fotoDogue]

I agree with Charly. $700 sounds quite low to me since I've had a number of one-time non-exclusive editorial sales that exceeded that amount. Back in the last century ASMP would recommend 3x the licensing fee or the amount you might expect the image to earn over a lifetime. Granted some images earn more than others but I'd think a buy-out fee somewhere between $3000 and $10,000 per image is fair amount. Of course most clients won't pay that much which is why it's Better if they simply choose the images they're likely to use than buy-out the entire take.

[Foreign Export]

I think Robert was referring to pounds sterling, and not dollars

[fotoDogue]

I think Robert was referring to pounds sterling, and not dollars

700 pounds equals $1,094.38 so my suggestion would be a minimum of about 2000 pounds