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Author Topic: Stock: Store and Sell  (Read 6270 times)

markhout

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Stock: Store and Sell
« on: September 24, 2007, 01:23:10 pm »

I would have thought that this subject would have been discussed ad nauseam, but searches here, Google and elsewhere didn't result in what I'm looking for.

Like many of you, I'm sitting on many thousands of images that I accumulated over the years, which has accelerated when I started shooting digitally. In all fairness, 90% of these images is either technically, artistically and/or commercially crap, but for the 10% that's kind of interesting I'm looking for an outlet.

I am not a pro photographer, but I sell occasionally to companies, people and magazines that are interested. I don't have a marketing plan, but I would like to sell more and bring some structure in my approach.

I have been lurking on Internet sites like this one, and have been reading through books and magazines and came up with a number of online businesses that may be interested in taking my images and marketing them. These companies include Digital Railroad and Photoshelter and others.

My focus over the years has been a mix of travel, nature and urban. An overview of 10 key images is at My Webpage and there are 300 images at the Flickr website.

I would be very grateful for your input and experience with submitting images to stock websites. I am particularly looking at a site where I can store say 15GB of the best / most commercially viable images and sell them.

Thanks much,

Mark
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James Godman

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« Reply #1 on: September 24, 2007, 06:54:35 pm »

Hey Mark-

First of all, I went to your flickr site and noticed that on the bottom it says "some rights reserved."  What does that mean and why aren't all rights reserved?  This may be a problem if you approach an agency with these.

Nice pics though.  Perhaps Photoshelter is the right place for you, but I'm not sure.
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James Godman
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markhout

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« Reply #2 on: September 24, 2007, 09:00:29 pm »

Quote
First of all, I went to your flickr site and noticed that on the bottom it says "some rights reserved."  What does that mean and why aren't all rights reserved?  This may be a problem if you approach an agency with these.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=141654\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Hi james - thanks! You are absolutely right. I have not been reserving all rights to allow non-commercial usage. But I will change that now. Thanks for pointing that out.

Mark
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James Godman

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« Reply #3 on: September 25, 2007, 12:06:22 am »

And I'd say that you really need to edit your pictures down to the best ones.
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James Godman
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lightstand

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« Reply #4 on: September 25, 2007, 05:36:22 pm »

Back to discussing stock sites,  I never understand the concept of paying for a service that is suppose to be selling your work, can't they just subtract their fee after they have made all those sales? This is true for galleries as well that want artists to pay for both space as well as the 50% commission: do artists not do the math to figure out how much the gallery would need to sell of their work in a year before they can make a profit?

I mean $550 per year and when I google the term "stock photography / images" neither of the big pay sites like Mira, Digital Railroad, Photo-shelter come up in the search but I've been spammed by them numerous times I wonder if their business model is to make money off stock sales or just photographers?

Don't get me wrong I would love to go with an agency that was all about higher prices for Licensed stock images, but it needs to make the sales that cover all the fees, any opinions on these fees?
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markhout

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« Reply #5 on: September 25, 2007, 07:25:56 pm »

Quote
I mean $550 per year and when I google the term "stock photography / images" neither of the big pay sites like Mira, Digital Railroad, Photo-shelter come up in the search but I've been spammed by them numerous times I wonder if their business model is to make money off stock sales or just photographers?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=141819\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Thanks. Fair enough, good points.

But box.net charges $200 p/a for storing 15GB, so if the stockagency charges $600 p/a for agency fees plus 20GB storage, really you're paying $400 for the representation and marketing.

Previously I have never had any dealings with stockagencies (on neither side of the table) and I was just curious about experiences on this forum, as I'm sure most of you are holding on to thousands of images. The forums on photoshelter are riddled with posts that show frustration and lack of experience with the workings of a stock agency in general, and I wanted to see what the folks here think.

M
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Monito

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« Reply #6 on: September 26, 2007, 03:18:34 am »

Register your images immediately with the Copyright Office to give you the maximum protection (legal fees reimbursed and statutory penalties).  Also, every time  copyright is enforced, it prevents dozens or hundreds of future copyright theft

List whatever images you have posted on the web in the past and bulk register them in batches of 750 as published images, highest quality published, on two identical CDs.

Bulk register the rest of the unpublished images immediately in large quantities, ex. 450 x 300 jpeg per image on CD.  135,000 pixels are enough to establish the identity of the image, especially since you also own the highest quality and cleanest original.

I'm not a lawyer, but I register all my images before publishing, and though it is not established legal precedent that web publishing constitutes "publishing" under copyright law, it is my opinion and the opinion of of the Director of the Copyright Office.

http://www.asmp.org/commerce/legal/copyright/
http://copyright.gov
« Last Edit: September 26, 2007, 03:19:25 am by Monito »
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photomaker123

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« Reply #7 on: February 24, 2008, 03:22:22 am »

Here you will find all details about how and where to sell photos on internet or in your town !

www.how-to-sell-photos-online.com

Best Regards!

« Last Edit: February 24, 2008, 03:22:37 am by photomaker123 »
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