posted
I've gotten rather into photography recently; completely for personal consumption, not profit. But the idea of selling reproductions has interest for me and I was looking for advice. Some friends said they'd like to buy one, and so for starters I'm trying to figure out how much to tack on to actual costs (as in, if I order a canvas print for $50, how much is appropriate to add on for me)? Any ideas? Any advice about selling photos in general?
posted
Hobbes, there's a very recent thread at sake started by Mike about how much people would pay for art, that later morphed into a discussion about photography and selling photos. You might want to check that out in addition to any posts you get here.
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Thank-you, that was an interesting read. For my part I view this not even to the extent of supplementing income. Rather I would like to put some of my photographs out there for friends or other interested parties and feel it's appropriate to add some amount beyond cost of production (of the print only, not production of the image itself). So for it's less driven by how much others would pay (since I'm not selling for what the market would bear, but rather only selling to those who pretty much already decided they'd like something) as it is what amount is appropriate to add on. My original thoughts were on the order of max($5,10%) but I don't feel like I have a strong frame of reference.
quote:My original thoughts were on the order of max($5,10%) but I don't feel like I have a strong frame of reference.
That sounds really low to me. Twenty percent markup is kind of a standard. Would you be having the prints made by someone else or printing them yourself.
If you are having the prints made by someone else, 10% ought to be the rock bottom minimum price for friends and family (assuming this isn't a gift). How much time would it take you to get prints made? Now multiply that number by three to get the time it will really take. Will $5 or 10% even amount to minimum wage?
If you would be printing these yourself, it's pretty hard to accurately determine the real cost in terms of canvas, ink, printer wear and tare, transportation, and time. I'd probably just find out how much a commercial place would charge to make the print, and ask for that amount even if I was I thought I could print it for substantially less.
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I wouldn't try to produce anything myself, it would all be made elsewhere (etsy shop, Sam's Club, or a more high-end photo-processor, I like Nations Photolab ). I keep almost all my best photos online and at full quality, so if someone wanted they could certainly do it themsleves even if it is against the law (the copyright is both implicit and explicit, the site specifying with every photo and I embedded a copyright into the EXIF data). The money wouldn't be for time or effor of print, but purley for intellectual property rights of the photo.
I appreciate the feedback, I have no experience at this so it's both interesting and useful.
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). I keep almost all my best photos online and at full quality, so if someone wanted they could certainly do it themsleves even if it is against the law (the copyright is both implicit and explicit, the site specifying with every photo and I embedded a copyright into the EXIF data). The money wouldn't be for time or effor of print, but purley for intellectual property rights of the photo.
