I know this is probably a regional question but I have a company that wants to use one of my photos for a candy bar wrapper. They are a local fund raising type candy company but are very successful (Betsy Ann Chocolates). Anyhow they would like to buy one of my Pittsburgh photos for a 50,000 run of chocolate bars. I have no idea how to price this? If they bought it of of Istock I do not believe they would be able to mass produce it like that. Anyone have any idea on how much to charge? Like I said it is regional, I live in Pittsburgh, PA. Any help would be appreciated, I am always told not to underprice yourself if you want to look professional. The picture is on my website at darrellmccreaphoto.com in the Pittsburgh Portfolio one of the daylight photos. Any thoughts, or should I lower the price for a photo credit or website tagline? Thanks, Darrell

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From marshall/Marshall (11,928) on March 19, 2012 6:47:27 PM CDT Hard to say exactly how to price it, but I wouldn't suggest giving someone 50k printing rights for a photo credit, no. Reply

From rmullns/Robert (3,078) on March 19, 2012 7:43:43 PM CDT The problem with this kind of thing is that there are too many photog's willing to do it for nothing. If you price too high they will run-off, too low and you feel cheated ... it's possible you could give them a rate and say the price goes down at the second 50,000 production cycle (for the same image) if the sales go well ... try and get long term business from them -- The real question however, in a pricing question is: How much of that are you keeping? I assume you're paying taxes, have insurance, belong to an association or two, continue educating yourself, market and advertise your business, have some lab fees, pay for a computer and storage once in a while, pay for a phone and webhosting... not to mention the time spent networking yourself, updating web and blogsites. ... anyway ... I sold the rights to an image of mine to a ghoswriter doing a book for the first 1000 copies for real cheap -- $500 if the book sells more than a thousand he said he'll buy the image outright for $5000 -- I think they've sold about 100 copies ... lol Reply

From darrell/Darrell (8,177) on March 20, 2012 12:54:29 AM CDT Thanks, still not sure what to do. Reply

From ofofhy/Evan (10,587) on March 20, 2012 8:13:36 AM CDT I think you could price it per bar, that might make it easier for you look at this dilemma: $0.01 per bar = $500 $0.05 per bar = $2500 If you break it out that way, you might feel better about what to charge them. Reply

From baba/David (38,576) on March 20, 2012 10:40:35 AM CDT Photo credits and website tag lines are pretty much worthless. I am guessing these bars probably run about 2 dollars a piece retail if it is typical fundraising candy bars. Part of that money goes to the charity and part goes to the manufacturer. Everyone is making some money, so you should make some as well. And now doubt you will buy a few to hold on to for keepsakes. There may be a magic formula at the PSA site, but when I tried to look up pricing, it wasn't that helpful. They basically want you to buy some software to to figure out pricing. 1 cent per candy bar would be 500 dollars. Seems like a reasonable starting point for the negotiation. Reply

From swanda/John (1,023) on March 20, 2012 11:19:15 AM CDT I would think $500 would be better as a possible ending point, so I would give them a higher number to start, maybe $1000, to give yourself room in negotiations to come down. And if you quote them higher than you think they might want to pay, they might accept it. Reply

From darrell/Darrell (8,177) on March 20, 2012 11:37:01 AM CDT Great idea and advice will try it. Reply

From baba/David (38,576) on March 20, 2012 2:58:57 PM CDT You have to be careful that your initial price doesn't shut down negotiations at the very start. That is the risk you take going to high. My only suggestion is negotiate fast and get a contract signed ASAP. Gives them less time to find a cheaper alternative. Reply

From tab62/Thomas (4,337) on March 20, 2012 3:28:28 PM CDT Would this be an 'exclusive' sale as well? If so, than you should charge from $2,000 to $10,000 since that is what a lot of mircostock photographers charge if someone wants to purchase the rights of that photo strictly for themselves... T Reply

From dogothunder/Tim (6,886) on March 20, 2012 4:39:33 PM CDT $10,000 would be 20% of the proceeds from the fundraisers net revenues less cost of manufacture. They would most like do without a photo rather than give up that much in costs. This is a fundraiser and thus, price negotiating would be a bit different in my book. Just my .02 Reply

From tab62/Thomas (4,337) on March 21, 2012 9:21:55 PM CDT If 2K is okay plus make sure that this gets in your portfolio to advertise your photos. Reply

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