Flickr - has anyone sold an image?
Discussion
Yes, have sold a couple. Also when they were linked up with Getty images some of mine were on there and sold a few too. But that's all but died a death now. Was contacted by someone at the Wall Street Journal about some photos I had of a particular ski resort that they said they wanted to use but then never heard back from them. So if anyone sees an article in WSJ about property in La Plagne let me know and i'll check they haven't rinsed my flickr account....
I've sold licenses to use several of my flickr pictures. I don't use getty or and have always been approached through email or private message via the site.
Insofar as etiquette is concerned, once an expression of interest is made, I usually try to find out the extent to which the image is to be used commercially or not, and if so, for how long, in what media, and in which jurisdictions. After that its all down to negotiation.
By way of example, a girl recently made a very polite approach and asked if she could use one of my pictures on a canvas for her fiance. I agreed to let her do that for free, and provided hi-res images.
At the other end of the spectrum, an advertisng agency contacted me last year on behalf of a foreign government that wanted to use a picture in a 12 month continent wide campaign. In this scenario I insisted on what I thought were fairly competitive commercial rates with a proper written contract. It helped that in dealing with an agency, there was an expectation on their part that they would have to pay for the rights.
On several occasions I have allowed pictures to appear in books or calendars in return for several copies of the finished book.
At the end of the day its a question of balancing how much the person contacting you wants to use your picture (compared to anyone else's) against how much you want to see it in print (compared to anyone else).
A brewery in New Zealand asked if they could use one of my pictures in an advertising campaign. It was clear that although they were pitching themselves as a start up who did not have much money to spend, they were in fact an off-shoot of one of the country's main producers. I think that I suggested a licence for around £400, which I thought was cheap, but I didn't hear anything back. As I'm not making a living from photography I tend to just chalk this sort of thing up to experience and not worry too much.
HTH
ps. I should add that flickr users are not immune to random approaches claiming that a company or individual can sell your images for you. I tend to ignore these.
Insofar as etiquette is concerned, once an expression of interest is made, I usually try to find out the extent to which the image is to be used commercially or not, and if so, for how long, in what media, and in which jurisdictions. After that its all down to negotiation.
By way of example, a girl recently made a very polite approach and asked if she could use one of my pictures on a canvas for her fiance. I agreed to let her do that for free, and provided hi-res images.
At the other end of the spectrum, an advertisng agency contacted me last year on behalf of a foreign government that wanted to use a picture in a 12 month continent wide campaign. In this scenario I insisted on what I thought were fairly competitive commercial rates with a proper written contract. It helped that in dealing with an agency, there was an expectation on their part that they would have to pay for the rights.
On several occasions I have allowed pictures to appear in books or calendars in return for several copies of the finished book.
At the end of the day its a question of balancing how much the person contacting you wants to use your picture (compared to anyone else's) against how much you want to see it in print (compared to anyone else).
A brewery in New Zealand asked if they could use one of my pictures in an advertising campaign. It was clear that although they were pitching themselves as a start up who did not have much money to spend, they were in fact an off-shoot of one of the country's main producers. I think that I suggested a licence for around £400, which I thought was cheap, but I didn't hear anything back. As I'm not making a living from photography I tend to just chalk this sort of thing up to experience and not worry too much.
HTH
ps. I should add that flickr users are not immune to random approaches claiming that a company or individual can sell your images for you. I tend to ignore these.
Edited by CY88 on Monday 27th April 17:16
CY88 said:
It helped that in dealing with an agency, there was an expectation on their part that they would have to pay for the rights.
It probably equally helped that they're not actually footing the bill for it - they just stick 30% on top and pass it on. The downside of working with agencies is that you can spend a lot of time quoting and never get the work - because the agency didn't win the pitch.Simpo Two said:
It probably equally helped that they're not actually footing the bill for it - they just stick 30% on top and pass it on. The downside of working with agencies is that you can spend a lot of time quoting and never get the work - because the agency didn't win the pitch.
Agreed. In my case, while there was a bit of to and fro-ing, the agent really wanted the picture and so did the client. Most of my time after that was actually spent (with some difficulty) trying to digitally tweek the image so that it was at a clear enough resolution to be printed at billboard size. Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff