Difficult Negotiating Situation

[zanyzach37]

Hi there,

I recently approached an organization with some of my images, and they're interested in using them for the web and in brochures, but have no details or idea as to the size or distribution of their materials and website promotion. Normally I'd just use a program like FotoQuote or FotoBiz to plug in whatever figures I had, but I really have nothing to work off of.

I don't want to be rude and in any way "demand" the information, because I'm just starting out, and I did make it clear that regardless of the figure I gave, if the scope of the campaign or the usages of my images got to a certain point, renegotiation might be necessary.

I ended up giving a ballpark figure ($250 an image) and I did this after asking a bunch of my photographer friends and people in the business, but I don't know if this was a smart idea. We have a meeting this week regarding the price and whether it will be okay, and I'm thinking that I might have done the wrong thing.

Right now, $250 an image sounds amazing, even if it's only one or two images. But I don't want to be taken advantage of or underpaid, because I could see this leading to a long-term relationship with the organization, and I don't want to start on the wrong foot.

What would you have done? Did I do anything wrong? Should I have waited to get more information (distribution, full details on web) before I gave a figure?

Thanks for all the advice in advance :-)

[ssim]

Set yourself a floor price (the lowest you will go) and when you encounter situations like this the answer I would give is, "the cost could be as low as 250.00 per image but that is dependant on further information that I need from you."

You may have created a situation that is going to come back to bite you. It depends on their take of the conversations.

[forcebender]

I think most people understand the situation your in is a business decision, and to ask for additional information about usage is understandable. If they throw up some roadblocks, you might want to GENTLY educate them regarding how the business works.

[zanyzach37]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

I'm sure this is a fairly typical situation for most photographers, but I haven't really been in this position yet and I felt pretty flustered when I was supposed to give a figure per image with pretty much no background information on what they'd be used for.

I emailed the woman and asked for a little more info on the extent of the use of the photographs, and explained that in order to give her the best price I could, I'd need something to work with.

I'm definitley glad I asked my friends and here about pricing... Being a recent graduate and pretty broke, I definitley was prepared to ask for like $50 bucks an image. I guess it's still hard for me to put value to images, but it's something I certainly need to get accustomed to and knowledgable in.

[batterylaptop]

the use of the photographs and the copyright of your photographs are imporant.
you must ask them for more info.

[SOE digital]

More or less demand the information in a friendly way.
"I really need to know this or that in order to come up with a price that suits both our needs"