Photos used as Art in Hotels? Prints? Licenced?

Greetings!

I have a question for all those out there whom sell their work.

Last week I was contacted by an "Artwork Headhunter" (hired by a company for interior design and choices of artwork) and was informed that a large hotel chain here in Canada selected one of my prints to be used in the remodelling of their Hotel here in Calgary. The photograph would be used throughout the hotel and from what I understand would be in each room.

The firm which contacted me is looking for reproduction rights to print the photograph at 49"x19" dimensions.

My question is what the heck do I charge for something like this. This would be the largest scale order I've had to fill thus far, and my first time dealing with reproduction rights, and of this size. Most of the work I do is flat rate magazine stuff. Nothing based on qualtity and whatnot. The agency has not provided any information on what they are willing to pay.

I havent been able to find any information online about appropriate cost to sell prints for under this situation, even searching this forum, as most revolve around magazines and such (based on size of add and distribution quantity), and nothing about selling photos for framed display. Normally I would sell a photo such as this, in that size for a few hundred dollars. Does anyone have any thoughts about the route I should take? I dont want to rip them off, however I do want to see some respectable returns on this photograph, as it is one of my more popular ones.

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated because there's a LOT of talented photographers on this forum, and I would greatly admire some input on my situation.

You can search the web far and wide and not get an answer at all, everything seems to do with magazine print and junk.. Also, if this was posted in the wrong forum, my appologies, was unsure about where it should be.

Anyone else have any input,

Thanks gang.


Thanks a lot gang!

Ben

I just came across your thread. Shame noone gave you any pointers. What happened with it? Did you make out okay?

Unusual situation for me, so I'm giving you a

Wow,. no idea here either.
What you might consider is what you would charge for giving somone non exclusive rights to a digital file,. seems pretty much one and the same here.

Sorry gang, post from the grave.

Let me bring you up to speed on the deallings and the result.

<pasted>
So one of my latest projects I've been working on for a Large Upscale hotel downtown requires my photograph printed and framed in large print size for each of their rooms. This is a very popular photo of mine (which I have sold the most of) and they would like printing rights of 100 images, but at a flat rate for the digital file. The quandry I posess is this. The price they're willing to pay for the image is rediculous. This would be something I would normally do for around $100 per print when in this quantity, and the commercial benefit they will recieve from it. What they are offering is substantialy less with no room for negotiation.

I have pretty much made up my mind on what I'm going to do for this, however am interested in others thoughts. Do you take a loss (I'm not losing money on the work, it's just earning a LOT less than what it should be) but gain the exposure (I'm not hurting for work) and résumé addition of a large client, or do you tell them thanks but no thanks, because you ultimatly feel your work is worth more, and your pride is not that it's printed anywhere or everywhere no matter what your gain, but that you earn what you should?

Of course I have contracts and licence agreements drawn up, signing off on quantity and timeframes, but in the digital industry, it's one of those things you have to take their word for. They break the terms, bad news for them.

What I dont want to be doing is offering professional work at rock bottom sub basement, inner mantle prices. It dilutes the market and lowers the value of EVERYONES work. Digital photography has already done this, and the affordability of good quality equipment.

Basically the hotel wanted to pay me the price I would normally charge for 1 print, for the full sized digital file.

I told them where to go ever so elloquantly. For a whopping hundred bucks? Not even worth a nerve ending synapsys to trigger a roll of ones eye.

Dont sell yourselves short.


Thanks for the great insight thus far, this will be a beneficial thread for those in this situation to come.

Yeah, You should be insulted. Glad you took the high road out of there! I could see if they offered other perks to match your price like free hotels stays anywhere in the world, etcs...but sounds like they just want something for nothing.

bennyunknown wrote in post #2145549
What I dont want to be doing is offering professional work at rock bottom sub basement, inner mantle prices. It dilutes the market and lowers the value of EVERYONES work. Digital photography has already done this, and the affordability of good quality equipment.

Dont sell yourselves short.

Now there is a refreshing statement for a change. It is nice to see the odd person willing to keep the bar at a reasonable level. The problem you will be faced with is that they might find find a weekend warrior photographer that will supply an image (albeit it won't be this one) at an even lower price.

This is a matter of negotiations. They have started at the low end of the spectrum and you are at the far end. I'd just talk to them some more and you should end up in the middle somewhere. I would never take their first offer to be their final offer. You do have to be ready though to walk away from it if you feel that it is too low.

Good luck.

$100 is peanuts! And you don't need the exposure. And the exposure wouldn't have your name or web address. I sold a photo to a postcard company a few years ago, and they butchered up the photo by adding in a large fake moon and putting the letter graphics too close to an important feature. It's one of the best selling postcards in Palm Springs because tourists like it, and it has my name on the back, but nobody has ever contacted me saying, "Hey I liked that postcard. Can you do a job for us?" Fortunately it was a verbal non-exclusive agreement.

Do a google search for fotoquote, it is a program that comes highly recommended from a number of photographers I've talked to, the program essentially tells you how much you should or effectively can charge to license an image for all sorts of rights uses, such as web or advertising. I plan on buying this program very soon, I heard it is around $100 bucks or so.

Wow, that's quite the lowball offer. While it's good business to lowball people, the offer should be typically just a bit lower than anyone would be willing to take, not insultingly low. I'd make a counter offer and if they didn't budge then i'd tell them to find another photographer.

That's a huge print, I wouldn't even do it for $100 PER copy. I would counter asking whether that was each and see what they say.

I don't know what the going rate is (I would look it up if the situation came up), but for essentially givening away publiching rights like this I would hit them up for $1500 per image. $1000 if they agree to put my name noticeably on each print (or frame).

Recognizing they are doing the printing and all you are doing is handing over a digital file, but $100 is way too low for this kind of use. If it was $100 per print, with them doing the printing then okay, I could live with that.

To me use dictates price and I will go after people who violate the useage rules.

Just my opinion,