Selling digital files only

Has anyone ever sold digital files only no prints?
Had a email today of the father of a freshman quaterback that wanted to know if I would sell digital copy of what is posted.

John

Yes, people sell digital files all the time. Or do you mean exclusively, they don't have prints for sale but only digital files? Dunno on that one.

Dave

He just wants to buy the digital files of some of son's game photos..

I offer both, digital and print.... as well as mouse pads, t-shirts, magazine covers, etc. Why not?

I only sell digital's. Never needed to sell prints etc

thanks,

All the time, 99% of all photo viewing/displaying is done on the computer screen.

Unless the client wants something larger than 8x12 he is better served getting them somewhere else.

I sell digital files that are sized for a high quality 8x10/8x12 print... For personal use they are $18 each, which is a couple dollars less than I charge for a print that size, but more expensive than smaller prints I offer. I will give a little discount if they bought a large number of digitial files.

I make certain to imbed "personal use only, non transferable" licensing info in the EXIF.

Editorial use licensing is available too, starting at $75 and going up from there. Commercial use I don't quote until I know more details about the exact usage.

These are download prices. If I burn and supply a disk there will usually be a slight additional charge.

I don't object to selling digital files... But it's just one of over 100 different products that customers can purchase from me.

I do get upset that some people give digital files away at ridiculously low prices. I have every bit as much work into a digital file as I do a print, so there is no reason I can see that it should be all that much cheaper than a standard print. (I know of an event photographer who sells a CD of up to 100 images for $10!)

amfoto1 wrote in post #11272676
These are download prices. If I burn and supply a disk there will usually be a slight additional charge.

Including sales tax, correct? It's a legit question, not a jab. My understanding, and what I do, here in CA is that emailed jpeg files do not require sales tax, whereas a CD with jpegs on it does require sales tax. That's usually enough to convince my customers to accept them over email.

Dave

amfoto1 wrote in post #11272676
I sell digital files that are sized for a high quality 8x10/8x12 print... For personal use they are $18 each, which is a couple dollars less than I charge for a print that size, but more expensive than smaller prints I offer. I will give a little discount if they bought a large number of digitial files.

I make certain to imbed "personal use only, non transferable" licensing info in the EXIF.

Editorial use licensing is available too, starting at $75 and going up from there. Commercial use I don't quote until I know more details about the exact usage.

These are download prices. If I burn and supply a disk there will usually be a slight additional charge.

I don't object to selling digital files... But it's just one of over 100 different products that customers can purchase from me.

I do get upset that some people give digital files away at ridiculously low prices. I have every bit as much work into a digital file as I do a print, so there is no reason I can see that it should be all that much cheaper than a standard print. (I know of an event photographer who sells a CD of up to 100 images for $10!)

What about the market where all kids want is digital files to throw an image on facebook, or on their phone, etc.? I see a market where you offer a small digital file, say 500 pixels on the long side, that is for web use only and will not print well. If you set it up so they know what they are buying, a file not for printing, but for web/PDA viewing, then I see no problem selling these for cheap. I offer these small files at $2 a piece (recent offer) and it has done alright in sales so far. I figured people (kids) were 'stealing' them anyways in ways that degrades the quality (cell phone pic of the monitor with my image up) and still contains my watermark. So why not offer a cheap alternative that they can buy them and use them for what they want them for, which is to put up on facebook, etc.

But print quality files, yes, I am along the same lines as you on this.

I priced my digial files the same as my 5x7 prints. It seems strange but I sell more prints than files. If I get a call from a kid (1 or 2 a season), I will give them a cropped file for facebook. To cut down (you'll never totaly prevent it) on stealing, I have darkened up my © and may resort to placing it twice on each image on line. Right now I just have it in the center.

Mike R wrote in post #11276522
To cut down (you'll never totaly prevent it) on stealing, I have darkened up my © and may resort to placing it twice on each image on line. Right now I just have it in the center.

I have seen people use watermarked photos as their profile photo on facebook with the watermark visible.

HappySnapper90 wrote in post #11276835
I have seen people use watermarked photos as their profile photo on facebook with the watermark visible.

I have to. When I fist discovered it, I offered the small file at no charge (The kids parents spent a lot on prints) The kid refused and said it was OK with my watermark. I think the kids like people to notice that they "stole" it. When an on line newspaper used one of my images, with my watermark barley visible. I took action. Turned out it was a reporter who got the image from a girl who stole it and provided it to him, who then submitted it with his story on the girl. He paid me for his laspe in judgement.

That's not a "market," not in the sense of providing a profit (I just checked the topic header; it still says "The Business of Photography").

I, for one, can't do a "Facebook only session" for a kid that I can price at a level to pay the cost of the sale. I already know I need to gross at least $400 to break even an on-location session. Maybe Ivanka Trump or Paris Hilton will pay $400 just for a Facebook photo, but they haven't called me.

Mothers pay me big bucks for wall portraits of their darlings. I throw in the Facebook images as freebies. "Thanks for doing business with me. Here is a CD of images for Facebook as a special gift."