What to charge for exclusivity?

[FrankS]

You seem to be open to the idea, and no one here as yet expressed outrage at the idea. You could convey your willingness to offer exclusivity, mention the loss of possible future sales of the image, and ask him to make an offer which he would be comfortable with. See what figure he comes up with.

 

[Doug]

Might be interesting to suggest to him a swap of the exclusive print for the lens you desire. That avoids a specific dollar figure, but equates value. And he could then go shopping for the best deal on the lens. 🙂

 

[RFH]

Important topic. I'm debating some of the same pricing questions with myself and the guys at the office these days. I'm planning an edition of 10x10 original wet prints in postcard size. Right now I'm leaning towards $100 for a set.
So, if someone wanted to own the only set in existence, I'd expect him/her to pay for all ten. Maybe a 20% percent discount just to be nice.
With a large fine print of which one would do perhaps 3-5 copies in an edition, which I suppose is Click's situation, I think it would be just fine to ask 3-5 times your intended price.
If it's an 'edition of 3' image to you, the starting price to be multiplied should be higher than if you intended to make 5.
If he's well off, chances are the actual price won't be too high for his wallet, and if he's a businessman he'll probably know the concept of paying what things are worth. And everybody appreciates honesty. Just tell him why the price is what it is. Anyone wanting exclusivity should be willing to pay for it.

 

[click]

I haven't googled him but I know who he is and have a good friend who knows him.

I destroyed all of the working prints as soon as I had settled on the final one. I originally thought that somehow I'd end up having a show in his studio. I'm not sure why I thought that but I did. He mentioned that I could use all of his photographic resources, he has some kind of giant digital printer that I have no idea about.

I made this with pushed tri-x and intentionally diffracting my lens. (I know, Ansel Adams is rolling in his grave) I went through a phase early on with photography where I did everything the experts said not to, more importantly what my photography 101 teacher said not to and ultimately it became my style. The printing is nine different exposures totaling 29 minutes of burning and dodging at various contrast grades and f stops (also diffracted) to create fine detail and rough soot and chalk areas. Twelve full size revisions took three days to make. In the final print the sky is much different being black at the top, the buildings are so ridiculously fine you can see every detail. I burned the lower right hand corner in heavily for reasons of directing the eye and made the water breaking pop as much as I could as it is the entire point of the picture. I just saw so much order and this one part just trying to escape from the order. The little woman rarely comments on pictures because she sees so many but I even got a "That's gorgeous" out of her so I knew I was onto something.

Okay, sorry guys for making you suffer through that. Writing this out made me recall how much work it really was and that having an exclusive picture really is worth something. Sometimes you have to hit me on the head.

I can see this as a very beneficial thing for me no matter what happens, it already has been. I'm going to send him an email and ask when we can get together and have a beer and discuss the exclusivity idea. I'm going to ask him to make me an offer, but what I really would like is a lens for it and he can accept or decline.

Thanks for your help!

Click

 

[Field]

How much can this guy pay? This photo sounds like it could be worth a lot more than you are giving it credit for... I want it! Ha...

Don't sell yourself short.

 

[cnphoto]

^ ditto!

lovely photo, lots of effort has gone in to it. at the least, i'd have a nice copy printed for myself to hang and perhaps exhibit in the future - perhaps a different size to the one you have sold so that they are both different - and as an unkown photographer, if i was planning an edition of 10 i would then charge him the cost of 11 prints as a tentative price...

 

[huntjump]

fantastic back story click. and of course great work, i'd love to see what you describe in person.

then i agree with what others have said, just don't sell yourself short in whatever you do, decide.

 

[Harry S.]

Ten grand. For that he gets the only print, and a video of a drunken you setting fire to the negative in a 44 gallon drum. 😛

All levity aside, I personally wouldnt have a problem destroying a negative for the right price. I only value my work for a time, and soon divorce myself of it. It would be interesting to possibly forget this image entirely and rediscover it in 50 years time and remember this whole story.

 

[redisburning]

Ten grand. For that he gets the only print, and a video of a drunken you setting fire to the negative in a 44 gallon drum. 😛

All levity aside, I personally wouldnt have a problem destroying a negative for the right price. I only value my work for a time, and soon divorce myself of it. It would be interesting to possibly forget this image entirely and rediscover it in 50 years time and remember this whole story.

for 10 grand I'd hand over the negative as long as we had it in writing he wouldnt sell any copies or the negative (he could, of course, sell the print).

then I'd clean his kitchen

and mow his yard

**** I'll do that for 200 dollars for any of my photos =/

 

[jm51]

The printing is nine different exposures totaling 29 minutes of burning and dodging at various contrast grades and f stops (also diffracted) to create fine detail and rough soot and chalk areas. Twelve full size revisions took three days to make.

I'd view him asking for an exclusivity deal as an act of kindness. 🙂

 

[Lord Nikon]

That is an awesome photo. I'd be very proud to make something that nice, no matter what comes of the sale.

I'd view him asking for an exclusivity deal as an act of kindness. 🙂

Thats just rude.

 

[v_roma]

I think if you're ok with the "one of a kind" print idea, come up with a realistic number of sales you would expect from the print and then multiply it by the price of one print. If you think you're not going to be able to let this go and will continue to worry that you sold yourself short and will miss out on potential future sales beyond what you estimated, then maybe you should just not do it.

 

[celluloidprop]

I'd do it for a relatively nominal fee (the price of another print or two), if only to cultivate a potential collector and patron (of his studio, etc.).

You'll have other great prints and images, you might not find another rich guy who enjoys your work.

 

[CameraQuest]

I would have no problem signing a contract but either way the boy scout in me would never go back on my word.

I think he enjoys the idea of it being the only one. He sent me an email asking if he could post a photo of it on his personal webpage and he told the story of meeting me. I was shooting a band in a very low light environment and checking my film speed by the light of my cell phone and it piqued his interest because (obviously) there's no display on my M6. On the page he talks numerous times about the fact that the print is one a kind. I seriously doubt he has any intention of selling it. I'm certain he has no want for money.

The biggest obstacle to me is not to offend the guy or take advantage of him in any way. I suspect that people in his shoes get hammered by people wanting things from them and I don't want to make anyone feel like that. I consider myself an excellent judge of character and this guy has it and was even more impressed that I knew that he didn't have to be nice to anyone. He was just intelligent enough to know that life is better that way. He mentioned that some photographers in the past had not been nice to him and was surprised when I told him my methodologies for making the print. He makes 3D images and highly surrealistic digital images where people are floating in mid air and I encouraged him to have a show, he's good at what he likes to do but it's a hobby subservient to a very demanding job. He asked me if I could teach him to use a film camera and I obliged to do it in the future. Anyway, back to the point of not being the lecherous photographer. 1.4 would mean a new world for me and he wants the exclusivity... I have no problem with making that print his. The problem lies in the realistic value of it and my moral compass pointing to not making anyone feel like they're just an ATM.

In an email before he bought the print I mentioned that I appreciated him and that each print sale helped me get closer to a low light lens. So he bought two, that in itself is something that I'm very appreciative of and while I don't want to sell myself short I'm almost inclined to just make the print his on that fact alone. Remember that I live in Arkansas, not a whole lot of people are into photography here, I only know one other person who does film.

On the other hand, I'm a Photographer for better or worse and seriously doubt I'll ever do anything else for a living. I'm not saying I'm the greatest but my pictures sure seem to inspire strong emotions (good and bad) in people for some reason? So it is likely that I will sell more prints. I don't really think in terms of making any real money, I think in terms of gas, film and paper to get out and find epic real life things happening. Probably exactly like most of you which is why we're on the same forum. I feel dizzy now.

You guys are like my internet photography psychiatrists!

If you have not quoted him a price yet, why not tell him that you have not made such a deal before, so you would like to hear his offer.

Then decide if its something you can, or want to, live with. If you think his offer is way too low, or way too high, that will make your decision a lot easier.

Stephen

 

[shadowfox]

Also, if it hasn't been brought up yet, consider offering him to become one of your Patron.
The rules are of course not set in stone (no contract between two persons ever is) but here's one variation: As your Patron, he will fund your photography projects (and your living) and in return he will get unique copy of your works.

What I'm worrying (about you, more than about him) is when he gets "bored" with your style or if he met another photographer that struck his fancy, what would happen to the relationship?

So make sure that you cover that (or whatever else you end up deciding) in a written contract.

I'm excited for you.

 

[kxl]

$10,000.

Based on that amount, what was your first reaction? If your initial reaction was "I just hit the lottery," then it's too high.

If your initial reaction was, "I'd rather burn the print," then it's too low.

At some point, you will find a number that sounds about right but will leave you thinking like you're underselling your photo. Add 20% to that number. That's your asking price.

 

[Pablito]

Editions of one are not unheard of but pretty uncommon. Editions of 5, 10, 20, are more common.

Destroying the negative is quite uncommon. Suppose the one original authorized print is destroyed... Of course Adams did it, purely to bring print prices up.

 

[jm51]

click, I sure didn't mean my post to appear rude. My attempt at humour was to do with how much effort you put into the print compared to how much time someone like me would have spent getting a print 'just right'.

btw, I'd been lurking here for some time, what got me to sign up was a desire to see your work.