For most businesses, the theory is that you triple the costs of your product’s materials. But in cases where a company’s directors or owners want a bit of a cushion, they take that number and double or triple it. My current sales outlet (Fine Art America) give me a third of the proceeds and all they sell is prints at prices I set. As not every lobby needs a giant print of Loch Leven or the lagoon at Middleton Place, sales can be intermittent and not enough to live on. It has been my experience that in the case of stock houses, they invent surreal pricing having little to do with materials cost and simply let the photographer member pick up the costs of materials plus the cost of the hours involved in preparing and sorting the photos for sale. When a company like Getty makes a pre-emptive strike to its competitors by requiring that its photographer members sign away the copyrights of images not yet produced, many shooters walk. I have had 7 stock houses, and except for one in the 70’s (Uniphoto, whose name I changed and made easier to get of your tongue), the others have managed my declining percentage of the rights sales to a point where it is no longer interesting. My work appeared in the original Nonstock catalog in the early 90’s, and they did okay. One image appeared in national magazine ads and billboards, then 13 months later got bought by a second campaign, and so on. Somewhere in there my contract expired, but buyers called me directly for a long time. Then DRR and Photoshelter got invented, put on big marketing campaigns, never really produced incomes for me or anybody I knew and slid under the waves. Then I began hearing rumors of unnamed execs allegedly being overstressed from counting all the $100 bills and had to nose up the proceeds. I tried to get my stuff out, but last time I got a statement from whomever they became it was for $27.35, which they held, because writing a check cost more. Frankly, i had no idea I even had anything in their files. Today, if you want a JF photo, you buy a print from FAA or a brick and mortar gallery or just get in touch and make me an offer too good to refuse. I do know a few guys making a living on selling stock, but Jim, Paul, Sam, Steve, amd ?? won’t say how well they do and all whine about the good old days. They know, as I do, that digital rubbish from a Rebel or Dxx has ruined the business, not improved it. On Feb 19, 2014, at 1:53 PM, Alberto Tirado wrote:
Art Faul The Artist Formerly Known as Prints ------ Art for Cars: art4carz.com Stills That Move: http://www.artfaul.com Greens: http://www.inkjetprince.com Camera Works - The Washington Post . |
