Posted by Mike Brown on August 20, 2007 at 10:53 PM
Hello everyone,
(Not sure to what extent this can be discussed, ... but, ... )
Ever since opening up a account over at PhotoShelter, I have been approached by some resellers wanting to sell my work.
A few of them I have checked out with the Better Business Bureau in their areas and some of them looked very legit, with some of them being very large outfits working nationwide.
The ones that look the most legit of all are the ones that offer payment up front.
Now, I have been doing very well at pricing my own work and working with art consultants who will do their own pricing, (which has been wonderful for me), but this is a whole new ball game.
Would anyone know where some reading material and a type of scale/formula that I could take a look at which possibly could give me an idea on what prices to charge for when a reseller orders for example, 50 20x30's of one image, 50 20x30's of another image, ... and so on?
Say if I normally charge $300 for a certain print, what would/should I charge for 50 of them to a reseller?
Is there a percentage or certain standards used with resellers that seems to be the norm?
(Again, ... is this even allowed to be discussed here?)
Anyway, ... this has been a tough one for me, and I can't seem to get a read on it overall.
They pay up front for the prints, they pay all shipping cost, they do all of the framing.
In general terms wholesale purchases by retailers revolve around a standard percentage of discount from retail, with the percentage increasing with the size of the sale, whether defined as multiples of the same product or allowing accumulation of units for discount calculation over a range of products.
Making up numbers for a representative example, in the Pink Painted Wing Nut business for example, you might see a standard discount (or markup, or scew, depending on the sector) of 40% for the first "x" units, 50% if you exceed "x" up to "y" units, and 60% for orders over "y" units. That system encourages larger orders, because it allows retailers to either take a larger markup or cut retail prices while maintaining the same margin.
That all comes from my work in other retail sectors than photography. No experience with wholesaling prints, but I paid a whole lot of attention to discount offers in those sectors. I'm guessing, but it would only seem reasonable for the same to apply with photo prints.
Posted by Mike Brown on August 22, 2007 at 12:43 PM
Hank, ... I really do appreciate your thoughts on this.
I will read it again here soon and offer up my thoughts and maybe some more questions.
Sort of hard to think right now, ..... as I am really really ps'd off at the moment!
http://macroartinnature.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/not-in-the-best-of-moods/
Been there, done that, many years ago. Reflecting a different society then compared to today, the miscriant's parents made him depleat his college savings account to replace mine with a new one- even though they had insurance. He turned into a model citizen, thinking about his actions every day he had to work to pay his own way through college. Actually a friend now in his middle age, but he still gets pretty embarrassed if it comes up.
Posted by Mike Brown on August 22, 2007 at 1:25 PM
Yes, it is great when a certain event occurs and that individual will then turn their life around because of it.
Come to find out, that this guy who hit our vehicles just got out of rehab the day before.
Guess that didn't work at all!
Again Hank, ... many thanks buddy.
Will get to what you have written later this week, ..... hopefully!
Posted by Randy Beacham on August 24, 2007 at 12:42 PM
Hi Michael, I don't have any experience with reseller's so I can't help you out but I'm wondering if you could give an opinion on Photoshelter and whether the site has been a good investment for you. Thanks, Randy
Posted by Mike Brown on August 24, 2007 at 10:16 PM
Randy, to be honest with you, I have been so busy the past couple of months that I have not tested PhotoShelter's capabilities that much yet. I have not even set up any pricing yet on any prints or anything for stock use.
But, ..... maybe it was luck, or maybe the type of buyers using PhotoShelter on a regular basis, ..... I really don't know, ..... but I just received two huge jobs from those buyers who were searching the PhotoShelter database.
Those two buyers have already payed for PhotoShelter for a long time to come!
Will this happen on a consistant basis? Who knows!
It may have been a simple "right place - right time" type of thing. Time will tell.
(Acutally, ... I should ask them how often they use PS.)
I like the idea of setting up a area within PhotoShelter and e-mailing numerous clients or potential clients, giving them a simple password and letting them go into their own lightbox area and to download some comps if they wish to do so.
I have some more exploring to do, but so far, I like it just fine.
PhotoShelter, like Digital Railroad, seems to lean more towards editorial photographers. PhotoShelter has a lot of sports photographers using their site as well. I have seen some nature photographers within PhotoShelter, including Andy Biggs, and PS might be working great for them. I don't see as much or as many photographers using it for the fine art market, but I think that it could work out fine for anyone wishing to do so.
I will soon be sending out some postcards along with a small e-mail blitz with the link to my section in PhotoShelter, and hopefully that will give me some more avenues to take.
For me, I am working with mostly the artsy side of nature/macro, (abstracts), and various fine art consultants, and so far, I am happy with PhotoShelter.
Talking with some of the guys up in the New York office, I certainly like what they have planned for the future as well.
Anyway, as far as some additional information on "resellers" that I had hoped to have by now, that conference call was put off until next week.
They were nice enough to change it without me asking, ... as they could tell I was really p'd off about my wife and I having to replace one vehicle and repair another one.
What a week it was!!
Well, ... just got back into town, so it's coffee time!
Hope the bit of info on PhotoShelter helps, ... and/or made some kind of sense.
Discussion
6 replies(Not sure to what extent this can be discussed, ... but, ... )
Ever since opening up a account over at PhotoShelter, I have been approached by some resellers wanting to sell my work.
A few of them I have checked out with the Better Business Bureau in their areas and some of them looked very legit, with some of them being very large outfits working nationwide.
The ones that look the most legit of all are the ones that offer payment up front.
Now, I have been doing very well at pricing my own work and working with art consultants who will do their own pricing, (which has been wonderful for me), but this is a whole new ball game.
Would anyone know where some reading material and a type of scale/formula that I could take a look at which possibly could give me an idea on what prices to charge for when a reseller orders for example, 50 20x30's of one image, 50 20x30's of another image, ... and so on?
Say if I normally charge $300 for a certain print, what would/should I charge for 50 of them to a reseller?
Is there a percentage or certain standards used with resellers that seems to be the norm?
(Again, ... is this even allowed to be discussed here?)
Anyway, ... this has been a tough one for me, and I can't seem to get a read on it overall.
They pay up front for the prints, they pay all shipping cost, they do all of the framing.
Hopefully someone will have an idea/thoughts!
Thanks guys,
Michael
In general terms wholesale purchases by retailers revolve around a standard percentage of discount from retail, with the percentage increasing with the size of the sale, whether defined as multiples of the same product or allowing accumulation of units for discount calculation over a range of products.
Making up numbers for a representative example, in the Pink Painted Wing Nut business for example, you might see a standard discount (or markup, or scew, depending on the sector) of 40% for the first "x" units, 50% if you exceed "x" up to "y" units, and 60% for orders over "y" units. That system encourages larger orders, because it allows retailers to either take a larger markup or cut retail prices while maintaining the same margin.
That all comes from my work in other retail sectors than photography. No experience with wholesaling prints, but I paid a whole lot of attention to discount offers in those sectors. I'm guessing, but it would only seem reasonable for the same to apply with photo prints.
I will read it again here soon and offer up my thoughts and maybe some more questions.
Sort of hard to think right now, ..... as I am really really ps'd off at the moment!
http://macroartinnature.wordpress.com/2007/08/22/not-in-the-best-of-moods/
I think you'll understand!
Thanks again,
Mike
Been there, done that, many years ago. Reflecting a different society then compared to today, the miscriant's parents made him depleat his college savings account to replace mine with a new one- even though they had insurance. He turned into a model citizen, thinking about his actions every day he had to work to pay his own way through college. Actually a friend now in his middle age, but he still gets pretty embarrassed if it comes up.
Come to find out, that this guy who hit our vehicles just got out of rehab the day before.
Guess that didn't work at all!
Again Hank, ... many thanks buddy.
Will get to what you have written later this week, ..... hopefully!
But, ..... maybe it was luck, or maybe the type of buyers using PhotoShelter on a regular basis, ..... I really don't know, ..... but I just received two huge jobs from those buyers who were searching the PhotoShelter database.
Those two buyers have already payed for PhotoShelter for a long time to come!
Will this happen on a consistant basis? Who knows!
It may have been a simple "right place - right time" type of thing. Time will tell.
(Acutally, ... I should ask them how often they use PS.)
I like the idea of setting up a area within PhotoShelter and e-mailing numerous clients or potential clients, giving them a simple password and letting them go into their own lightbox area and to download some comps if they wish to do so.
I have some more exploring to do, but so far, I like it just fine.
PhotoShelter, like Digital Railroad, seems to lean more towards editorial photographers. PhotoShelter has a lot of sports photographers using their site as well. I have seen some nature photographers within PhotoShelter, including Andy Biggs, and PS might be working great for them. I don't see as much or as many photographers using it for the fine art market, but I think that it could work out fine for anyone wishing to do so.
I will soon be sending out some postcards along with a small e-mail blitz with the link to my section in PhotoShelter, and hopefully that will give me some more avenues to take.
For me, I am working with mostly the artsy side of nature/macro, (abstracts), and various fine art consultants, and so far, I am happy with PhotoShelter.
Talking with some of the guys up in the New York office, I certainly like what they have planned for the future as well.
Anyway, as far as some additional information on "resellers" that I had hoped to have by now, that conference call was put off until next week.
They were nice enough to change it without me asking, ... as they could tell I was really p'd off about my wife and I having to replace one vehicle and repair another one.
What a week it was!!
Well, ... just got back into town, so it's coffee time!
Hope the bit of info on PhotoShelter helps, ... and/or made some kind of sense.
Thanks again,
Mike