Pricing Internet Uses

0

January 25, 2007

As more and more image are being used on the web RM sellers need to find an appropriate way to price based on such usage. In my 2001 edition of "Negotiating Stock Photo Prices" I offered a very simplified pricing system that basically had three categories - National Corporation, Regional Corporation and Local Corporation - and four sizes of uses. Considering the many ways that images are now used on the web this strategy is totally inadequate.

Recently, I have discovered that Getty Images has instituted a much more elaborate pricing structure which I believe is an excellent solution to the problem. Basically, they have five different categories for advertising uses and two for editorial and publishing. Within each category they have an extensive breakdown based on the size and placement of the use and the length of time that the image will be used. The following chart indicates these categories, the base price for the smallest use and a top figure for the most extensive use in this category.

The breakdowns for each category are as follows. In order to find the appropriate price for a given use that is larger than the Base Price you multiply the Base Price for the category by the Factor provided. If there is nothing listed in the factor column then the Base Price is used. In the cases where there is more than one variable in a category multiply the base price by the first variable and then multiply the result by the second variable.

The Web Advertisement Over-the-Page use covers non-user initiated pop-ups, floating, in-stream units and transition ads.

The chart below covers all types of promotional email that is sent directly to individuals and the number of units are the size of the mailing list.

The following chart covers advertising or promotional use on a cell phone, PDA or any other portable electronic device. This use does not include the right to reproduce or distribute images through a portable electronic device where the image is provided as a stand-alone file, or through an application developed for the primary purpose of making images available for viewing through a portable electronic device.

The following chart reflects Getty's fees for editorial use of an image on the web or other electronic devices. It also includes the rights to archive the image in context of the original scope of use for up to 5 years. It does not include electronic use for books. That use is priced at a flat $100 regardless of the size of the use of the image or the length of time up to 10 years.

In this area I think Getty has missed the boat on a couple counts. First, for general web use I can understand why the price may need to be low for companies like MSNBC that will only post an image for a day, or sometimes even less. On the other hand I think some additional fee should be factored in for images that are posted for longer periods of time. It is interesting that in Getty's pricing template the customer must select a duration of from 1 day to two years, but regardless of which one the customer selects it does nothing to change the price.

The second issue is the price schedule for electronic books. At the very least it seems to me that there should be some additional fee the longer the image is on the site because over time more users will see the image. It seems to me it's the same as publishing 5,000 books or 250,000. I also think a case can be made for charging more for chapter openers and for images that might be used full page. They do this with the other categories and I don't understand why they don't do it with books. Readers who choose to employ these pricing charts in their own businesses may want to add some factors for length of time and size of usage.

This use covers: Web or electronic editorial use (no advertising, promotion or commercial use of any kind). Includes right to archive the image in context of the original scope of use for up to 5 years.

The following chart covers editorial uses on a cell phone, PDA or any other portable electronic device (no advertising or promotional use of any kind; for use by accredited news sources only). Includes right to archive the image in context of the original scope of use for up to 5 years.

To give you an example of how to use the Factors look at the "Web - Corporate or Promotional Site" chart. The base price is $315. It the images is to be used up to 180x150 pixels on a secondary page for only one month the price would be $315.
But assume that it is going to be used in a Side Banner on the Home Page for 1 year.
We start with $315 and multiply that by 1.16 which gives us $365.40. Then we multiply that number by 1.5 which gives us $548.10. And finally, because the image is going to be used for one year, multiply the $548.10 X 1.75 to get $959.18.

Readers should also recognize that the Base Prices I have used on these charts and what Getty would charge for a Stone+ image which is the highest priced brand on the Getty site. In you price a Taxi image the Base Prices would be: Web Advertisement - Over the Page, $520; Web Advertisement - In Page, $415; Web - Corporate of Promotional, $250 and Web Promotional Email, $685. The prices for Mobile Device - Advertising, Publishing - Web/Electronic and Editorial Mobile Device are the same for both Stone+ and Taxi.