Fees Paid By Volume Photography Users Will Continue To Decline!

Posted on 7/11/2011 by Jim Pickerell | Printable Version | Comments (3)

Photographers complain that stock photo fees are way below what it costs them to produce images. And they are right. But, the prices volume user pay for images will continue to decline. Here’s why.

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Copyright © 2011 Jim Pickerell. The above article may not be copied, reproduced, excerpted or distributed in any manner without written permission from the author. All requests should be submitted to Selling Stock at 10319 Westlake Drive, Suite 162, Bethesda, MD 20817, phone 301-461-7627, e-mail: wvz@fpcubgbf.pbz

Jim Pickerell is founder of www.selling-stock.com, an online newsletter that publishes daily. He is also available for personal telephone consultations on pricing and other matters related to stock photography. He occasionally acts as an expert witness on matters related to stock photography. For his current curriculum vitae go to: http://www.jimpickerell.com/Curriculum-Vitae.aspx.

Comments

Larry Minden Posted Jul 11, 2011
Will some of you represented by Alamy please tell management that a 50 year license term for RM images is absurd.

Cheryl Difrank Posted Jul 12, 2011
Larry, believe me, some of us have yelled and screamed about the ridiculous textbook licenses - 50 years/UNLIMITED print runs! Alamy's response is always the same - "This is what we have to do to be competitive." They have always felt they needed to give the clients whatever they want in order not to lose the client. And as long as Alamy and Getty feel that way (who collectively control the market) prices will continue to go down. There will never be enough photographers/agencies who pull their images from Alamy and Getty to make them change their minds or raise their prices. The damage is done. (And it was done not just by Alamy and Getty, but progressively by RF then microstock and great digital cameras and easier access to photo buyers through the internet.....) A lot of agencies and photographers have already lost their direct clients to Alamy and Getty and pulling their images from Alamy is not going to get those clients back. Unless the photographer or agency has such a specific specialty that doesn't otherwise exist on the big guys' sites.... and even then.....

John Harris Posted Jul 13, 2011
Again, you collapse all photography into the ubiquitous and generalisable. This ignores the qualitative, geographical and ideational aspects of photography and search which could actually create a more differentiated and sustainable market. We already know that the "savvy business models" are a (rather less than creative) destructive downward spiral of price competition and rights giveaways.... Giving your work away, even if you are an amateur, must become deeply uncool!

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