A couple weeks ago I complained that our industry has established ridiculous price multipliers for book use when large circulations are compared to small ones. So I was asked to supply an answer.
In reviewing current list prices for textbook use at some of the major Web portals, it is clear that almost everyone uses a multiple of approximately two times for print runs of 1,000,000, compared to what they charge for 50,000 print runs. It can be argued that this ratio is roughly the same for brochure and advertising use, and thus a similar fee structure for books is justified. However, books are a product. If a publishing company sells 20 times more books than it sold previously, it will earn approximately 20 times more money.
Also, in the book publishing industry there has been the historic practice of charging 75% of the initial fee for the second 40,000 press run, and paying authors a royalty per-book sold. Therefore, when establishing fees for textbook use, I believe there is justification for using a different strategy, with less discounting for additional copies.
The figures in the chart below compare major portal fees for 1/4 page usage with 50,000 and 1,000,000 circulations. When there is a figure to the left of the dollar figure, that is the price charged in pounds or euros in the respective countries. If there was no dollar figure on the Web site, I used the current exchange rate of the local currency to calculate the dollars. In some cases, the companies provided both local currency and dollar figures, but those dollar figures were not always based on the current exchange rates.
| |
|
50,000 |
|
1,000,000
|
|
50,000 |
|
1,000,000
|
| |
|
1 Country |
|
1Country |
|
World |
|
World |
| UK Only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| JupiterImages |
|
$395
|
|
$395
|
|
|
|
|
| Masterfile |
|
$310
|
|
$510
|
|
$310
|
|
$510
|
| Corbis |
£100
|
$206
|
|
|
£308
|
$634
|
|
|
| Alamy |
£95
|
$165
|
£135
|
$235
|
£180
|
$315
|
£255
|
$445
|
| Topfoto |
£65
|
$134
|
£120
|
$247
|
£100
|
$206
|
£175
|
$360
|
| Getty |
£58
|
$119
|
|
|
£87
|
$179
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| US Only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Corbis |
|
$325
|
|
$625
|
|
$490
|
|
$940
|
| Masterfile |
|
$310
|
|
$510
|
|
$310
|
|
$510
|
| Getty |
|
$290
|
|
$290
|
|
$290
|
|
$290
|
| JupiterImages |
|
$265
|
|
$265
|
|
|
|
|
| Alamy |
£125
|
$220
|
£175
|
$305
|
£180
|
$315
|
£255
|
$445
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Germany Only |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| BVPA |
€ 90
|
$131
|
€ 165
|
$240
|
|
|
|
|
| Corbis |
€ 105
|
$153
|
€ 210
|
$306
|
|
|
|
|
An industry-wide adjustment in the escalators might be viewed as price fixing, but given the wide variations in base prices for 50,000 circulations, it would seem that such a charge would be difficult to sustain.
My Recommendations
I recommend establishing a base price for a circulation of 40,000 and using the following multiples of this figure to calculate prices for all other circulations. I am not recommending a specific base price, but simply suggesting how fees should be adjusted for larger or smaller circulations.
| |
Multiple |
|
10,000
|
0.7
|
|
20,000
|
0.85
|
|
Base Price
|
|
|
80,000
|
1.4
|
|
120,000
|
1.85
|
|
250,000
|
2.7
|
|
500,000
|
3.65
|
|
750,000
|
4.65
|
|
1,000,000
|
5.7
|
|
1,250,000
|
6.8
|
|
1,500,000
|
8
|
These multiples are likely to produce prices higher than current prices for large circulations, but they are still more than fair to publishers, when considering the additional revenue such a large number of books will generate. If we in the stock photo industry can adopt such business practices, we will have taken a giant step in the right direction. This in no way prevents Getty from setting its base price at half of what Corbis charges and 28% below Alamy's, but at least it should make the prices charged for larger circulations more reasonable.
Trade Association Involvement
It would be useful if professional trade associations, speaking on behalf of all image providers, and in their role of recommending fair business practices, could raise the issue of unfair multiples with publishers. Obviously, publishers would like to maintain existing or lower prices. Offering an alternative plan might at least open the door to negotiations..
Associations might be able to act in this manner because they would only be talking about the multiplier principle without referring to base prices or any actual prices. Based on such discussions, they could then make recommendations to their members without in any way requiring members to use any specified multiplier.
It is worth noting that in Germany, the photographers association BVPA is able to publish an annual list of "customary fees for the picture market" that has become a useful tool for agencies, photographers and picture buyers.