Pricing - Web banner image ?

[WLPelzmann]

A small company would like to use one of my images in banner across their home page.
They've asked what I would charge and I don't have a clue. Until now, I've only sold prints.

I have looked at the online Stock Photo Price Calculator - but found nothing in this category.

Anyone have experience with selling such usage rights ?

[zepp]

Originally Posted by WLPelzmann

A small company would like to use one of my images in banner across their home page.
They've asked what I would charge and I don't have a clue. Until now, I've only sold prints.

I have looked at the on line Stock Photo Price Calculator - but found nothing in this category.

Anyone have experience with selling such usage rights ?

Some things to consider when pricing this.

Is this a local, regional, national, or international company?

How rare or how difficult would it be for someone to capture the same image? Is it unique?

You say placement is on their opening home page, will it be used in a rotation fashion along with other images and if so, how many?

Will it appear on just one site or just one page?

What is the duration of its run?

[WLPelzmann]

Frank, to answer your questions:

"Is this a local, regional, national, or international company?"
Company sells photo supplies nationally via online store

"How rare or how difficult would it be for someone to capture the same image? Is it unique?"
Not unique.

"You say placement is on their opening home page, will it be used in a rotation fashion along with other images and if so, how many?"
Static panoramic image placed across the top of their home page.

Will it appear on just one site or just one page?
One site, one page.

What is the duration of its run?
As long as they want to keep it.

Thanks for your help.

[zepp]

One other question that might come into play would be is the image being used in a direct advertising manner or is it just a pretty picture on their web site?

And the first question that you should address them with is do they have a set budget and if so what is it?

[zepp]

You should also probably license the image for a set time. Chances are it will have a shorter than they expect life expectancy so why should they pay for perpetual usage if it's short lived? And why should you lock yourself out of further income if they decide to use it for ages.

You of course discount the image more per term unit as the sum of the total term units add up.

If they want a complete buy out of the image then make sure you charge accordingly since you will have no further income possible from them on the image.

One thing that ways heavily against you is you say the image is not unique. You could easily price yourself right out should they decide to look for a similar image elsewhere.

Isn't pricing fun?

[WLPelzmann]

Yes, pricing is "fun". I just take pictures as a hobby.

At least with prints, you can easily see what others are selling them for.
This web usage pricing is just a total mystery.
Obviously there are a lot of VERY low cost stock images available as an alternative.
So, I certainly don't have visions of significant $$$.

Actually, I'm rather amazed that they made this unsolicited request.
But since, they needed a wide panoramic image for the banner, maybe a cheap stock image wasn't readily available.

One web designer has suggested a range of $75 to $250 for this use.
I'm certainly thinking of the lower end.
They don't want to buy out the image, or even have exclusive use.
That, of course, would put it into an entirely different price range.

[Trey Neal]

Don't undersell yourself - FotoQuote sets the value of a web banner for a large company on one site in a range of $527-1054 with the average being $703 for 6 months usage. I have sold non-unique images for website usage to reputable companies and have been paid basically the average that fotoquote lists. For smaller sites the range is $456-913, average $609 for 6 months. The firms that have used my images have been users of fotoquote themselves and thus have a pretty good idea what to expect in pricing but would be thrilled to buy an image that is underpriced.

All that said, you have to be comfortable with setting your price. Of course everything is subject to negotiation but you will not be able to negotiate your price UP if you start too low.

[WLPelzmann]

Thanks for pointing out FotoQuote and your experience, Trey.

It appears to be a good value for someone selling stock images - quite a nice resource for someone just entering the field!

[WLPelzmann]

Outcome:

Trey, next time you are in Houston (or I come up your way), I owe you a dinner.

Given the numerous low cost alternatives to acquire an image similar to mine, I felt that $50 was actually a fair asking price. I also included your FotoQuote range, just to emphasize that $50 should be quite reasonable. They consulted their website designer and agreed that they could not offer a penny over $300! Hmm... I can't figure out if they read my entire email, or stopped at the $600 for 6 month line. After much deliberation & soul searching, I finally agreed.

Next time I get a such a request, I will immediately buy a copy of FotoQuote.
It does pay for itself rather quickly!

So thanks again for taking the time to respond and be sure to collect on that dinner offer.
We have quite a variety of restauraunts in Houston: .... McDonalds, Burger King.......

[Trey Neal]

Originally Posted by WLPelzmann

Outcome:

Trey, next time you are in Houston (or I come up your way), I owe you a dinner.

Given the numerous low cost alternatives to acquire an image similar to mine, I felt that $50 was actually a fair asking price. I also included your FotoQuote range, just to emphasize that $50 should be quite reasonable. They consulted their website designer and agreed that they could not offer a penny over $300! Hmm... I can't figure out if they read my entire email, or stopped at the $600 for 6 month line. After much deliberation & soul searching, I finally agreed.

Next time I get a such a request, I will immediately buy a copy of FotoQuote.
It does pay for itself rather quickly!

So thanks again for taking the time to respond and be sure to collect on that dinner offer.
We have quite a variety of restauraunts in Houston: .... McDonalds, Burger King.......

Excellent job Bill! $300 is much better than the $50 quote that no doubt they would have gladly paid and run with. Legitimate firms are willing to pay a decent rate if you are willing to ask for it. Well done.

And I'll take you up on that dinner at Mickey D's