minniev Loc: MIssissippi

If these are images you already have, make sure you end up with more money than you invested in the print process, the matte and the frame. If you're not trying to start a business you don't have to worry so much about establishing a long term viable price structure but it is worth thinking about just in case.

Sales at stores like Michaels or Hobby Lobby can get you some nice inexpensive frames and mattes if you want to do it up yourself, or you can just sell the print itself and let them worry with the rest. I give people a choice. If Michaels weren't so close I might think twice about that, but it's easy for me to pick up supplies. Be sure to add some cost for your work and time, though, Michael's would charge them more to do it for them than you will.

If they mean for you to spend a half day going somewhere and shooting something, that's extra!

My initial question like yours has accidentally ended up in my having a small business, but it's fun and low maintenance because it runs through a friend's restaurant.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I don't mean to be rude, but you are asking the wrong question. If you want to make a profit, then you are starting a business. So if that is what you are doing, it opens a very large can of worms. But if you just want to sell pictures every now and then for the thrill of it, that's a completely different situation. Profit involves writing off expenses, price of gear, time. and charging for expertise. In other words you will never make a profit. Unless you run your "hobby" as a business, profit should not be your goal. So if you are just selling an occasional print, for the fun of it, ! or 2hundred bucks should be enough, and don't worry about profit. I don't mean to discourage you but to just point out the differences

tomeveritt Loc: Fla. + Ga,NY,Va,Md,SC

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

mohawk51 Loc: Texas

Totally agree. Matting and framing is a personal thing to people.

GaryI Loc: NY & Fla

Lots of good advise here. I've had the same issues. After all the costs associated, I've found that it simply doesn't pay to sell a print for less than $200. Here's my webpage guide. http://www.garyvision.com/blog

The result has been that I've sold a few, used them to barter for things I want (bridge lessons, CD's, etc), given them as gifts, and generally had a good time.

Two things I've found are that novelties sell (the more novel the better) and that I'd rather frame the picture myself. That way I know it's being presented correctly.

studavis

I have come to the point I sell pictures un mounted and unframed. you pick the set up you ant otherwise I have to get involved with extra costs and hope my choice of the frame is what they want.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

How true, how true

ole sarg Loc: south florida

how true

cony25

How do you get traffic to your website?
It's not only building it, but getting the traffic is what counts...
Thanks for sharing.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

There are numerous ways to "sell your photos"...

Non-commercial uses:

"Fine art" prints are usually sold framed or at least matted. Price? Cost X 2 or X 3 is typical, though some well known photogs charge more.

Often fine art prints are made by the photographer themselves, or at least under their close supervision. Usually a lot of care is given to making archival prints (pigment inks on 100% rag paper can last 200+ years). It's also common to do limited editions of fine art prints.... signed and numbered. Doing so usually increases value significantly. Typically editions are limited to 100, 200, 400 or maybe 1000 or 1500 maximum. In recent years, micro-editions of only 10, 12 or 25 maximum have become popular.

Commemorative prints from events/weddings/sports are simpler and often sold via online printing services or offered as digital files that buyers can print wherever they choose. If you allow the latter, you are largely giving up "quality control". And, believe me, when their 19 cent prints look like crap, they don't blame themselves or the printer... they nearly always tell their friends it was the photographer's fault. Still, it's been done so much, it is hard not to offer digital files.

Commercial purposes:

Can be sold as stock or directly licensed for a huge variety of uses. Most often a digital file is provided, according to the customer's requirements.

Commercial usage could be for editorial purposes or for advertising or a variety of other purposes. Large editions (i.e. "posters" ) of an image are also considered commercial.

If there are recognizable people and/or property in images, generally model and/or property releases are needed for the image to have any value for commercial purposes.

While releases aren't technically needed for editorial, fine art or commemorative purposes, more and more of these types of customers are asking for releases, too, simply as a precaution. And for some specific types of photography (such as nudes) it would be foolish to not get a release signed.

Never, EVER "sell your copyright", in any case. That's foolish and completely unnecessary. At most all that's needed is "licensed usage". The reason you shouldn't surrender your copyright is you never know if an image may have some future value. I know folks who have repeatedly sold individual images over the years and made upwards of $100,000 US off one photograph. One acquaintance put several kids through college with the proceeds from the repeated sales of a single image he took in 1963 (he was a staff photographer when he took it, but his employer gifted the copyright to him when he retired). He has since passed away, but his heirs continue to sell that image.

I also know someone who travelled the world and shot as a staff photographer for the Associated Press for 10 years, in which case his employer owns the copyright to every image he took during that time. Even now, many years later, he occasionally stumbles across one of his images being sold as stock or used in some way.... and he never receives anything portion of the profits.

Simplest way to just sell a few images to interested parties for their personal display and use would be to post the images on Flickr or Smugmug or similar and enable the sale of prints or digital file downloads. For an occasional sale and small number of images most of these sites offer a free account... For larger volume and in order to put up a large number of images, most charge at least a modest annual fee plus some percentage of each sale.

Many of the online print services provide a "profile" that you can download and install in Photoshop (or similar) to be able to reasonably accurately "soft proof" your images. That's really only useful if your computer and monitor are calibrated.

For personal usage I'd encourage you to at least charge a reasonable price for the images... Maybe $20 or $20 US for an 8x10 or a digital file large enough to make an 8x10. If for no other reason, do this out of consideration for your fellow photographers (especially those trying to eke out a living in the business). But, also, don't "devalue" yourself by giving away your work too cheaply.

Commercial usage license pricing is much more complex... can range from a few dollars to tens of thousands and depends upon how widely the image will be distributed, exclusivity, length of term, and much more.

Don Fischer Loc: Antelope, Ore

I'm not so sure most people are good enough to sell most photo's they take. I like to do some landscapes and love old homesteads but my first love is pointing dog's. I don't sell a whole lot but normally enough to make a small profit. I only do local trials. I also make my own frame's, I like doing them and material is mostly free. I use recycled wood. Pick it up wherever I can. I actually sell quite a lot of frames for not being a business. In the past year probably over a hundred. I have a few people that quit using the frame shop in town and get all of there's from me now. Bear in mind that I also live in area these would be popular and, nobody else around here does them. When I sell photo's, I like to sell them framed but frame's I'll do alone. To be sure, I really enjoy taking the photo's I do and building these frames. Big profit on the frame's and people tell mee I don't charge enough. I didn't take this photo of a grouse, the owner briought it to me to frame but the frame I did make and as I make more of them I've got it down to about 30 min not counting finish. I do dust cover the back, out on wall bumper's and hanger, heavier one's with 43# plastic covered wire. Added up everything a couple time's and I felt like a thief for what I charged. I buy glass by the caes. 16x20 piece of non-glare cost me $4.78 and I'll cut out a 13x16 piece of it and get $7.25 for it and enough glass left to make two 4x6's. I get $2.50 for them. That'ss more than double for the glass. One hole hanger's cost me $6.50 per 100. That .23 cent's per frame. Wall bumper's I get at the Bi Mart and they are about $2.50 for 24 of them. That's 21 cents per frame. Wood is normally free but I do have to re-saw and shape it. Timed myself one time and fot a single frame, I can do twelve an hour not counting finish. If I charged $20 hr for my time, that's 90 cent's for any size frame up to 16x20.

I recently made a new frame that is three frames put together to make one frame. Just sold two of them about 9x12 for $51 each, lady think's it's a great deal and I think I'm ripping her off!

A lot of photographer's don't like to have their photo's framed so I understand and for mat, single white. The way I was told it, mat and frame distract from the photo and they're only interest is the photo! A good mat and frame enhances the photo, it doesn't detract. I see some photo's put in cheap Walmart frames and cheap is just how they do look! the deal with Fine Art America works out pretty well for photographer's because you do only sell the print, FAA sells the frame and the customer get's to choose the frame of his/her choice. But for me if it's gonna get done, I like to do it all! I get $40 for a framed 13x16/13x19. I have a little less than $10 it them. I feel like a thief. Probably help's that I'm retired and don't rely on the income to pay bills. But if i were still working I believe I could open a framing shop doing what I do and make a decent profit and keep making the frames the way I do. I have people in a hurry at time's and I put a frame together for them in one day, get that in a shop!

You really should get it in your head to sell a finished product. Had a camera repair guy years ago tell me to display a fully framed 16x20 for a min of $350. Reason being people don't realize how expensive framing is. That make's the print look really good at $90! But if you do, try to match the frame to the area you live in. I live in cowboy country!

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

I hope you don't really mean you are selling the copyright. That would mean you are giving up your right to sell it again. What you should be including instead is unlimited usage if you want them to be able to do whatever they want with it.

Jim Peters Loc: Pittsburgh

All Sale Here Are like Any Other Type Of Business Time And Materials. What's Your Time Worth? How Much Do You Want To Mark Up Materials? If Your Using Outside Services? What Is The Time Worth That It Took You To Communicate With Those Services? Are you Going To Mark Up Those Services? And Last But Not Least What Will The Market Bare? What Are Other Photographers Selling The Same Type Of Images For. Be Reasonable But Don't Under Price Your Self. If Your Selling Photos, You Are in Business

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

In my experience when you make your passion into a business the fun goes away and it becomes work. When that happens it's not fun any more. But hey, if people want to buy then I'd charge a decent amount just for the photo and add in the cost of framing.

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

Other than give out cards with the website address, I've done nothing.
I think SlicPic who host my site do a lot tho.
If you put photos in a Portfolio, they are scanning for nice pics and they then send out an email saying your pic has been selected and they then post that in their Editor Picks of the day.
I've had about 30-40 of mine selected out of the 400 or so I have on my website and every time they do that, the page views go up in number.
I guess You become better known for whatever your specialty is that way.
A lot of the enquiries I get are from people who say "so and so refered them. But I've never heard of 'so and so'.
I had a comment on one of my pics from a guy who looked like a very prolific professional from California. (You can look at others Galleries). Said he loved the photo, even if the horizon wasn't straight. A bit embarrassed, I straightened it and a couple of days later had an enquiry from someone else to buy it.
(They didn't as it turned out).