Hi all, a few questions for you if you have the time. I've been recently shooting a Community Theatre and they want a photo DVD to go for sale...not a slideshow, but jpegs burned to a DVD.
1. Say it has 150 or 200 shots on it. I know I will likely lose print sales but the request is so frequent that feeling the need to try it...how would you price such a thing? It is a really good community theatre, but certainly not professional. So if I over-price it, few would buy it--it is not the kind of enviornment for high priced sales of any items (show tickets are $18 for example, where the good professional theatres in this area are 3 to 6+ times more per ticket). If I underprice it, I will lose money...any thoughts on a price range?
2. Should I add my watermark to those images? I do not on individual print sales.
3. I would tell people they cannot reproduce the DVD, but some will anyway no doubt...just a cost of doing business that way?
4. Should I let people buy this from my website? The other option is to simply tell people they can email me to order a DVD. At least that way, it would be easier to back off this kind of sale if it is a failure.
I have shot local theatre productions a few times, and have stopped doing CDs or DVDs lately. I found that people will club together and either pass around or copy the CD/DVD so that you only ever get a single sale. Pricing a CD/DVD high enough to cover lost print sales usually seems ridiculously overpriced to clients. I used to do a proof CD at 1024 pixels with a watermark, and found that people were getting 8x10 prints from this and were happy. Then I cut it down to 640 pixels with a central watermark and even that didn't stop all of them. Why the local print lab printed for these people is another matter again.
What I do now for events is a web gallery only, and limit the size available to view.
There must be a balance somewhere in the middle, but I haven't found it yet.
Who is your client. Not sure why guest would buy photos of a small production unless a family member was in it. I can see the cast buying images.
If you sell a CD/DVD then it will be copied and printed, don't even waste your time trying to stop it. If you need to sell $150.00 in prints to make it worth your time then I would price the CD at that amount since word would be out that copies are available the second it is purchased. Doing low res files just makes the prints weak and you look like you took bad shots. Not a good solution since they will try to print anyway. If they want something for the web why not sell the single print and have the same image on a CD. One print sale and one CD image at a time. Not everyone wants the same image so it should not lower sales very much.
Kevin Godfrey wrote:
I have shot local theatre productions a few times, and have stopped doing CDs or DVDs lately. I found that people will club together and either pass around or copy the CD/DVD so that you only ever get a single sale. Pricing a CD/DVD high enough to cover lost print sales usually seems ridiculously overpriced to clients. I used to do a proof CD at 1024 pixels with a watermark, and found that people were getting 8x10 prints from this and were happy. Then I cut it down to 640 pixels with a central watermark and even that didn't stop all of them. Why the local print lab printed for these people is another matter again.
What I do now for events is a web gallery only, and limit the size available to view.
There must be a balance somewhere in the middle, but I haven't found it yet.
jefferies1 wrote:
Who is your client. Not sure why guest would buy photos of a small production unless a family member was in it. I can see the cast buying images.
If you sell a CD/DVD then it will be copied and printed, don't even waste your time trying to stop it. If you need to sell $150.00 in prints to make it worth your time then I would price the CD at that amount since word would be out that copies are available the second it is purchased. Doing low res files just makes the prints weak and you look like you took bad shots. Not a good solution since they will try to print anyway. If they want something for the web why not sell the single print and have the same image on a CD. One print sale and one CD image at a time. Not everyone wants the same image so it should not lower sales very much. ...Show more →
Good thinking on pricing, thanks. Yes, cast, crew and family are the only market. The client is the theatre, which pays me a small amount and I keep any/all profits from photo related sales. It is not a money maker really, just hoping to break even. I'm motived because I like these people a lot, the cause is great, and my kid is in the play.
What about adding the watermark to images on a DVD? I'll post a few examples with the watermark in a min...it is small.
MSC wrote:
Here are a few with the watermark and not busy photos so you can see it, but if the photo is one with larger groups, you really cannot even see it unless looking for it...make those on the DVD with this or without?
I think my typical event clients would not hesitate to print those images you posted as 8x10s. If you want to protect your images, the watermarks needs to be a lot more obtrusive.
Someone mentioned giving a web size file with print sales, I think that's a great idea. Might tip a few clients into buying.
This is the largest image I let a client see as a proof on my web site. For events, I don't release even this size on CD.
If you are selling high resolution photos on CD/DVD, you need to price the CD higher than your typical individual order was. This assumes you only include one person's images.
If you are planning on including all images on the DVD, count on getting one order from the production so it price it accordingly.
dpmurray wrote:
If you are planning on including all images on the DVD, count on getting one order from the production so it price it accordingly.
My thoughts exactly.. hell, SELL it this way. Approach the group and say "A CD of all the pictures will be $XX, collect the money and I'll give everyone a CD." Figure out how much you would normally make for the entire gig (or even season if it's a multi show deal), mark it up a little more and charge them upfront.
