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HUUUUGE opportunity ...

I think I'd have tried to find out the client if it was a big agency, then ask for the moolah. If they didn't want to pay, I'd send an email to the client asking them if they knew their agency was trolling amateurs for their campaign. That would put a pickle in their petunia.....
 
Going behind the agency's back is not really a good marketing strategy if you ever want to work for them again. And word gets around in the industry, too.

Is your image unique enough to hold their feet to the fire for a decent price? Could it be easily replaced or replicated with a Royalty-Free stock image? They won't get exclusivity with RF, though.

If the client truly does not have the budget, the agency will just have to go back to the proverbial drawing board and present a campaign with another image. Happens all the time.
 
I fail to see why the offer is a fake or a scam - what’s in it for him to scam you - he made you an offer ($150) and added lots of ‘fluff’ to try and impress you. In truth, at this point an image is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it as there are literally millions of images now floating around the Internet. You made a counter offer and he declined - he’ll find some other image(s) that will work just as well as yours, at a price he wants to pay.
 


Amazing! An intelligent, experienced, logical post on this very thread! We've just witnessed a historic event.
 

Another amazingly logical, real-world, educated, business-wise post. Lightning has struck again!
 
@Patrick Robert James
yeah i thought of that ... while
the ad agency was real and the "account" was real
i have a feeling it was just someone saying they were from there
maybe in a couple of days i'll call and speak with someone there
to see if it was real or not and if it wasn't to mention there's someone out
there posing as an employee LOL boy that sounds fun !
@Pieter12
thanks for your insights, i've negociated usage before and it
just seems a bit strange to ask for exclusive high visibility stuff and offer 1% of what
a legit ad agency with the same needs and experience would ask
i mean the website usage and print media usage alone would have been close to 10,000$
and if it is the client they say it was, they have deep pockets and are high visibility and there is no reason
why they would go for royalty free stock. and to answer a few of your questions, nope they aren't going to find
what i made &c or anything similar to it in royalty free kind of stock but i'm more happy if they look.
the problem with this whole thing is that it sets a precedence like the wedding shooter who charges 100$
or the habs shooter who charges only for gas ... it makes it harder for people who are experienced
and working in the field who aren't a hobbyist or just trying to get out of the house, to get offered a reasonable fee for service.
its just like craigs list assignment photographers .. i mean chargingless than minimum wage ?
@Prof_Pixel
not sure what is in it to scam me, im not a scammer so i dn't know the mentality
all i know is that usage fees for photography is competitive and by offering 1/100th of what
is accepted for usage for images used for the specific scenarios described in our
"back and forth" it makes me wonder what they are charging considering they offer so little for the "art"

and no, i don't have an ego, if it was a non profit or someone who couldn't afford market prices i would have just given it to them with a smile
 
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Pieter12 said:
If the client truly does not have the budget, the agency will just have to go back to the proverbial drawing board and present a campaign with another image. Happens all the time.
Click to expand...
Unless everyone on the project is a volunteer, I'm not sympathetic to the "doesn't have the budget to pay the photographer a fair fee" argument.
 
faberryman said:
Unless everyone on the project is a volunteer, I'm not sympathetic to the "doesn't have the budget to pay the photographer a fair fee" argument.
Click to expand...

especially if it is a nationally known commerical enterprise &c ..
although i have to admit i did work for a company that said " if you give us a deal on this go-around of images
they are planning to update the website in 6months to a year and you will be doing the next round of images" ...
and of course you agree / give them a break, its a gentleman's agreement, and when you make contact
with the company in 6months to a year they have amnesia, pass you along to the company they worked for
and they tell you they never had plans to do a 2nd phase ... at least they paid on time and in full LOL

the guy who contacted me just wanted a deal from a clueless-member of the flickratzi ...
 
Good looking boy Ratty!
 

Quickly just checking out 'Craigs list' I found a few like you mentioned including the photo below, which was the MAIN and BIGGEST on one of the adverts. Seriously, would anyone use a photographer who thinks this is the best that they can do???



Terry S
 
yep, its been that way for a long while, nothing one can do but keep plugging along
cause in the world of plenty there is always someone who will take the $150. at least it was 150 they offered!
heck when i worked at a newspaper and made a photograph of our state capital they liked
i got paid $50 for it instead of the usual $30/image and then they turned around and sold the usage rights to the
city and made probably $20K from it being printed on every bus, billboard and bus shelter magazine in the city
for months, and they didn't even give me a by line LOL
GO TEAM!
gotta love the life of a freelancer !
 
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The potential money they would make using your photos...yes add two zero's
 
IMO wanting make money with photography it'd be wise to meet successful pro or two in person, cultivate their respect (or sympathy or tough love ridicule), asking for advice, rather than relying on anecdotes on Photrio.

If that's asking for too much in the way of cojones, professional photo isn't in the cards...like it is for professionals.
 
I stopped doing commercial work a long time ago, before the Craigslist "professionals" started to severely reduce the income of real professionals. I don't know what the going rate is now, but $150 for exclusive rights is certainly insulting. I'd talk to them about one-time use at a reasonable rate.
 

"Another amazingly logical, real-world, educated, business-wise post. Lightning has struck again!"
 
Drew B. said:
The potential money they would make using your photos...yes add two zero's
Click to expand...

What counts is not the potential profit, but the potential competition.
Unless the photo is really outstanding.
 
IMO wanting make money with photography it'd be wise to meet successful pro or two in person, cultivate their respect (or sympathy or tough love ridicule), asking for advice, rather than relying on anecdotes on Photrio.
Click to expand...

thanks for the great advice !

AgX said:
What counts is not the potential profit, but the potential competition.
Unless the photo is really outstanding.
Click to expand...

it’s a negotiation tactic to offer absolutely nothing to someone assuming they are clueless.

yes, all my images are completely outstanding !
if s/he is real, the intern currently
looking through cheezy stock images s/he can use for $150 ...
 
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