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I know the pricing subject was discussed a few months ago and with that new FAA licensing talk it got me doing a little more research. I am relatively new to this but this is what I have found from a buyers standpoint. I am also looking at it from a buyers standpoint of buying a single image. I do not think I can compete with subscription sales but I have a chance with single image buyers.
As a buyer I went to Shutterstock, Fotolia, Canstock, iStock, 123rf, and Dreamstime to see what it would cost me to buy a single image and at the lowest resolution with standard RF license.
Shutterstock: $29.00 (the pay as you go is for 2 images for $29.00)
iStock: $15.00
123RF: $20.00 (20 credits minimum purchase, small jpg 1 credit)
Canstock: $9.00 (15 credits minimum purchase, small jpg 2 credits)
Dreamstime: $14.99 (11 credits minimum purchase)
Fotolia: $25.00 (monthly sub for 5 xxl or 10 medium)This tells me I should be able to compete for single image sales starting at the smallest size for $18.00. I am only talking smallest size and standard RF and not EL, RM, or Editorial. I would have to do more research on competitive pricing for the other sizes and licensing.
I see so much talk about pricing our images compared to what we earn at other sites. More than likely the buyer who has a subscription with an agency is not going to buy my images unless it is something unique that they like. So All I need to do is have competitive pricing for single image buyers.
My smallest image is now set at $2.50. It looks like it could be as high as $20.00, but probably $15.00 might be appropriate.
Am I missing something?
-Tim
I guess it all depends on the approach you want to take. In my case people can buy one of my 5-credit vectors at iStock for as little as $8, though most of my images there are 12 credits. So I went with an in-between price for my vectors and lowered that price a bit for each jpg size. Since I’m not putting exclusive images on my site, I wanted to offer customers a price savings over iStock while also earning me more money for the sale. One of my repeat customers is excited about it because she says she “can’t afford” iStock’s prices. So she saves money while I make more. She’s bought three files from me so far, which she probably never would have bought at iStock. And I’ve made 3-4 times more money than I would have made if she bought the images through iS.
But others here are doing well with higher prices than mine.
You can buy images for cash at Photo Dune (add $2 to the price shown) and at CanStock – no need to buy a credit bundle. I can buy a small image for cash from iStock for $6 and CanStock for $2.50
I have priced a few images for licensing at FAA (just to try it out) but I set the prices so that the buyer price was roughly equivalent to my Symbiostock site price.
Obviously we can each make decisions about what we think the market will bear for our work, but I honestly can’t see people paying $18 for a blog sized image unless there’s no other source and they really, really want that particular shot.
@shelma1 wrote:
In my case people can buy one of my 5-credit vectors at iStock for as little as $8…
Yes, but in order to buy your 5-credit vector, I believe that you would need to buy a 10-credit package, which costs $19.99.
Thanks for the input Michele and Jo Ann.
Yea, went back to Canstock and missed the “Instant Download” option but I went back to iStock and I only see an option to “Or add this photo to your cart to Pay As You Go for $15.00 USD”. I tried several images and seems like the $15.00 seems standard at iStock but I guess I could still be missing something.
you have to click to get the USD pricing (top right of the box where image sizes/prices are shown). It’s from $6 to $31 for a main collection S to XXL
http://cascoly.com/symbio/list.asp?list=67 shows all the prices being charged by sym sites (anonymously, of course), plus averages
I price most of my pond5 images at $10 and set my sym largest at that price too
I see, I was looking at images only from iStock. $15 for exclusive and $6 for non-exclusive.
@joannsnover wrote:
I have priced a few images for licensing at FAA (just to try it out) but I set the prices so that the buyer price was roughly equivalent to my Symbiostock site price.
Not quite following. You can offer stock image licensing at fineartamerica.com?
@redneck wrote:
@joannsnover wrote:
I have priced a few images for licensing at FAA (just to try it out) but I set the prices so that the buyer price was roughly equivalent to my Symbiostock site price.
Not quite following. You can offer stock image licensing at fineartamerica.com?
It seems likre it is something they are exploring but perhaps not too well thought out. There is a thread on MSG about it here. http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/new-stock-agency-faa-pixels-com/msg371955/?topicseen
Thanks, Karen.
While setting my Sys site I did research in microstock pricing to see how can I set my own prices. I was surprised to see so many people here set $1-2 for DL 😯 Some have unique and great images (I mean really great!) and set own site just for $1? I call it charity, sorry I’m honest 😉 😕
After long calculations I’ve set $13 for the smallest size. I was wondering if it’s to much but hey, I sell images with Alamy (for example) and RF sales are about $70 ($20-$200). And it’s nothing unusual.
I think 10-20$ if fair price for images with high quality. And one more thing, I’m removing my images from micros cheap and low earnes. Most of my images are available only with my Sys, Alamy and other self pricing or macro sites. For me there’s no big sense to waste time, gear, work and costs for only 1-5$/ DL. I feel really bad with that poor cents… Maybe beacause I’m not doing mass?For me micro pricing is over.
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