[Gary Bagshawe]

Just sold 2 pics through photographers direct, £70.00 each. Boring stuff for a text book but there ya go, The thing I like about Stock Photography images buy photo stock images Photographers Direct is that picture buyers actually post requests for the pics they want and you can upload your samples, if they want to use your pics they then e-mail you, PD then invoice you for about 10% of the sale which is fantastic.
I also was contacted by a local Bar who wants to show my images (for sale) in their establishment. Things are looking up

[Markulous]

Nice one, Gary! I keep meaning to make more of an effort with PD - maybe this'll kickstart me!

[VikingPhotography]

Originally Posted by Gary Bagshawe

<snip> if they want to use your pics they then e-mail you, PD then invoice you for about 10% of the sale which is fantastic.

10%??

**** me Gary... that's a helluva low rate! I took a look at the Photographer's Direct website and noticed the little gems in bold

"Our photographers receive 80% of the sale price of their images (through an agency they normally receive 50%, through sub-agencies they may receive as little as 8% of the sale price!").

What troubles me is that they don't list whom their agency and sub-agencies are - there's no transparency in it, so you'll never know how/where your images were sold.

I get 50% of sale value through one agency I syndicate to, and 60% of sale value through another - both flat rate, irrespective of how the photos are sold. I also get a detailed report, mailed out with each cheque, as to the how and where the image was sold - whether it was a direct sale or through a partner network etc. and also the publication (including date and issue number) it was printed in.

Some of the larger agencies that are best known for editorial work also have a sideline in Rights Managed and Royalty Free stock - agencies such as Getty, BIG, Retna and many more. Had your images been sold via such agencies for the same buyer fee, you'd have earned £700 in commission.

I think you should take a look at what some of the larger agencies can offer you and find out about becoming a contributor; there's no harm in trying and you just might be able to better reap the rewards of your shooting.

[Gary Bagshawe]

Cheers VP, I am represented by Alamy as well as pd, Alamy do not let you know who or where your image has been used if they sell them either, I thought it was the norm.

[VikingPhotography]

The stock agencies such as Alamy and PD will have thousands of photographers on their books, making it near impossible for them to produce such reports.

Agencies such as Getty etc. have regional headquarters and usually deal in much lower numbers of photographers - usually in the dozens or so - and thus are more able to provide such statistics.

Case in point: the agency that gives me 60% comission has just 20 photographers on their roster. The other has 59 main conrtibutors and and accepts work from stingers too. I can only guess at how many contributors that Alamy has, but it must easily run into the thousands

[daveyuk]

Well done

[P-E]

Pays for a few ........