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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Who sells photo cds from high school football
Tom Suarez, Photographer
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Austin | texas | USA | Posted: 8:48 PM on 10.10.10 |
->> I cover local high school football games for the local newspaper and also upload to my site for parents to purchase prints. I have had a few parents that ask if I got some good photos of their kids when they make a good play but they never order prints.
At the last game 1 of these parents asked if I would sell them a cd of their kid at the end of the season. She has purchased cds of other single events and knows it will cost more for an entire season of a sport.
My question is does anyone that covers high school sports offer to sell a cd of all the images of a particular player for a season and what would be a good price for it? Some of the players have or will have 40-50 images. |
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David Welker, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Springfield | MO | USA | Posted: 11:57 PM on 10.10.10 |
| ->> I offer a CD for +/- 350 per season. Depending on the number of images that each player has. Some I go for a tad cheaper due to a limited number of photos, but 350 seems to be the working price point for now. |
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Mike Janes, Photographer
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Attica | NY | USA | Posted: 1:04 AM on 10.11.10 |
->> Been mulling this over for awhile, though 99% of my sales are prints, there have been some requests for CD's. It would have to be x-number of images for a certain amount, probably starting at $300 - wouldn't just throw in an entire seasons worth if I got a ton of the kid. Right now the full res. files sell at $40/per (same as MaxPreps pricing) so maybe $300 for 15-20 images which knocks it down to $15-20 an image instead of paying $600-800. Though I'd gladly take that amount! Maybe do a medium res. disc to, but definitely avoid the small res. as it just wouldn't be worth it too much.
Thing is for all these parents, they could easily pay $300 or so and get a lot more images by hiring ahead of time for a day fee. Of course often they don't think of that until AFTER seeing the results.
@David - curious, how many images are you throwing on the CD for that much? |
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Tom Suarez, Photographer
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Austin | texas | USA | Posted: 12:52 PM on 10.11.10 |
| ->> Thanks for the replies. I was thinking a certain price for up to 10, 20, 30 and all for that season with a max price of about 350-375. Again Thanks for the replies and emails. |
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Butch Miller, Photographer
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Lock Haven | PA | USA | Posted: 1:19 PM on 10.11.10 |
| ->> One area you have to consider ... watch what you sell on the CD's ... I know of a newspaper that sold Cd's of a Little League team that went to the state tournament ... they put ALL the images from the entire tournament run on the CD ... several of the parents chipped in, bought one copy, then burned copies for the group .... so I'd limit the images to a particular player ... if you see orders for multiple players with no family connection ... something may be up that will cost you profits ... |
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Tom Suarez, Photographer
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Austin | texas | USA | Posted: 8:50 PM on 10.11.10 |
| ->> Thanks Butch, I was planning on limiting it to 1 player and 1 sport such as football when the season is over and then volleyball when the season ends. |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Fontana | CA | USA | Posted: 3:00 AM on 10.12.10 |
->> I actually use the all players chipping in on a cd as a selling point. But I only cover one game for the $300 price with all the players on the CD. and have only done this with basketball. It is much easier to cover five to ten players on a court than a football team.
Not sure I understand how you are covering the whole season, they pay you first then you go to every game or you cover the whole season and then hope to sell to those on that team you covered.
For what its worth, I make 3-4 times as much by parents buying individual prints than a CD. Most people don't know a deal if it hit em square in the face. |
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Kevin Krows, Photographer
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Forsyth | IL | USA | Posted: 5:39 AM on 10.12.10 |
->> Three words --- Don't do it.
Louis is right on target and I'm sure he, like many others including myself, works very hard to separate his work from commoditized products and markets that limit his ability to earn a living. |
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Sam Santilli, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Philippi | WV | USA | Posted: 9:46 AM on 10.12.10 |
->> More & more, parents want the images, not prints. It is the way it will be in 10yrs, if not sooner.
A seminar I attended at our pro lab last year had a rep from Kodak do a session. He told us that the parents who will be having kids in 5-15 yrs from now, will not be ordering prints, just the electronic files. The market is changing, for better or worse, and you can change with the market or die in the old market.
Anyone here notice there are less newspapers being printed every month? The same trend is rippling thru online,event,wedding and studio session sales.
Photography markets and sales used to be driven by the industry, now it is shifting to customer demands. And the decision makers are not asking for changes in image delivery, they are demanding these changes. The helicopter parents want complete control. If you are not willing to sell cd's, they will find someone who will. |
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Butch Miller, Photographer
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Lock Haven | PA | USA | Posted: 10:07 AM on 10.12.10 |
| ->> The key here is not the medium in which the images are sold ... that has been evolving for some time and likely to continue to do so ... the key is to get compensated appropriately for the product created ... thus maintaining the value of professional photography in the minds of clients ... |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 10:23 AM on 10.12.10 |
->> Sam 15 (closer to 20 really) years ago I sat in a great big ballroom with dozens of other photographers and was told to sell all my gear and embrace video. That brides in 10 years would want nothing to do with wedding albums or companion books. That they would ONLY be interested in hiring videographers and that they would want one tape that they would copy and distribute to their friends and family. The market was changing.... video was small and portable (if you didn't mind a 20# battery belt). Stills were dead.....
You can't take what a manufacturing or sales rep says too seriously. I haven't seen ANY dip in my print sales. 90% or more of any graduating class still sits in front of a camera for a portrait session. Yearbooks are still being printed and sold (HUGE HUGE HUGE business). The people who are going to be parents 15 years from now are 5 year olds TODAY.... I'm not about to start maneuvering today for what a 5 year old may want in 15 years....
People will buy what is available. If you make the files available then that's what they'll buy. If not then they will buy prints, wall decals, etc. The printed photo isn't anywhere near dead. Just look at all the ventures that are springing up to cater to people who want prints. Heck even Facebook is getting into the game.
Now if you will all excuse me I have a flight lesson in an hour..... I hear flying cars are coming and I want to be ready!
So in TODAY'S market.... Kevin and Louis +1 |
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Sam Santilli, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Philippi | WV | USA | Posted: 10:49 AM on 10.12.10 |
->> I do not want to hijack this thread, so I will end with this: The market is changing, will change, and you need to be ready to roll with the changes. My print sales are still strong, but I am offering cd's, and charging what my market can bare.
Eric, when you get your flying car license, stop in and we will go for wings and beer(s). I would say drop in, but that would be bad. |
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Mike Janes, Photographer
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Attica | NY | USA | Posted: 11:32 AM on 10.12.10 |
| ->> The market is changing, however, print sales are still far more popular than digital files. If they have a choice between a $15-20 8x10 or a $40 digital file they'll probably think short term and buy the cheaper print not thinking they can print there own forever as long as they don't lose the file. I hate losing control over the file, but see many similar changes I saw when I was involved in the music business. Sure CD's still sell but the switch to digital is very much taking over if it's not the majority of sales already. |
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Paul Cacciapaglia, Photographer, Assistant
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Houston (Friendswood) | TX | USA | Posted: 3:22 PM on 10.13.10 |
| ->> Tom-I too cover high school sports for a paper and upload to my galleries for sale to parents. The majority of my sales is still print with some digital files. I do not offer photos on CD. I will make far more money from the entire season selling prints and digital files individually than selling a stated number of files on a CD. I do believe the market is changing. I will continue to sale the digital files just as I do print, one at a time, not on CD. Instead of delivering the photos on CD, I will do so by email or my file transfer service which allows the customer to download the files via a link I send to them after they purchase. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 4:11 PM on 10.13.10 |
| ->> Last season I did a contract with a local school for basketball. Shot 9 games, gave them a CD with all of the images. They paid me over a Grand for it. |
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Tom Suarez, Photographer
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Austin | texas | USA | Posted: 8:16 PM on 10.13.10 |
| ->> Louis, I am already at the games because I shoot part time for the newspaper. I will upload about a hundred or so files to my website and parents do purchase prints and electronic downloads. Covering all the games of all the sports I accumulate a lot of photos of the star players so some of the parents want a cd. I might end up with 100-200 photos of some of the players and this would be rather expensive for a parent to purchase every photo but some do anyway. That is why I was thinking about offering a cd and I will include a 50% off code to order prints directly from me to insure quality. When I shoot basketball or volleyball it is not hard to get several shots of every player so I end up with a lot of photos of the same players which I think would increase sales by offering a cd in addition to just prints. |
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