Need Advice

Hi Donnie, first you need to ask more questions, like how many they planned to produce, how much the item retail for, ask how much they paid for other artists?. you need a contract for how many years they could use the images.

Donnie,

What Alfred is saying, is that the "value" of your image, is based on usage and that's what you need to ask. Ask them for a budget for this and what they normally pay. If they dodge around this, then you really don't want to deal with these people!

Rich

I start out a conversation like that something like this:

Hello,

Thank you for your interest in my art.

I would be happy to license images "XXX" and "XXX" for your souvenir company.

In order to come to a fair price please answer a few questions.
How exactly will you be using the image?
Is this license for a limited use, as in a limited amount printed or will it be in perpetuity?
What is your budget for this project?

Thank you for answering my questions, I look forward to working with you.

As previously mentioned, anyone really interested in getting it licensed will answer these questions in order to meet an agreement.
There are people who write emails like you have received and then hope they will get it for free.
They don't answer the questions because there are not interested in a negotiation.

It can go either way.

Once they give you a budget range, you can decide if what they are offering is acceptable to you or not.
If not...let them know, that's a bit low for what they are asking and give them a price you are comfortable with.

I've licensed things for $50 all the way up to $1,000. It depends on who is asking (individual for personal use or company)
and what they want to do with it. Some deals I have residual checks for the licensing. I've also been burned by
people who didn't hold up their end of the bargain.

Good rule of thumb:
Make a contract, make sure it covers everything you agreed on together. (this sets clear expectations for both sides)
Receive payment first, do not deliver art without being paid.

Be positive, project confidence in your ability to do business with them, but be clear it's not for free.

Good luck.

Just an example of how wildly this can vary:

One company contacted me 3 months ago, we had a few phone conversations and reach a price for licensing two images.
Nothing happened for a month. Then they email me and ask if I will drop my price by half. (I gave them a very elaborate NO)
Nothing for a month, I assumed it was dead. Last week I was emailed again, with a purchase order and with the full price I agreed to.
Today I got the signed contract and the payment.

Go figure.

Two weeks ago I was contacted by a sorority, I licensed a variation of one my pieces. The whole thing from beginning to end was 1 week.

Smooth and fairly easy.

The same day the sorority contacted me another person representing a company also contacted me, when I responded they never replied.
A week later I followed up, they responded in saying they received my response and "Thank you, we'll be in touch" ....they didn't answer my questions.

I doubt I will hear from them again. Unfortunately, this scenario is the most common. People want art for free.

3 different scenarios, all based off of how they handled it.

'Receive payment first, do not deliver art without being paid.'

That and the contract is the most important. There are too many people who only want You full resolution file and You never hear again anything.

i think some that don't want to answer don't want to reveal how much they wanted to spend on it. sort of like showing their hand. i've gotten really low ball prices for things that i said no too. usually they ask for an image i can't license at all.

the contract is VERY important. it should spell out which company can use it, and only that company, that it holds you harmless if anything should happen to a person using that product, that you in good faith know that your image is safe to use. it should say what the use is for, for how long, and how many and place the image on the contract so there is no confusion. it should state that your name and web address is on there some place.

i usually ask for a sample in the contract.

mention they can't modify it unless they have your permission first and may approval. they can crop it to fit though. you sign, you send by email, they sign, then send the money agreed on.


GET PAID IN ADVANCE and be sure the price your going to get is set on your contract (not theirs), but ALWAYS ask for theirs first. i like to know the type of company i'm dealing with and what i could expect being with them. but still use yours.

i was once approached they wanted something for chinese canvas prints, i gave them a price and while about 4 times higher than what he wanted to pay, we agreed, but i did not get paid up front. and they said they were making about a 1000 - how you order about of something is unknown. and it was not outlined in the contract.

it took MONTHS to get paid then they gave me a quarter of what they owed me stating they really only wanted 200 and made a long sob story that i don't get paid until they get paid. and the contract they gave me stated they only pay quarterly or something.

and it took me telling them that i would post a very bad review of their company, with the review already typed up, unless they paid me now. it took close to a year to actually get paid and under paid at that.

so now all my contracts state the amount of pieces and the price. and even if its for free - always outline stuff in your contract.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

oh and you get whatever its worth to them. the asking for their budget thing is the key point. and they should have a baseline anyway. but do ask for their contract - a sample one - along with asking that question. i collect them. and there are some really bad ones out there.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

You need to know who large the print runs will be Then you can compare to the market rates on stock sites. $100 per item would be closer to reality then a blanket $100 for who knows how many different items and runs.

When I worked with another artist on a t-shirt biz, a company licensed six designs for a run of coffee mugs. 50,000 mugs were made. We got something like $500 up front and 5 cents a mug. But we had to hound them for the royalties. Each mug had our url on it so we got a bit of promotion out of the deal.

All great advice...thanks!

You're welcome.

This thread is very timely for me as I just received a similar request and since it is an individual and not a company I am unsure how to proceed.

She said:
"Do you ever do licensing deals? I am interested in doing one of your images into a cosmetic bag and marketing it exclusively through my web site."
I answered yes and asked what image she had in mind. I just now read Angelina's post about asking the right questions.

I figured out that she saw my image on FB in a group that I shared it with. It's my new painting with cats playing mahjongg. I found out she is a Mahjongg teacher and sells merchandise thru her website.

If we don't agree on a price or terms what prevents her from ordering a small print here and doing it herself?

if we do agree and it isn't an exclusive arrangement I assume I can still make them thru my Z store and market them? I would try to keep the price the same.

How would you proceed?

As a follow-up, I gambled, and lost....although I don't really feel like I lost. The souvenir company wanted to pay me $100-$150 for an image they would use for 3 to 5 years and have all rights to souvenir use of the image. I told them I would sell it to them for $125 per year of use. I never heard back. With that said, I don't feel I lost because $100-$150 for an image they will put on coffee mugs, greeting cards, etc. for 3 to 5 years on doesn't seem like enough. I have had business's pay me $100 for an image they will use in one magazine add.

I don't think you lost. Even $125/year sounds way cheap to me.

Agree David

Sounds like you made a good choice.

I would have kicked that deal to the curb and never looked back, good choice.

Way cheap! I licensed for 500 t-shirts at 1.00 per shirt...so I got 500.00. They weren't selling the shirts, they were using them for a one time event to give out to those attending. If they were going to sell them, I would have charged more.

It's all individual. I listen to what each potential licensee wants and decide from there.

EVERY deal gets a contract (like Mike's suggestions) I usually get ALL of my licensing fee upfront before sending over a Hires. But with art consulting firms that I have an established relationship with, I will do the 50% now and 50% at the end of the project gig. Just got 1875.00 for 8 of my images for a luxury Hyatt in San Diego....I will get the other 1875.00 when it's all done (I do not know how long that will take!)

The longest I've waited to hear back was 6 months. It was for a brand new resort in Islamadora FL. They bought the rights to reproduce one of my images for 300.00 to get started. To make a 36x48 print for a mock up to show their clients. They told me if the clients liked it, they would want 9 more images similar to be reproduced 8 each (8 floor hotel). 80 images total would be produced. 6 months later they said they were ready to go.......They asked for a price break for buying in bulk. I did it for 100.00 each. I made 8K (plus the 300 in the beginning). 4K upfront and 4K 9 months later. It was a looooong process, but I did well.

NEVER SELL YOURSELF SHORT! More will come along...You didn't lose!