Pricing confusion

[TaraNZ]

Hey all, I'm new to this forum. I've been a self-employed photographer and digital artist for five years while at home with my kids. I only work part time, a session or commission here or there, but need to step it up to get the bills paid, hence why I joined this forum. Most of the work I do consists of photo sessions, print sales or commissioned digital artwork, all of which has set rates. Occasionally though, I get a request from a company to buy a license to use an existing piece of art or photograph, and it's the pricing for such licenses that I really come unstuck on. Right now I have a potential client wishing to use a pen drawing I did some years ago, incorporated into a logo for his company. I have NO clue where to begin pricing for something like this - can anyone provide any advice on how to go about this? What do the rest of you charge for something like this?
Appreciate your feedback!

[ndswam]

Hi and welcome! Unfortunately I can't help you with your question, but wanted to say hello. Interested to hear the answer myself.

[TommyH]

There is a lot of great info here: Pricing Guides | American Society of Media Photographers

There is some calculators on this link: The Guide To Pricing Commercial Photography Part 3: What Are You Worth? or The Guide To Pricing Commercial Photography Part 4: License Fees

There are a more out there. But you could just charge him for the design and sell it. Licenses go deeper as you will need to make a contract on what the license will and will not include as far as usage.

[TaraNZ]

Thanks so much for the welcomes and the advice, much appreciated! This is the part I hate, pricing. I don't expect it'll ever get any easier!

[ndswam]

Originally Posted by TaraNZ

Thanks so much for the welcomes and the advice, much appreciated! This is the part I hate, pricing. I don't expect it'll ever get any easier!

That was great info, and yes pricing stinks! We hate it too!

[TaraNZ]

Originally Posted by ndswam

That was great info, and yes pricing stinks! We hate it too!

I'm afraid I am terrible at it. I keep being told time and time again that I am undercharging but I find it terribly difficult to quote prices without feeling outraged at my own cheek (yes, I know, it's a matter of undervaluing my own services). In this case, I ended up looking up some random images on Getty.com and obtaining a price for the kind of license (print media only) this customer wanted for my image, then subtracting some so that if he thought it was too much and went to look elsewhere, he'd find I had actually given him a good deal. He didn't bat an eyelid and accepted the quoted price, and bought a $400 framed print of the image as well!

[TommyH]

Originally Posted by TaraNZ

I'm afraid I am terrible at it. I keep being told time and time again that I am undercharging but I find it terribly difficult to quote prices without feeling outraged at my own cheek (yes, I know, it's a matter of undervaluing my own services). In this case, I ended up looking up some random images on Getty.com and obtaining a price for the kind of license (print media only) this customer wanted for my image, then subtracting some so that if he thought it was too much and went to look elsewhere, he'd find I had actually given him a good deal. He didn't bat an eyelid and accepted the quoted price, and bought a $400 framed print of the image as well!

That's awesome. Pricing your services is always the hardest. There are so many factors that from one person to the next it can vary greatly. From you actual costs to where you live.

The first thing you need to do is establish your cost to do business. Then you price from that figure, for example I know that my cost to do business runs about $250 daily (insurance, travel costs, 2 weeks of vacation, equipment expenses, marketing expenses, # number of jobs I can do weekly, etc.) So that is my starting price as a minimum for anything commercial. Then you go from there with your pricing. Some charge hourly rate and some charge flat rates. Just have to find what works for you.