# Event onsite photo delivery



## animotionphoto (Jun 22, 2012)

I live in an area with year round tourism, festivals and events. Photographers are abundant, however, I never see any photographer offering on the spot sale and picture delivery. Has anyone done this successfully? I've already done the homework on needed equipment. 

1.  I assume to charge $10-$15 per 4X6 onsite print

2.  $20-$25 for 3 photos with flash drive        


Thanks for your opinion



Steve


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## Steve5D (Jun 22, 2012)

I tried it once at a benefit poker run. I was donating 25% of all my sales to the cause. I took some great pictures of some wonderful bikes (roughly 150 of them) and their owners. I was offering 8x10's for $12.00.

I didn't sell a single print on site.

Something to keep in mind is that, if you're going to offer on site printing and sales, you're going to need a place to set up. In the case of some events, that may require you paying for a booth. In my case, I was lucky. The American Legion which was co-sponsoring the event let me set up in an office space. In your case, if you have to rent a booth, you're going to have to find enough people willing to spend ten to fifteen bucks for a 4x6" print to cover your booth rental.

I dunno', I'd be surprised if it worked...


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## cgipson1 (Jun 22, 2012)

I agree..... that is way high for a 4x6! More like 8x10 in that range. Even then... sales would probably be very spotty. And any fees or permits that are required at events (they want money too) would eat into your profits... You also will need the standard business stuff: Licenses, insurance, pay taxes, etc.... many events won't let you shoot and sell, unless you are insured.. and sometimes they want in on that also...


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## IByte (Jun 22, 2012)

cgipson1 said:
			
		

> I agree..... that is way high for a 4x6! More like 8x10 in that range. Even then... sales would probably be very spotty. And any fees or permits that are required at events (they want money too) would eat into your profits... You also will need the standard business stuff: Licenses, insurance, pay taxes, etc.... many events won't let you shoot and sell, unless you are insured.. and sometimes they want in on that also...



....so in a nutshell a bad idea.


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## cgipson1 (Jun 22, 2012)

IByte said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



True.. I just need BIG nutshells!


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## IByte (Jun 22, 2012)

30x15 that's the big shells you need lol.


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## Steve5D (Jun 23, 2012)

I was at the Rolex 24 last January (2011), and there was a guy selling pictures that he'd taken that particular day; that was kind of his "hook". He was selling prints as large as 20x30", and he was selling a lot of them. His booth traffic was ridiculous. I want to say his largest prints were in the $80.00 range, and they were moving.

The funniest part is that he was shooting with a Digital Rebel; a 300D...


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## cgipson1 (Jun 23, 2012)

Steve5D said:


> I was at the Rolex 24 last January (2011), and there was a guy selling pictures that he'd taken that particular day; that was kind of his "hook". He was selling prints as large as 20x30", and he was selling a lot of them. His booth traffic was ridiculous. I want to say his largest prints were in the $80.00 range, and they were moving.
> 
> The funniest part is that he was shooting with a Digital Rebel; a 300D...



Yea... it all depends on the venue! Sometimes they work.. sometimes they don't! Go Kart racing is big around here.. I have a friend that used to take a printer out to races (when he wasn't racing at least). If you could get a good shot on some of the tight curves, or with the mountains in the background... people would buy them like crazy. Very weather dependent also.. at least here.


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## Sportster77 (Jun 23, 2012)

Most local to regional type racetracks will have a "Track Photographer" that will shoot all or most of the cars during qualifying and the winners circle and then make prints available to the Teams and fans 'on-site' .


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## animotionphoto (Jun 24, 2012)

Great feedback. I'm not worried about licenses or permits, nor how and where to set up or what equipment etc etc. Steve mentioned he tried it nothing sold at a poker run. Maybe that's because bikers dont want to carry a or damage a picture in their back pocket. I totally get that, but say at a 4th of July fesitval....many women carry their purses, sooo. 

Ok so let's go onto the other method of delivery i mentioned. Flash card sale with say 3 exposures on them $20-$25? Yes, customer would be able to preview the pics on the tablet.


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## Steve5D (Jun 24, 2012)

animotionphoto said:


> Great feedback. I'm not worried about licenses or permits, nor how and where to set up or what equipment etc etc. Steve mentioned he tried it nothing sold at a poker run. Maybe that's because bikers dont want to carry a or damage a picture in their back pocket. I totally get that, but say at a 4th of July fesitval....many women carry their purses, sooo.



Well, maybe.

But it was in a relatively small community. I could've printed the photos, left them at the Legion, and people could've come back to pick them up; the community is close knit enough to where there would be no worries about anyone walking off with someone else's photo. Sure, there were some who came from points beyond, but a lot of those guys had saddlebags, too...





> Ok so let's go onto the other method of delivery i mentioned. Flash card sale with say 3 exposures on them $20-$25? Yes, customer would be able to preview the pics on the tablet.



That may be okay. Keep in mind that, when you do that, those folks can then run amok with your images. I don't personally concern myself with that too much, but the concern is there.

Also, consider your payment methods. I just received my Square. I'm going to open a new bank account to connect it to, but it's free to get one, allows you to accept Master Card, Visa, Discover and American Express, and costs only 2.75% per swipe. I don't see that as being too horrible, and it's less, I think, than what regular commercial accounts have to pay. These days, most people don't walk around with pockets full of cash, but they have credit and debit cards. That's what I got it.

Something to think about...


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## animotionphoto (Jun 24, 2012)

> Also, consider your payment methods. I just received my Square. I'm going to open a new bank account to connect it to, but it's free to get one, allows you to accept Master Card, Visa, Discover and American Express, and costs only 2.75% per swipe. I don't see that as being too horrible, and it's less, I think, than what regular commercial accounts have to pay. These days, most people don't walk around with pockets full of cash, but they have credit and debit cards. That's what I got it.




Oh YEah! I have the square reader too. I have the paypal reader as well. The paypal reader is used for my main business and the Square is specifically connected to the photography side.  I hear ya on over doing too many pictures and keeping the customer from taking advantage. The tablet i'd be using is an ASUS, however I'm haing a hard time locating a shoulder carry case that easily opens for use and show. Myabe I'll find a seamstress to custom make me one. I'm also thinking of hiring a cute young female assistant to help with sales and equipment. Pay her $8 an hour plus $2 for every $20 sale. We'd have to make (4) $20 minimum sales an hour to keep me happy.  I'm not interested in setting up a booth. This is more of a walk around deal. I got this idea when I was walking around and taking pictures at a biker rally. Several people wanted to buy my pictures, but I wasnt set up for it, so goes then the idea.


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## imagemaker46 (Jun 24, 2012)

I helped out some guys last winter shooting local hockey tournaments, they shot every weekend, had a great set-up onsite, good quality printing and packages avaliable.  Soem days they had people lined up and other days they didn't break even.  The photos they were working with were all action, and good action, but the people weren't going crazy buying.  I think for the most part it is a hit and miss, they were selling 8x10's for $15.  They were also paying 4-6 photographers per day and at least 3 computer guys,  I never asked them on much profit they made, but I expect it was pretty thin.  Keeping the expences down is the start,  having a good person working the booth is essential, the rest comes down to quality photos and people willing to buy.  Like I said, hit and miss.  All you can is give it a shot and see what happens.


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