Pricing for prints to be used in a single store of a major coffee house

Philmar · Nov 20, 2021

I received an email and then an arranged phone call from a store designer of a major international coffee house (rhymes with Flartrucks) who want to purchase exclusive rights to 3 of my photos for a redesign of a single store that is in my neighborhood. The designer said they want to place three photos of my neighborhood beach in a store close to the beach. They asked me to send them a quote as to how much I would want to be compensated. They said I could be involved with their printer to ensure print is to my satisfaction blah blah.I indicated that I really don't have a passion for the printing side of the process and once I sell the rights they could print them in B&W or hang them upside down for all I care..

But the next step is a quote. they want me to quote a price to them......Any advice? Would $1000 per photo be too little or too much? It is a bit of a conundrum for me...they are a multi-billion dollar company but want art exclusive only to the one store (this is permanent art, not part of a planned rotating art display). This will not be used by corporate office for promotion or in any digital form....I failed to ask if this is a competitive bid, if other artists had been contacted but that was never suggested and I doubt this is the case.
My only fear is that I ask for too much and price myself out.
Also they are buying exclusive rights. I could not use any of those three images in any potential neighborhood calendar that I was planning on developing in 3 years when I retire from my day job. There is a local photographer, a bit of a hack, who sells about 10,000 of these through a neighborhood Facebook group. I am also active in the FB group and members seem to prefer my style over the established photographer (he is retired and a long time resident). Members continually ask if I put together a calendar or sell prints but I have resisted because I have a FT job. I shoot in my spare time and don't want a part time photography job.

Any thoughts on the pricing?

Lez325 · Nov 23, 2021

If I were you I would approach the client and ask for their budget for this type of work- you may be surprised

Dean_Gretsch · Nov 23, 2021

Congrats! I have admired your work for years here and am happy your abilities are being recognized and hope your compensation is a hefty one.

SquarePeg · Nov 23, 2021

Congratulations! It’s always hard to open the negotiations for something like this. You can go on GettyImages and do a dummy inquiry on licensing one of their photos with the same type of exclusivity that the company is looking for to get an idea of what they’d charge. Or ask a local gallery owner for help pricing the photos for sale then add a premium for the exclusive use.

Philmar · Nov 27, 2021

She has since sent me an artists' rendering of the redesigned coffee store with my 3 photos prominently displayed in the large dining/drinking room. If they have artists doing renderings they must have a large budget.

As a noobie I just don't want to sell myself too cheap.

Sharpshooterr · Nov 30, 2021

Philmar said:
She has since sent me an artists' rendering of the redesigned coffee store with my 3 photos prominently displayed in the large dining/drinking room. If they have artists doing renderings they must have a large budget.

As a noobie I just don't want to sell myself too cheap.

Big companies have a full time graphic art dept.
Next lets also keep in mind that they can go to a stock photography company and buy high end beaches and seascapes images for peanuts.
There are several factors that give art it's value. 1, how famous you are. 2, the amount your previous work sells for. 3, how difficult it would be to reproduce your images(think Earthrise). 4, the skill with which you produce that work.
As was mentioned you might approach them and just tell them that you're inexperienced at this sort of business and ask them what would typically be a fair expense for them for this type of purchase. Obviously Galen Rowell's answer would be very different than yours or mine!
Good luck, SS