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If during the process of your negotiation for the use of a rights managed stock photo you always remember that the three following issues are paramount in the thinking of the agency, you can do two things that will help you: One, you can frame the information you provide optimally, and two, you can volunteer information that they might not be asking for, but which will influence these issues in your favor.
In the next section, when we talk about the five specific "factors" you will be asked about when purchasing rights managed stock images, always bear in mind that those questions are being posed so that, at the end of the "exchange of information" process, they know the following three things:
The more important they perceive the stock photo to be to your project, the higher the fee they are going to charge. They are going to be asking a lot of seemingly "technical" questions about placement, size the image will be used, and so on, but what they really are trying to discern is just that: How important is the use of this particular stock photo to the overall project?
Note the use of the term "particular stock photo". That, too, can impact this issue. If the stock photo you have in mind is highly unique, perhaps containing lots of models, they know that the chances are that the image is more important to the project than would be a more mundane subject treatment.
The more important they perceive the project to be, to you or your client, the higher the fee they are going to charge. That's one of the reasons, for example, that prices for corporate annual reports tend to be high, sometimes out of proportion to the number of copies that will be printed: The photo agency knows that there are few things more important to a company's executives than their report to their "bosses", the shareholders.
When you get to the next section of this document on "The Five Factors", always bear in mind that the information you provide will be creating an impression of the importance of this project. Be straightforward and forthcoming, but don't give the impression that the project is more important than it actually is, or you'll be charged more than you should be.
The more important they perceive YOU to be to THEM, the more bargaining power you have. If you are a frequent buyer of stock images, let them know that. Good customers get good prices. See concentrate your buying power.
As we proceed to the next section on the five specific factors that will be considered, always keep in mind that those factors are designed to provide answers to the three "umbrella" issues listed here. Control the process. Remember, for example, that when they ask you how large or small you are using the picture, that what they are really trying to figure out is "how important is this picture to the project?" And so on.
Armed with this information, let's proceed to the five factors ...
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