Model Wants To Buy Back Photos - Yes/No? If so, how much should I charge her?
 

I shot a model over 9 years ago that suddenly approached me after all these years, and she wants to buy back her photos and videos, primarily because she doesn't want others to see them.

My general policy is no to such requests, since I thoroughly discuss all assignments, and even ensure that models should understand that while I do what I can to protect their privacy (real name, etc), that they are signing a model release which will effectively put the images they shoot online, and hard to control circulation of. My paperwork is all in order.

http://www.demotivationalposters.org...1288034711.jpg

Anyway, long story short. Would you sell the photos back to her, and if so, for how much?

I am considering it, but here are some of the factors I am mulling over:

? Six exclusive photo sets and six exclusive videos (full nude softcore glam, some 2 girl).

? Upfront costs were: $400 model, $200 flight, $200 room, $400 other model, $150 meals, etc. = $1,350

? Price above does not include my time as a shooter (2 days), and editor (20+ hours)

? Neither model was active for very long, so there is very little content of them online. I am sure the way memberships work on my site, that some people join because of that specific model, and especially for the extremely rare two girl photo sets and videos.

Again, my question is, given the above, would you sell the photos back to her, and if so, for how much?

Thanks for any feedback and ideas. I was kind of taken by surprise by the request. :)

ADG

No don't do it, but if you need the cash you can always charge her $600 per set/video to cover all your troubles.

Last year.. we did about 40,000 in model buy back..FUCK YEA.. sell it.. That is not really common, but one of the models married a doctor and wanted her sets back.

We don't really don't care how much it cost to create it.(generally).

What we do is do it based on a day rate.. ( how many days did it take you to shoot her)

and if there is another model.. double it..

I used have an excel spread sheet.. that did by non-nude / nude / toys / hard core... and the number of sets.. but it was just too complex..

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We just had someone contact us to buy all of eva love / eva planet content.. It was two days of shooting.. we send him a quote for 8,000 dollars.. ( he is getting full rights to the images, retouched images, edited videos ( raw video also).. Around 25 sets.. Which honestly is a smoking deal for him and he is going to buy it..


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so if you shoot her for 2 days.. ( 1 day girl / girl ) 1 day solo.. I would sell her the content for between 6,000 to 10,000.. but I would generally have around 30+ sets in 2 days.. if all you got in 2 days was 6 total sets ( matching pics and video).. you can quote them 300 dollars a set or so..- around 2000 dollars.. if you have 6 different pic sets.. and 6 different video set .. get ride of it for around 4,000..


that would be around 3,000..

I would charge big time. Not only for the cost of shooting her, but for lost wages on what the content would have brought in, if you can figure that out. With the knowledge that yes, you can buy them back, but what is out there on the internet... is pretty much out there forever.

http://icanhascheezburger.files.word...-image-cat.jpg

It is difficult, if not impossible, to quanitfy how many sign-ups can be attributed to a given model. During the time this model has been on the site, it averaged around 100 models (soon it will be 200), so assuming that her content is worth 1% of the sales per year, and I will be losing that for years into the future, that is why I am having a difficult time coming up with a number.

The six sets were shot over a large geographic area, in some unique locations, plus some epic public voyeur/exhibitionist flashing content.

It was a relaxed two day shoot, for a specifically contracted price and quantity of content. Obviously when I shoot, I have an expectation that I will be able to make a good profit from the content that I shoot - far in excess of my basic expense costs plus labor.

More feedback please. :)

Thanks,

ADG

Their is no need to go very far into a quantitative anaylsis. Out of pocket was $1350, your 2 days work... say 1K.

$2350... multiply that by 3 and just give it back to her. She obviously wants it hidden from her new boyfriend, fiancee, husband... or job... and will easily fork over 6 or 7 K.

Easy choice in my opinion.

10 k and a rump fuck....for her

I certainly don't see any reason to say no. If I wanted to buy some exclusive sets from you, for the right price you'd sell it to me, right? Business wise, she's just another person wanting to buy exclusive content, so the question is price.

At the same time, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Consider if you were in her shoes and treat her fairly.

How the hell do so many of you guys run into this issue so often? I wouldn't even entertain this nonsense. I haven't been asked once in twenty years by a model to sell content she appeared in. But I always make it clear by words and in a video recording that their content will be out there forever in a multitude or formats and mediums, many beyond my control, and may be sold, licensed and re-sold ad infinitum so that it would be pointless to even try to put the genie back in the bottle.

That's not what ADG said though... so your experience has nothing to do with his situation.

ADG said he has kept her content on "HIS" site and is in a crossroads if he should give it back to her... considering it is only on his site.

He mentioned that she is 1 of 100 girls and that is additional income for years to come at 1% of profits.

So the answer is very easy... anything that has to do with 1% is not worth talking about. He should sell it back for a profit and be done with it... i recommend 7K other say 10K.... somewhere in between lies the answer

Just delete all of her photos, then thank her for making you all the money she did. That would be the coolest thing you could do.

it must be important to her, i would be curious as to the why factor and think of the lost opportunity you may miss out on if you resale back to her. can you spin that into more sales? she's obviously moving up in life if she has bread to buy back her pics

I had a guy that had a change of heart after being in a scene with a girl. He was stressed after doing it and called me 2 days later. I sold it back to him for a small profit. I didn't even have the footage edited yet, so wasn't a big deal.

weak pimp hands in this thread (except for Jim Gunn)

not sure about some of you, but we are in the business of shooting porn.

http://www.motifake.com/image/demoti...1215376881.jpg

She initially said it was a career thing, but it appears to more of her BF/hubby's career, as they set up a face-to-face meeting with me (under false pretenses) and he did almost all of the talking.

She started emailing me several months ago, posing as a new model interested in working with me. We exchanged emails, and finally she was coming to a city near me, and asked to meet me prior to the shoot (which was kind of unusual, because I generally do not have to meet models in advance, since I have forms and written checklists that I send out to models before projects).

So anyway, I drive 45 minutes to meet at a coffee shop, and I am talking to the girl for five minutes before they reveal that she is a model I shot 9+ years before. It still took me a minute to recognize her, which also made me wonder why she was so worried about the pix, since her appearance had changed so much that I didn't even recognize her at first (and likely wouldn't have if I only saw her pictures, and she had not told me who she was, although I did think she kind of had a vaguely familiar look).

She said that years ago, someone recognized her and gave her a hard time, but I didn't really see what her current issue was, other than a general desire to suppress the photos.

ADG

"Make me an offer." <-- This is probably a good start. See what she is willing to offer in exchange.

I would sell it all back to her at 4 times your expenses...Something in that neighborhood.
You've had 9 years to bank from it and could expect many more to bank as well.
You have tons of models, tons of content...

Always will be somebody to take her place regardless.if she lowballs,then no deal

I was going to ask if she even looks the same, but she's Asian and probably hasn't aged much, right? Damn their great genes.

First, I question whether the content in question is truly only on his own pay site. Does he not have blogs, feeder sites, affiliates with sites or tubes? Were her photos ever used in banners or promo material? Are the videos not packaged on physical DVDs or available to watch on Internet VOD sites or perhaps even on tv? Is any of it available on the torrents or file sharing forums for that matter? Clips4Sale? Clips.com? In the hands of private collectors of Asian Erotica? Are any of her images archived in the friggin Internet Wayback Machine for crying out loud?

Maybe ADG doesn't know for sure if any of the images or videos are out there beyond his control. Maybe he doesn't actively re-package his content in any of those ways. But even if he doesn't, he may as well just say he does and that it's all out of his hands to get rid of her and the trouble making boyfriend. Unless he actually needs the money some of you guys want him to shake her down for and then he's just looking for a justification. Either way, nothing good can come of entertaining this.

What if he refuses and the bf kills him?

Always be cool and fair. Don't get a bullet in the back of your head because your a dick.:2 cents:

get as much as they financially stand. if they want to kill you can always move to costa rica or poland.

http://zrqa.com/blog2/wp-content/upl...6/jealousy.jpg

LOL, we had a nice civil conversation. I don't think it will come to anything like that.

They both acknowledge that I was totally polite and professional with the model throughout, that she initially contacted me to shoot her, and that she enjoyed the experience and liked the pictures. They simply want to try and remove her content in an amicable fashion as part of "moving on with her life".

I'm not accustomed to such a situation, so I thought I would ask what other's might do.

Interesting thoughts and observations so far...thanks! :)

ADG

If you have a few hundred models, I wouldn't say that any particular model carries a specific weight as to get members to join.

I would look at the initial cost, add to that the time and cost to dig up all of her photos you have, to package them/burn them on a DVD or however she wanted them "returned" and send it to her. What will that take you, half a day or so? What's your alternative cost for half a days work, how much do you usually make in that time doing something else productive?

I think it would be fair to give her a chance to buy them back, but set a high enough price to kind of "scare" your average model away from doing it time and time again. On rare occasions I can see that people might have their own reasons to do things. Offer her a somewhat steep price, to cover all your costs and time to gather it all up and let her decide if it's worth it.

But as Jim Gunn brings up, some of the images might not be in your control, as long as she knows and understands this, let the decision be hers but let it also come with a high pricetag.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

+1 for this suggestion.

But wtf do I know, I'm just a lowly affiliate.

........

good way of looking at it :2 cents:

Raymor hit the nail on the head. It's business and the scenes have a price. Asking us to tell you the price is like asking us what pants you should wear.

What's it worth to you X what's it worth to her X what can she afford = The price.

Then she pays or doesn't.

Jim, how many of the girls you shot do you own the content of?

ADG, sell it back to her at the same rate you would sell the set(s) to a client. No more, no less.

Just make sure you get in writing that she understands you don't control the whole internet you can return the rights, give her the negatives or digital masters and remove it from the sites you control but if some tube or torrent site has it you're not to be made responsible.

I too have done sell backs in the past. I also consider myself a pretty nice guy. BUT I have to put in this that I would be very pissed off that they lied to me and lured me on an hour and a half drive round trip for their lies. First off I would tell her to call me back and I would leave because I will not discuss this with her and her boyfriend. Then when she calls me back I would meet her somewhere public (on at most a 5 minute trip from my office) and talk to her about buying her content. Then I would hit her up pretty good with the price but explain to her that her content is out on the world wide web and I can't do anything about that. If she still wants to deal I will then make another appointment for her content with a cash settlement and a paper drawn up explaining all the legal details so if she does find something a year down the road on another site I have my ass covered.
I know I sound like a dick but I don't like to be lied to and I don't want to deal with boyfriends.

I was going to break my 'I like poo' persona, and as a fellow content producer - Give you muy opinion...

BUT... Jim has beaten me too it, and I couldn't have put it duck butter myself... :2 cents:

I have a partner on a site who occasionally runs into this. He always offers the girl the option to buy back the shoot for model fee only. He says sometimes girls tell him what a big deal it is for their current life/job/boyfriend and, even given the option of am inexpensive model fee only buyback, not one has ever taken him up on it. So figure what your time is worth, add that to expenses, and make the girl an offer if you like, but odds are good you shouldn't spend too much time on it, as the girl is unlikely to actually pony up any dough.

I think that you need to post MULTIPLE pics of this girl...

Simply so as the GFY Peanut Gallery can decide... :2 cents:

This isn't a situation where somebody is buying an exclusive set that they are going to show and generates you buzz as a shooter. This is somebody wanting to take extra from you. So I would definately factor that into the price.

Probably mentioned earlier but would explain again that once the content is out on the net it's very difficult to chase it all down. For sure would sell it back at a reasonable price. 10 year old content ... would probably charge 2x production costs and be done with it.

I would sell it back, say 2K-4K range

i would tell her no

I'd say 2x the fee it cost you. Factor in inflation and potential future profits.

Agreed on all accounts.

:thumbsup

2x really sound ok i guess, or 3x i dont know how much $ fall in mean time...

I agree with this. Sounds like they handled things nicely from their end (except for setting up the meet). I have sold photos and rights back to models in the nineties when I was shooting film before digital.

Personally I would always try and work things out as long as I am not losing anything in the deal (plus making a nice profit overall) and the model is not being a bitch. If I was ever threatened that would be a different story.

I am not interested in having a strong pimp hand. Just making money. I believe in karma.

Good luck.:2 cents:

All together about a couple of hundred in total right now, and I keep adding to that.

I'd start with the "make me an offer" position. Take it from there. At least you will get an idea of its importance to them.

$800 which is the money you paid her and some for your troubles and time to remove her content from your servers. If it 9yrs old it paid for itself many times over. Also I would let her know once it's out there it's out there.
this why I'm a bad porn guy, I have a heart and I don't want drama. Lol

I would do the same thing. Tell them that you have spent a good deal of money shooting and marketing this content and ask for an offer. If she tells you something crazy like $100 then you know she likely will not be able to pay you enough to make it worth your while. If she makes a decent offer than you at least you know she is pretty serious and motivated.

How to come up with a final price? I'm not really sure.

I would figure out what I would sell it exclusive to an adult business and then charge them that... :2 cents:

For fucks sake. After 9 yrs what sort of quality is the content anyway? Instead of trying to scam her out of some money just recover your expenses, get her to reimburse her the model fees and flight and eat the rest.
Trying to say she's worth 1% of your annual income (on a 9 yr old set) is pretty weak.

We have girls doing this all the time, sometimes people are young and make a mistake. Turn it into good PR instead of bad PR if you try and make it too expensive for her. I'm fairly confident that after 9 yrs there aren't many people joining just to see her sets.