Should I be suspicious?

EMA747

EMA747

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Name
Andy
Edit My Images
Yes
I got the following message on flickr today from someone called Marina Fedotova who appears to have only just joined flickr and has no photos uploaded. It makes me a bit suspicious. :suspect:

Message in full:
Dear Andy, I'm interested in your images
www.flickr.com/photos/andysolaini/4055226531/in/photostream/
www.flickr.com/photos/andysolaini/4055226681/in/photostream/
for personal usage.
Can you provide me with the price for them?
Many thanks in advance!
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What do you reckon to that? Any idea of prices? As it's not a business I can't ask about what they want to do with them, production runs etc.
 
Why not take it at face value...if its for personal use then ask exactly what use so you can guage the size of the picture to sell and price.. Then sell the files wiht terms :)

PS .. If it was dodgy they could just take it....
 
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A quick Google throws up a children's illustrator by that name. Might be connected :shrug:

As Tony says, just ask her what she wants to use them for and quote appropriately.
 
I have just replied simply asking "can you tell me what you want to use the photos for". I will be interested to see what the reply is.

I googled the name as well and it came up with a few arty related things so I think maybe it is legit.
 
From a search on Flickr I found:

Marina Fedotova

Marina Fedotova is a children's illustrator represented by Advocate Art Agency. If you would like to see more of their work please take a look on the Advocate Art website.

so I wonder why she's registered as 2nd profile. She could have emailed you via AAA

and why would a children's illustrator want aeroplane pics? hmmmm

it could be a scam, this has happened before on Flickr, you give her a price, she overpays, asks you to transfer the difference back to her etc etc

if you don't get a trustworthy answer, give her a ridiculous price, if it's a Nigerian scam she will accept the price no matter what it is
 
sturisoma said:
From a search on Flickr I found:

it could be a scam, this has happened before on Flickr, you give her a price, she overpays, asks you to transfer the difference back to her etc etc

if you don't get a trustworthy answer, give her a ridiculous price, if it's a Nigerian scam she will accept the price no matter what it is
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I would certainly play the game, and I think there is a very fair chance it is legit.

If they overpay - then a clear indication of something wrong. You don't have to pay back the difference (DON"T) - just ask paypal to cancel the transaction. The terms and conditions should clearly state that the licence is only valid if a valid payment is received.

Prices: go to Alamy or Getty images and price them up for similar use. Many buyers expect to pay no more than £15 and will be gone soon.
 
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I would just be grateful that they asked, dont see that much now these days, they normaly just take:nono:
 
I have got a reply. Here it is in full:

It would be a surprise for my husband - a big artwork. He's a fan of aircrafts...
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Genuine or not I am not sure. Either way I wonder what to charge. I had a look at Alamy and they don't really have a category in their pricing for person use. I don't want to ask too much as they will probably just walk and I don't want to ask too low either. Some cash in the pocket would be nice.
 
ding76uk said:
Maybe go the line of I do sell my work printed, I do this because I can ensure quality.

Quote for whatever size she needs with a nice profit rolled into it.
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I'd go down this route too. Find out what size she wants and then print and send working in your profit on the price.
 
ding76uk said:
Maybe go the line of I do sell my work printed, I do this because I can ensure quality.

Quote for whatever size she needs with a nice profit rolled into it.
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yep good idea:thumbs:
 
ding76uk said:
Maybe go the line of I do sell my work printed, I do this because I can ensure quality.
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+1

Nothing wrong with selling images, thats what you should be aiming for :cool:

Just don't send a digital file. Offer a few options of print size and see how you get on.

If she's purely looking for personal use, she may not even be aware of alamy, stock etc. Your work is worth whatever somebody will pay for it :thumbs: (micro-stock imo under values photography (great for clients though, if they don't mind having the same images as other companies), but hey, different discussion all together)
 
Two issues with printing that I can see. First off I have no idea where she lives and the name sounds Easter European or Russian. If she doesn't live in the UK postage would surely be very high.

Secondly I don't really have any experience with printing so I am not really sure how to go about it, ie sending it to labs etc. The photos she wants are from when I used a 400D so I'm not sure how well they would print at large sizes.
 
Tell her you don't make a habit of selling digital files? That you are much happier selling professionally quality prints and these are the prices. Though if she feels she 100% wants the file it's a decision only you can make. I wouldn't do it for the sake of a tenner but that's just me, you'll be able to make much more out of a print
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
Tell her you don't make a habit of selling digital files? That you are much happier selling professionally quality prints and these are the prices. Though if she feels she 100% wants the file it's a decision only you can make. I wouldn't do it for the sake of a tenner but that's just me, you'll be able to make much more out of a print
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That makes sense. If postage was an issue I might just have to send the digital file as I doubt she would pay for a large print to be shipping outside of the UK.

Alamy seem to charge around £40-50 for low res files so I was thinking about asking something like £70 or £80 for the two. How does that sound? I can't really imagine she would pay that much though if it's only a present for her partner. :naughty:
 
That's sounds fine to me, don't under sell yourself, it is worth it, and for all you know she might end up printing 10,000 postcards with that picture on. You won't know, so value the image on it's potential use as well.
 
Explain that you normally only supply prints, but as it is for a special gift you are happy to make an expection this time and ask her what she would be prepared to pay. That will give you an idea of her budget. Unless the offer is very generous, you can then say you were thinking of just a bit more than that and everyone is more or less happy. Especially if it is photos you are unlikely to sell many of in the future.
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
That's sounds fine to me, don't under sell yourself, it is worth it, and for all you know she might end up printing 10,000 postcards with that picture on. You won't know, so value the image on it's potential use as well.
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Couldn't you give a 'for personal use only' so that someone can't use an image that way? (Though not sure how you'd find out.)
 
Completely different - but maybe gives you something to go by - I've just licensed an image from Getty for £220 to hang on my wall for 6 months.
 
Well not really surprisingly I haven't had a reply after I mentioned prices. Is there a way you can track on flickr if she has decided to use the image without my permission?
 
Adam_M said:
www.tineye.com ?
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Tineye doesn't have a very good hit rate and will only find the image if it has been used elsewhere on the web.
If she copies it from your Flickr but never reposts it online, you have no way of telling.

Try it as a matter of course though.
Also try Google's reverse image search. I find the hit rate on that far better than tineye
 
Got a reply at last.

Dear Andy,

I'll print myself. However I need an image with the resolution suitable for printing in format 1050x1060 mm.

How I can pay you?

BR,
Marina
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Looks like she is willing to pay £80 for two images as that is the quote I gave her.

Do you think I should send the full res file or one cropped to the dimensions she says?

Also what is the most secure way of her paying me? I can do BT, paypal and I guess cheque if it's really necessary.
 
I would add info to the exif/iptc stating not for commercial use and sold only for the personal use of BLAH BLAH and your copyright info

Also add that to the email

Send her the full size file and the cropped one.. theres not a lot of difference for you and its you being helpfull if you send the full and also one you cropped for her

payment by any means is easy.. whatever she likes... so long as you ahve proof of sending (if it was a print then recorded) they have no comeback for a refund.

well done on the sale :)
 
KIPAX said:
I would add info to the exif/iptc stating not for commercial use and sold only for the personal use of BLAH BLAH and your copyright info

Also add that to the email

Send her the full size file and the cropped one.. theres not a lot of difference for you and its you being helpfull if you send the full and also one you cropped for her

payment by any means is easy.. whatever she likes... so long as you ahve proof of sending (if it was a print then recorded) they have no comeback for a refund.

well done on the sale :)
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Thanks. She wants only the digital files so how do I get proof of sending for an email? A screenshot is the only thing I can think of.

The only thing I am worried about is them overpaying and then requesting a refund like daugirdas stated above. Is paypal safer in that respect in being able to cancel the transaction, plus they don't then have any of my bank details.
 
i love paypal for ease of use but hate if theres a problem as they tend to go with the buyer and not only do you refund without option.. they also charge you costs.. if your worried then bank transfer... just give the bank and account and sort code... it cant be used for taking money out.. we all give it.. I include my bank details in all my pictures exif

just a copy of the email will do as proof i believe.. CC it to someone maybe
 
Personally I would only send a print, stating it was for my own quality reasons. That's a 40"+ image she's after, and she hasn't specified a dpi resolution. You'd have to provide the full size digital file.
 
Alastair said:
Personally I would only send a print, stating it was for my own quality reasons. That's a 40"+ image she's after, and she hasn't specified a dpi resolution. You'd have to provide the full size digital file.
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I ahve no iea on the subject of the picture but somehow doubt its unique.. there are a lot of photogrpahers who would be happy wiht 80 quid for two files... there are a lot who would be happy to go out for the afternoon and supply a disk of files for 80 quid...

to now say dont send the original for 80 quid seems odd unless it is a unique picture... Its what the customer wants.. why not just sell them?
 
KIPAX said:
Its what the customer wants.. why not just sell them?
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I totally agree, just send her the files and get her to bank transfer the cash over.
I have a seperate current account for things like that, so if someone sends me money via BT, i then transfer it to my main account straight after.

I think £80 for 2 files is a job well done mate! :clap:
 
Maybe I just get suspicious when a final image aspect ratio is specified that it's obvious the original won't crop into. I just can't see a square crop working for either of those images. That suggests to me that a final use is the critical specification rather than the subject matter, and that the specification has been passed on by someone for whom the final use wasn't important enough to really consider the image against. Or maybe I'm missing the obvious square crop? or maybe I'm too suspicious.. :suspect:

And as she hasn't specified a print resolution, how do you size the file? 300dpi would probably be larger than the original file dimensions.
 
I should add.. I'm not against selling a digital file, it's just that in this instance my gut feel is that something doesn't add up..
 
Alastair said:
Personally I would only send a print, stating it was for my own quality reasons. That's a 40"+ image she's after, and she hasn't specified a dpi resolution. You'd have to provide the full size digital file.
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I think she lives outside of the UK so postage of a large printed images in protective packaging is going to be very expensive.

Any of the major aviation image databases will have 100s of images of the plane in question. Admittedly there is only one of the type in service but still my images are by no means unique. I still kind of expect something to go wrong and she not pay me or something but if it all goes ok I would rather have £80 than nothing. :)
 
Exactly mate, its £80 in your back pocket, and a compliment I believe that she wants to use your images!
 
Found the message receipt prog that my husband always used

I would use this in all further exchanges with your buyer - it will tell you she has opened the email ;)

http://www.msgtag.com/home/
 
After saying I would send the original files she wants to know the dimensions. I'm wondering if Alastair is right what he said in reply #31 and 32?!

Or should I just send them anyway and be thankful for the £80?

Dear Andy,

PLease send all the details to [i'm not going to put the name -]@gmail.com

Can you also send the original dimensions of the images?
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If she is after making a large print, maybe she wants to check to see if the images are big enough. I'm sure she doesnt want to be spending £80 on 2 images measuring 800x800 if she wants a large print done?
 
Answer her question regarding the original image size, but with a maximum uncropped images size of 3888 x 2592 pixels from a 400D that's around 65-98dpi depending on the crop (square crop, I still don't see it).
 
A straight export from LR gives 3401x2268 for one and 1782x1188 for the other which I had to crop heavily.
 
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