Been approached by an art seller - what d'ya think?

[DanFreemanPhoto]

As below really?

Anything to lose?

Hi Dan,

I saw a photo of yours at webstagram (photo of the day). Nice work! I wanted to know if you would be interested in selling a few of your photos printed and mounted to bamboo, acrylic and/or aluminum through an online gallery? I run a company called website(not finished quite yet). It's a curated gallery and I'm looking for a few more great photographers to feature before I launch in a week or two. It will be the only gallery in the world (currently) offering bamboo, acrylic and aluminum modern mounting.

I can send you more details if you're interested but in a nutshell, I pay the artist 75% of the the markup price through Paypal each month with a bonus for reaching certain revenues in a month. The site is non exclusive, so you can sell prints of the same images elsewhere too. I will be putting quite a few resources into marketing the site and each artist will have their own page with a link back to their own site. So not only does each artist have an opportunity to earn revenues through selling their prints, but they will gain exposure for commissioned work and/or partnerships and other opportunities.

Even if you're not interested I'd love to get your feedback on this project Dan.

Thank you very much for your time.

Regards,

 

[Tom]

Sounds dodgy, probably isnt.

 

[Revels]

My skeptical side says that you'll never know if he sells 1 or 100. Also his profit might be 94p per one etc.

I'd want something upfront.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

True, but even if I make bugger all, I'm still not loosing anything - and my work is being publicised elsewhere too.

 

[Harpham]

What Dan says, how do you know how many he's sold etc?!

Id be skeptical, but it does sound good if its genuine.

 

[welshname]

I'd go for it, you're still having your work published, you will have a link back to your site too. It's good advertisement.

 

[welshname]

Also just logged into webstagram and this came up at the top

[PR] Transform Your Instagram Photos Into Gallery Quality Art With Bumblejax!

 

[Brazo]

Tate Dwindell?

 

[Wick]

Tate Dwindell?

That's what I thought lol. I am sceptical but I don't see what you have to lose either. Tricky one?! Ensure your work is watermarked I guess (as it always is) and it is a bit of publicity.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

I'll email her back when I get home and ask:

How do I know how many have been sold?
Watermarks?

err.....anything else?

 

[Revels]

Watermarks is no good as they're going to need full-high res for printing.

Ask what the profit is too. 75% could be anything.

 

[Damo_Sport]

Im guessing there going to make the art up themselfs that you supply?

if so, say you want money on the ones they make not the ones they sell.. so if they make 10 to sell. you get profit on 10

 

[ukaskew]

Things like this get deleted straight out of my inbox, I'm sad to say.

I pursued quite a few similar 'offers' when I was putting a bit of effort into the selling lark about 5 years ago, 95% of things fell through or never materialised. In terms of emails from randoms that were not easily verifiable initially, I think I only have an album cover and a few other little things to my name, and that's after responding to at least several emails per week over 12 months.

Things that are genuinely interesting and viable are usually immediately obvious...this isn't one of them.

 

[Derelict-UK]

Check their T&C's regarding copyright and what you are agreeing to. As much as it is non excluusive, by submitting your images, you need to also send them a contract so they ONLY use them as they ask and for nothing else.

Send this off by post and do not send any images until they have signed it and returned it.

It would just be a failsafe if you were to find your image being used in an advert without knowing.

 

[Tate]

I discovered this thread because we've had some traffic coming from it and to my disappointment I discover my personal email to Dan posted here in a public forum. The site hasn't launched yet and not linked from anywhere until now. The artist terms were supposed to be confidential and may even change for future artists. I should have been more clear about confidentiality, but I suppose I assumed that my email wouldn't get posted in a forum. I've been working online for awhile now discussing partnerships/ideas with many people and have never had this happen. You live and learn. I've asked Dan to please keep the inquiry general and to remove the email to no avail so far. If an admin is reading this I ask that it please be removed. I'd greatly appreciate it.

I won't respond to any of the skepticism here specifically but I will say my passion for this project is genuine, my interest in Dan's work is genuine and I expect the project to do well over time. Any questions, concerns should have been directed to me personally. Thanks for listening.

- Tate

 

[ukaskew]

With the greatest respect, Dan hasn't done anything wrong by posting this here. As our data protection officer at work is always at pains to say, never send anything in an email that you wouldn't be comfortable to go public.

It's very common for photographers to post emails like this on forums to gain peoples opinions, particularly when the source of the offer is new/unknown.

 

[bully]

Dan has got good friends on here and there is a wealth of experience on here too Tate, I would have done the same. Nothing wrong with sounding things out and your email isn't saying anything particularly confidential.

I think it is great that you have come on here and taken the time to read through things, posted your side of things. At least it shows you are serious and not a dreaded internet scam. Of course there will be skepticism, it's natural these days with the internet.

Good luck to you and Dan if it works out.

 

[Tate]

Thanks for input guys. I suppose I just differ in this regard and I have kindly requested removal of specific details for now and to keep it general in nature. I have yet to receive a reply of any kind. Perhaps I'm a bit more disappointed that I wasn't approached personally since I'm the guy who could have answered all of these questions and concerns straight away without conjecture, opinion and what ifs you know? I have several pro photography friends and I'm well aware of the concerns .. all have been addressed and a contract is required. I'm not out to screw anyone (I'd be throwing months of work and money away if I was). That being said I understand the skepticism of a site that hasn't even launched yet. We all have to start somewhere and prove the doubters wrong In this regard it isn't my first rodeo and probably won't be my last. That's what makes life fun! Good luck to all in their endeavors.

 

[AK]

Hit report post (small triangle below his username) and they'll remove any personal details if they haven't already.

 

[Revels]

I've edited your details out.

As has been said, it's an unsolicited email. So Dan just wanted some impartial advice from people he knows have experienced this type of thing before.

Plus, by the fact that you noticed us lot looking, you got some free exposure. Ha.

 

[Tate]

Thank you Revels, much appreciated!