how much would you charge for...

[superdewa]

A few months ago, I took a photo of a camera strap bought on Etsy, and the Etsy shop owner has just contacted me to see if I would allow her to use the photo for some blog ads.

It's a small company, and I'm happy to share, and my instinct is to say sure you can use it, but I would like a gift certificate (maybe enough to cover another strap) to your shop.

But it's a good photo, if I may say so myself (you can see it here: for every storm a rainbow | Flickr - Photo Sharing!). My photos are represented by Getty on Flickr and are selling. While this one wouldn't sell through them as there is a Nikon logo in it and the photo wouldn't look good without it, I do know that my photos have value, and I am worried about somehow shooting myself in the foot with this. What if the company gets bigger and they continue using my photo for advertising? What if somehow with my photo being "in the wild" like that it ends up changing hands or being sold without my being involved? What if someone else wants to buy it?

I have no business sense, which is why I love Getty -- they take care of everything for me. What would be a good response to this shop? What should I ask for? Is there a way to have a an agreement signed via the web? Or should I stop worrying and go with my first instinct?

[BuddhaPi]

Originally Posted by superdewa

I have no business sense, which is why I love Getty -- they take care of everything for me.

This speaks volumes in regards to business sense!.....I'll let the pro's actually answer the question..

[OsmosisStudios]

Remove the Creative Commons and Getty permissions from the image in question. I'd definitely ask for a small return from the Etsy shop: theyre a business and theyre not doing it to lose money.

[superdewa]

Thank you.

The photo has neither a creative commons license or a Getty license (yet). Neither of those are issues.

[Biomech]

Asking for store credit isn't a bad idea (nice photo btw). Because if they give you $50 once you take into consideration trade prices and VAT returns, that "50 dollar loss" is actually more like a $20 cost to them :P