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Aspiring Automotive inventory photographer

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#12
Patrick O said:
Great use of space for vertically inclined photos. (y) Speaking of which, are you shooting horizontally as well to accommodate the 3rd party sites like cars.com, autotrader, etc.?

I agree with Ryan Thompson's advice re: uploading. There are services/software out there that will enable you to manage and upload photos for all of your clients. Autouplink and Netlook are a couple providers that license their software out to independent operators. IIRC, cost is pretty reasonable, around $200/mo. I really like the Autouplink software, it runs on an android tablet and you can connect your camera via a USB2go cable and upload directly while out on the field.

As for pricing, I think your range of $30-50 sounds reasonable. You have to keep in mind there are larger-volume companies out there who subcontract this work. That should be less of an issue for you since you are focused on a niche product where quality of work is absolutely critical. If you can take your service to the next level by adding quality descriptions and window sticker, $50/car is a fair deal. Maybe start higher since the dealer is going to haggle you down anyway lol.
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I have shot horizontal for most of the inventory photos, this one was for instagram which has a 4x5 aspect ratio. Speaking of pricing, I read about a guy that requested .001% commission of each car that was sold from an online interaction, which with a $500k car would be $500
Alexander Lau said:
If I were you, I'd start analyzing what your competition has set as a benchmark (price) and take it from there. You're young (but that doesn't mean your quality is any less), so you might want to think about undercutting your competition's (really depends on your location, but Dallas is the big time) pricing. The above advice is good.
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From the research I've done so far there's really only one other company on the same level as my photos(they're arguably worse) in my area, all others look like cheap unedited DSLR photos.

It'll be tricky to figure out the pricing because they don't directly say it on their website, maybe ill make a fake email to them asking for pricing lol.
They're actually not close to my area at all, about 60-100 miles away in North Dallas, I'm in south Dallas.
 
#13
These photos deliver a message that goes WAY PAST the VIN being photoed. A pic tells 1000 words, and these images communicate who the dealer is, and, how bad ass the car is.

As a GM of a lux dealer, I don't want my competitors to have you. I'd make you an offer to be on staff. If I couldn't get you on staff, I'd pay you a strong flat rate per car and a big fat bonus on any car sold in under xx days. I'd make you sign an exclusive and aim at a package worth about $200 a car.

  • Does This Sell Cars? Yes.
  • Does This Give me a competitive Advantage? Yes.
  • Do my shoppers like it? Yes.
  • Will it make my internet ad spending more powerful (i.e. high yielding)? Yes.
The $200 invested will pay for itself.
Next.
 
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Dominion DMS
#15
Ryan Thompson said:
Ok, so what's the deal @Eric Weber ? Did you get any gigs yet?
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I'm holding off for a bit, wierd stuff going on in the world right now lol. But I have created a site GenericExotics.com (my instagram name as well).

I'm not too sure who I should call/email to get my foot in the door. Most dealers have their GM's email on their site, maybe I'll start there.
 
#17
GenericExotics.com? Why Generic? Generic = cheap. Yuk!

You're in Dallas Texas. Consider TexasExotics.com or LoneStarExotics.com (or similar).

Your dealers will sell cars all over Tx and some will be sold the USA. Offer an UPGRADE where for $xx more where you'll publish your photos to TexasExotics.com and your instagram.
 
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