Got Hosed on Sales

T

Tin Man

Active member
Well, just finished Pop Warner football season and got hosed on the highlight reel sales.

basically the team payed me 35 a game to capture and give them unedited dvd's for coaching, simple.

at the end of the season, i put together the better plays, tackles and candid shots of players. took like 24 hours of studio time, digital juice stuff, nice music, high pace, all looked awesome and proud of my effort.

burned like 35 copies, labels top of dvd, sleeve. ask for 12 bucks, of which 6 would go back to league. thought that was fair for all my work.

sold 10 , yea you heard me right "10" - so from 120, cut in half 60 divide by studio time / materials / printing / = think i broke even, SAD.

i have 25 dvd that i would love to use as shirikins, LOL

but anyway, thats the breaks.

i still have 3 banquests coming up and I am seriously of thinking on just backing out. i didnt sign a contract, basically the highlight reels are ways of making extra money at the end since i have exclusive material of all games. but really anyone have a better formula then burn and hope. LOL.

base price up front, like $200.00 then pre order dvd's for like $6 ? at least i will be able to gauge the waste.

Tin Man
 
Personally, I never get into "profit based on sales" deals.

I would make a contract, quote a rate, get paid it. I'd include half as many copies as they said they would sell (people never sell as many as they think) in the contract, and let them worry about sales and making money back on it. If they need more copies, they come back to me and I charge them for more dupes.

I always go by saying "You'll sell 100 DVDs? That's really great. You should have no problem affording me then." If they are SO SURE that the product/dvd/video will sell, then why would they be hesitant to pay you up front?

Oh and I also don't do the deffered thing or any kind of "get paid once we make money back from sales."

..but that's just me. :zombie_smiley:
 
thanks Mike,

I agree with all you said. I just needed to screw this first one up to learn. I have 3 more highlights to do by Dec. 8th and think I will go the way of pay me 150 for committing to do the highlights and then pre order amount. I will sell at banquet if they commit to the 150, if not, I am not spending 24 hours at editing post.

live and learn I guess.

Tin Man
 
My kid's school is always sending home pre-sale fundraiser stuff. We're already on the hook, if not paid through, for tickets to a festival, movie night and holiday decorations. They've only been in school for a couple of months.

Why not simply have the organization pre-sell your service based solely on written collateral and a promotional DVD you provide as a showcase from a gig like the one you just did. If your collateral is seen as having fundraising potential (e.g., you give a fixed percentage of your take back to the organization), then it should be all that much easier to sell.

Nothing out of pocket for you. Like someone said above, if they think they can pre-sell enough, they can afford to hire you in advance of those sales coming in. Let the organization float the job - you're providing a tangible service and product and therefore should be paid in a typical 1/2 and 1/2 or 1/3's scenario.

e
 
sounds like you learned an important lesson.

i wouldn't back out of the rest of the "deal," though, contract or not. It makes you look bad to back out and even if you're just breaking in, you'll look good and there's always people to meet through your work. I did a bunch of free/cheapo projects but made way more from showing up with my equipment, biz cards & being great to work with.

in this kind of industry, you live & die by your networks. your networks grow & shrink based on your reputation.
 
Agree with Mr Wrong wholeheartedly. This is experience you need to take with you NEXT time.
 
I've done these types of things a few times and mostly I've just considered them learning experiences...Here are a few suggestions:

-Charge a minimum of 20 per dvd...considering time and materials in duping, you deserve this...if there is more value added/or lots of footage then 30 or 40 bucks.

-Getting a rough idea of who will purchase is good but no guarantee they will buy it when its finished. If possible get the money up front. If people are buying tickets to the game perhaps you can have a flyer at the point of ticket sales or entrance to place of game/event.

-I'm not sure why a portion of sales would go back to the league...you are already supplying them footage for coaching at a ridiculously low price...you deserve all profit from any sales. If it is a fundraiser then you should absolutely be charging a minimum of 20 if a small portion is a donation.

-Don't burn any DVDs until you get orders for them to minimize waste. Or burn smaller runs.

Even if you aren't making much its a good chance to hone skills, experiment and meet people...and you'll have stuff for your reel.

RJS
 
thanks to all my fellow videographers here, I will follow through on this and just shot my last game today. think I will take some of what was said and apply it to my business formula. MrWrong, ncie, and RJS thanks again for input. I think I am going to complete the next 3 highlight reels and burn a minimum for the banquet. I will then have a request sheet for orders of anyone that wants to purchase and I have no more available. Still going to charge 12 bucks (no kick back to club) , but next season is going to be 20 and only for advance sales of those who want my work.

And your right about reputation, I got the gig because around my town, I am known for my sports reels. All the teams my boys play on, I have been doing these for about 5 years and my experience and gear has become more professional.

so i will stick it out and post back on my success. some people have said the the taxi squad (5, 6, 7 yr old) is the smallest in sales historically.

thanks again

Tin Man
 
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