Custom Photo Sets? Yes, But We Are Not Models
Question:
I’m after a bit of advice if you don’t mind. I sold a set of custom pics to a buyer after sending him two sample pics, he has now turned around and said that they’re not what he wanted. I’ve replied saying that the set I sent was similar if not better than the original two and that he now has a full custom pics of me for £ 7 . What’s the best way to deal with this? Obviously I don’t want to get bad feedback as a newbie.
Answer:
Its not an easy one, nor there is a straightforward way to deal with unhappy buyers.
More often then not, buyers do understand that we are not professional models and we are not photographers, they are happy to know that we make every effort to show how capable we are of using our bodies and our cameras, and that we will do all we can to create £7 worth of digital material.
With just a few examples images, we are able to translate how much we are willing to expose, the quality of the photos, our style, our shape and (sadly for me) our age, all of which is plenty of information to help a buyer decide if he wants to buy our photo sets, or not. It’s important that we give buyers access to examples of our work, by giving access I don’t mean giving freebies, I mean having a free gallery with plenty of different photo styles.
Sometime buyers expect a little more tho, they want to buy special photo sets but they demand that you show a little more, a little less, something a little different, sometime even attempting to drive you out of your comfort zone. Its hard to say No and miss out on your possible first order, and its hard to negotiate a clear brief because you have not done this sort of thing before, and you have no idea how to go about it. (We have all started from this very point!) But you say yes, you take your photos the best you can.So, where does this leave the buyer? and where does this leave the seller? Potentially, we’ll have a buyer who’s managed to persuade the seller in creating a photo set which did not meet the expectations, and a disappointed seller who’s accepted the challenge, but despite her best intentions, she feels as she has let her buyer down.
So what now?
As a seller, you have to option to offer your buyer ‘compensation’, this could be a few extra photos, alternatively, if you feel your buyer is being completely unreasonable, you can simply put it down to different artistic interpretation, and even give him his money back. If he leaves you bad feedback, you can always dispute it.
As a buyer, you should ask yourself if you perhaps have unintentionally pushed the seller our her comfort zone, or perhaps just accept that an inexperienced seller will make mistakes and that buying costumes sets from someone with little practical knowledge, does have its downsides. Should you want a professionally done photo set in the future, you should commission semi-pro models who’s rates start at £200 per photo shoot.
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