How many of you pay commission to get a job?

Andrew Maclaurin · May 14th, 2014, 01:04 AM

10% more or less but no more than 15%

Arthur Gannis · May 14th, 2014, 09:10 PM

Those that pay out the ridiculous high percentage rates are those that have very little bookings and are starving for work. I know a few saps here that do just that, one gave $400 to a venue manager to get a cheap booking of $1200. I personally know the manager and we had a discussion over that one recently. There are venues here that charge $20,000, yes 20 thousand for one to be a house videographer, but wait..it get's better. There may be another 2 or 3 videographers that are ALSO house there too. It is not uncommon for a very popular venue to have 3 house photographers with NO guarantee of minimum bookings. One might pay out the 20 grand only to have less than a dozen bookings there. I know, I freelanced for a studio that did only 15 photo and 9 video jobs there. Like Ripley would say " Believe it or Not"

Danny O'Neill · May 15th, 2014, 02:48 AM

There is also the question of 'Do you want to be tied to a venue?'

The common practice here in the UK is if you pay to be in the venues brochure they give to couples (really you and the other suppliers are paying for their brochure) then you get to be recommended. One photographer I was speaking to who had a 2 page spread in the venue brochure gets 70 jobs at this one venue a year.

Great, he's busy but man, Can you imagine filming at the same venue EVERY TIME! It meant all his photos on his website were all identical, just different people. He also operated pretty much on autopilot and saints preserve the video guy who messed up his workflow.

Arthur Gannis · May 15th, 2014, 12:41 PM

With 70 jobs a year at the same venue, I would not mind at all as I would do the cookie cutter method and have a routine worked out like no other. Eliminates stress as I would know where all the best places to shoot, lighting situation, perhaps even have my own dedicated parking spot. Part of that routine is laughing on my way to the bank. I already do almost that many gigs a year and the traveling to different venues kills me, especially when they are a few hours drive away. Man, that would be a blessing.

John Summerfield · May 19th, 2014, 04:44 PM

I pay 10% if necessary, never been asked for more. I'm very happy to pay it since the clients and events are very high end.

Craig McKenna · May 19th, 2014, 06:05 PM

This is clearly an ugly side to the business... I would hope my work got me the jobs, rather than anything else... I would go as far as to say that I would refuse. I don't see why a commission should be paid, but then I wouldn't want them to recommend me unless they wanted to for the quality.

Naive maybe, but I'm not part of the business yet.

May 14th, 2014, 01:04 AM	#16
Andrew Maclaurin Major Player Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 396	Re: How many of you pay commission to get a job? 10% more or less but no more than 15%

May 14th, 2014, 09:10 PM	#17
Arthur Gannis Major Player Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: New Jersey USA Posts: 504	Re: How many of you pay commission to get a job? Those that pay out the ridiculous high percentage rates are those that have very little bookings and are starving for work. I know a few saps here that do just that, one gave $400 to a venue manager to get a cheap booking of $1200. I personally know the manager and we had a discussion over that one recently. There are venues here that charge $20,000, yes 20 thousand for one to be a house videographer, but wait..it get's better. There may be another 2 or 3 videographers that are ALSO house there too. It is not uncommon for a very popular venue to have 3 house photographers with NO guarantee of minimum bookings. One might pay out the 20 grand only to have less than a dozen bookings there. I know, I freelanced for a studio that did only 15 photo and 9 video jobs there. Like Ripley would say " Believe it or Not"

May 15th, 2014, 02:48 AM	#18
Danny O'Neill Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 915	Re: How many of you pay commission to get a job? There is also the question of 'Do you want to be tied to a venue?' The common practice here in the UK is if you pay to be in the venues brochure they give to couples (really you and the other suppliers are paying for their brochure) then you get to be recommended. One photographer I was speaking to who had a 2 page spread in the venue brochure gets 70 jobs at this one venue a year. Great, he's busy but man, Can you imagine filming at the same venue EVERY TIME! It meant all his photos on his website were all identical, just different people. He also operated pretty much on autopilot and saints preserve the video guy who messed up his workflow. __________________ mintyslippers.com

May 15th, 2014, 12:41 PM	#19
Arthur Gannis Major Player Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: New Jersey USA Posts: 504	Re: How many of you pay commission to get a job? With 70 jobs a year at the same venue, I would not mind at all as I would do the cookie cutter method and have a routine worked out like no other. Eliminates stress as I would know where all the best places to shoot, lighting situation, perhaps even have my own dedicated parking spot. Part of that routine is laughing on my way to the bank. I already do almost that many gigs a year and the traveling to different venues kills me, especially when they are a few hours drive away. Man, that would be a blessing.

May 19th, 2014, 04:44 PM	#20
John Summerfield New Boot Join Date: May 2014 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 11	Re: How many of you pay commission to get a job? I pay 10% if necessary, never been asked for more. I'm very happy to pay it since the clients and events are very high end.

May 19th, 2014, 06:05 PM	#21
Craig McKenna Major Player Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Liverpool Posts: 495	Re: How many of you pay commission to get a job? This is clearly an ugly side to the business... I would hope my work got me the jobs, rather than anything else... I would go as far as to say that I would refuse. I don't see why a commission should be paid, but then I wouldn't want them to recommend me unless they wanted to for the quality. Naive maybe, but I'm not part of the business yet.