Stills sales process - question for Grey and / or Bruce

[Simes]

Hello chaps.

A question regarding the thinking behind why only a few stills from a batch of over eight are ever photographed...?

I understand that one may not want to photograph a large number of batches of eight to cover however many stills are in the lot, but as both auction sites have the massive file sizes per image, why not photograph a batch of say 24 (four stills by six stills makes a nice portrait presentation), cover all the stills in the lot, and then let the bidders blow the images up to full size to get a proper look at what is on offer?

I realise neither person really gets involved in such debates, but if anyone else wants to chip in, please feel free of course.

Cheers in advance.

[BruceH]

The answer is that the "multiple still" auction is one of the most time-consuming AND least profitable auctions we do!

We had been getting lots of groups of 20, 50, 100 or more stills from newer movies, and it just didn't seem worth it to photo them all.

But now that those kinds of consignments have slowed a lot, I will consider starting to show ALL the black and white stills (we already show ALL the color stills).

Thanks
Bruce

[Simes]

Ah, ok.

So no mileage in sticking all 100 under a camera from afar and letting the bidders blow the one single image right up?

Cheers Bruce, thanks for pitching this once fella.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

when I sell bulk lots - and I'll be selling loads of them in the near future - I only take a few pictures.
There is an equation: time used+income received=value of work. In the case of bulk lots, the more pictures=devalued work asset

[AdamCarterJones]

So no mileage in sticking all 100 under a camera from afar and letting the bidders blow the one single image right up?

From personal experience when working at Vectis with the photographers, Simes, that is a no in my opinion.
It takes a long time putting each one out, then getting the correct distance and then the correct image.

Like Bruce and Rich says, it's not worth it - just one of those things.

[Simes]

Fair play - thanks chaps.

[jayn_j]

One thing to consider is that older photos are a different animal.  They tend to curl in storage, so you can't just slap them on a board.  All corners need to be fastened down.  If the curl is extreme, it may actually take more than 1 magnet per corner.  As Bruce and Rich say, little return for more than average effort.