Aircraft Desktop Wallpapers Question

Hi guys,

I need some help with a few questions about desktop wallpapers. I'm a semi-pro photographer and one of my specialties is military aircraft photography. I'm starting to make 1680x1050 (widescreen) wallpapers and I wanted suggestions about pricing.

What would you be willing to pay for a quality widescreen aviation desktop wallpaper? I'm planning on testing the waters on eBay soon and if there is interest, I was planning on making a website. I have a HUGE library of photos that I've taken so I can literally have 1000's of wallpapers.

Thanks!

P.S. Any helpful suggestions would be much appreciated.

Example: F-22

 

Nobody with wallpaper selling experience eh?

I went ahead and started a listing on eBay at 1.99. If you're interested in the link, just PM me.

I have 20 wallpapers ready to go of aircraft like the B-2, B-1B, F-16C, F/A-22, F/A-18C/E, P-51, C-17, etc.

I might have to offer them as a package for X dollars and see if that moves better than individual items (though one test listing really isn't a fair test).

As a side note, I can't figure how people are doing things with eBay at low prices like 0.01 - 0.03 cents an item. The listing fee is 0.20 cents and to get an image in the "gallery" it costs 0.35 cents. If someone uses Paypal, you also have to pay a percentage there as well. Tough crowd.

 

I put three of these up (F-22, B-1B, and C-17) on eBay. So far 1 of 3 has a bid at 1.99. Not bad for the first test. I went ahead and purchased a domain name for a website.

Anyone have a good php script to use for showing and selling wallpapers?

 

Sorry, I don't have a script, but you should really consider making a website rather than working off of Ebay. Ebay's users tend to buy things they need, and real world items. I'm not saying that you won't get anything, but $1.99 isn't what I would exactly call good money, especially if you are out of highschool. A website would be something where a user would search to find what they want, and you could probably work out link exchanges to aviation websites, or make your own network to generate more traffic to yourself.

Also, it might be beneficial if you could provide a portfolio of your works,not that a library isn't enough, but see if you can get maybe an Airforce company, and make a wallpaper in their name. (Make it count!)

 

I'm not sure what you have tried regarding selling your photography but since you described yourself as a semi-pro you probably have already looked into the things I'm going to throw out there, but if not I hope some of the info is useful.

I would also avoid eBay with a thing like this. The percentages eBay and PayPal eat up in fees would make it a tough business at $1.99 a pop. Sellers with 1 cent auctions are probably either making it up on shipping and handling or using the auctions as a loss-leader to attract attention to their other auctions. A few may be doing inventory-to-cash sales and taking the hit, but it's hard to say.

If I had a large collection of high quality photos I would probably try a few different tactics. Maybe attempt selling chunks of them as a themed package as you already mentioned. I would probably try both digital delivery and putting them on a CD with a nice insert. Some people will pay more to have something arrive in the mail than they will for a digital delivery.

Or try and partner with somebody who is already selling aviation products and bundle your product with theirs. Perhaps a publisher would include a selection of photos on CD in their next book as a value-add, or a game studio would bundle wallpapers with a flight simulator game?

The third thing to try is the self-serve stock photography market, such as iStockPhoto.com. I believe that photographers get 20% of every sale, and up to 40% on exclusive use sales.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

I was using eBay as a test ground for the concept. I agree that 1.99 isn't going to make me "rich" but it did sell at that price when most others are going for < 0.99 cents.

I am semi-pro and have taken > 1000 aircraft shots. I haven't monetized these yet and admit that I wasn't sure how to do it.

I am looking for some wallpaper/photo php software that will let me automate the entire sales process. I saw a nice package today selling for 295 dollars.

My next sales attempt on eBay will be a package deal for a higher price. I was thinking of doing a "bombers" and "fighters" package. I can even try individual aircraft shots.

I just purchased a domain name I'm happy with: planewallpapers.com. It's still parked at godaddy, but I'll be moving it over soon.

 

On another note, I'm also going to be selling "realistic" wallpapers as well. Here's what my current desktop looks like. Since I have a widescreen monitor now, I'm all about going BIG.

 

You should look into learning how to make icons if you have the software needed.

 

I agree with the posts in this thread.

I think you should setup a website selling these wallpapers, alot of people interested in aircraft would buy these wallpapers. If you also had icons to go with them it'd be even better, you should spend ages on one design and include icons with it and then offer it as a special package or something.

 

hate to break it to you, but... who buys wallpaper for their desktop?

 

I'm not exactly sure what you guys mean by icons. I'm familiar with desktop icons for programs like on WinX. Is that what you mean? Do you have an example of what type of icon I would make from an aircraft photo?

I have tons of graphic software from both Adobe and Macromedia so anything is possible.

ExoticCars, I'm not sure why your'e down on selling wallpaper? Is it because so many wallpaper sites are freeware?

 

I agree there, when searching for wallpaper I never buy, just look for freebies.

Wallpaper might not be the best way to go about about it.. what about just selling high resolution photos? People would see more value in that rather than a low res (in comparison) wallpaper shot.
Some photographers out there sell high res shots for $100+ in digital form.

 

I am interested in 75*10 wallpapers for Aircrafts. What is the best you can do on this sort of quantity ?

 

Honey,

If you're talking 75*10 = 750 wallpapers, I don't have that many created yet. I'm currently working on themes like C-17s, F-117s, etc. Since these are all original photography, I wouldn't want to dump my collection out there. If you had a specific aircraft in mind, we might be able work out a license deal.

If you want to talk more, send me a PM.