Selling Arial Photographs. Is There A Market For Them?

[whenitsgoneitsgone]

I have a dilemma on how best to list an item. More accurately, a collection of items. I am hoping that a more experienced seller who has perhaps come across a similar situation might be able to offer some advice.

Here’s my story. Went to an auction last Friday and bought a “lot” of items. Included in the lot were such items as a glass rooster filled with pickled peppers, two uncorked bottles of wine, a brass horse statue, a couple of cowboy hats, A nude autographed photograph of Marilyn Monroe, two pair of slightly used work boots, two cast iron skillets, etc., etc., etc. Also included in the lot were approximately five thousand (rough estimate) or so arial photographs. The photographs are of homes and businesses located in Kentucky. All photographs are eleven by fourteen inches in size and all printed on FujiFilm paper. All appear to have been taken in 2013. Apparently, they were taken by a company that specializes in arial photography. These prints, according to a price sheet I found, were selling for $129.00 each plus tax and came in solid oak frames.

I know there has to be a way to make money on these photographs. There has to be a market for them somewhere, but I just don’t know exactly how best to go about finding and reaching that market. A friend of mine at a local flea market said that if they were framed, they could possibly be sold for about ten dollars each. That would be fantastic, but who wants to buy five thousand frames on the chance that they “might” sell for ten dollars each? Another vendor at the same flea market doesn’t think they will sell at all simply because they are just random photographs of other people’s homes and that nobody would want to buy a photograph of someone else’s home. My son in law says to just take a few to the flea market and try selling them for one or two bucks each. That to me makes the most sense.

Would like to try selling them on eBay, but not sure how to best word the listing or how much I should ask for them. I thought about asking thirty dollars for ten random photographs with free shipping. Does anybody think these would sell? Any suggestions on how to word the listing? Any ideas on the legal side of this, i.e., can I legally sell photographs of other people’s homes or businesses? Should I try selling a few at a time or try selling the whole lot? They were all professionally photographed and I would hate to have to throw them away if I can’t sell them. It would be such a waste. Any suggestions on how best to list these would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, BTW, I was just joking about the Marilyn Monroe photograph. It isn’t autographed. If it was, you wouldn’t be reading this post.

Thank You.

[partial*eclipse]

The photos might sell on eBay if you use the right keywords: Spy, Drone, Secret, Hidden.

[omgitlightsup]

In the past, it was very easy to take aerial photos of homes and sell them to homeowners and/or realtors, particularly expensive homes. But doing so required an airplane and a photographer. Now it takes only a $500 drone, but there is a catch... the FAA does not permit commercial use of drones without a license. So while you still have to hire someone.. it is nowhere near as costly as it used to be. The price tag may reflect the former cost of insurance, fuel, and pilot pay.

I don't know what market you'd have for, like was said, a bunch of random photos of unidentified homes, unless a local organization involved with develpment in that area was interested in a bulk deal.

As a photographer, I'd jump at a deal on solid oak frames, even if I had to do some work removing the prints in them. Frames are expensive.

[thatsallfolks]

If you decide to sell them here, be sure to spell “aerial” correctly.

[retrose1]

I love seeing huge piles of priced items at an auction, it tells m that it never occurred to the owner that their prices were too high and if they lowered them they might have made a go of it.

I would take the ones that are artsy looking, have great architecture and are interesting and try and sell them for around $10 each.  If the area is in Kentucky, check to see if they include Civil War battlegrounds and sell them for that.

Everything else I would take out of the frames and sell the frames for $2 each and make a file of the pics and sell them for a buck each.  Some people like to root through a pile of stuff and will buy one or two of them.  I am thinking that unless you have a historic scene or tourist trap, you will not be able to flip them for what they are.

[thatsallfolks]

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@retrose1 wrote:

I love seeing huge piles of priced items at an auction, it tells m that it never occurred to the owner that their prices were too high and if they lowered them they might have made a go of it.

I would take the ones that are artsy looking, have great architecture and are interesting and try and sell them for around $10 each.  If the area is in Kentucky, check to see if they include Civil War battlegrounds and sell them for that.

Everything else I would take out of the frames and sell the frames for $2 each and make a file of the pics and sell them for a buck each.  Some people like to root through a pile of stuff and will buy one or two of them.  I am thinking that unless you have a historic scene or tourist trap, you will not be able to flip them for what they are.

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OP doesn’t have the frames. They were talking about the risk of buying frames for photos that may be worthless.

[muttlymob]

Is there any identification on the photos?  By street address, town, neighborhood, etc.?

If so, you might bunch them up by town or neighborhood and sell those as a lot.

Trying to sell them individually at a flea market or on eBay would most likely be a lost cause.  Even if you could get $1 a piece, they would be a hard sell.

Buying frames would be throwing money away.  I would assume that high sale price for framed prints was meant to be marketed directly to the owner of the photo subject, not to the general public.  That may be something the original photographer pursued and might even have been successful with.  But if they are up for auction in a box lot less than 5 years later, maybe not.

[castlemagicmemories]

It sounds interesting, but I think you would have to have specific info, and even then, I don't know that there would be a market for them.

Sorry.

[luckythewinner]

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@whenitsgoneitsgone wrote:
These prints, according to a price sheet I found, were selling for $129.00 each plus tax and came in solid oak frames.

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If they were priced at $129, they were probably being sold to a specific person who requested an aerial photograph of a specific location. That is very small demographic, probably of one.

A large portion of that includes the cost of getting a camera into the air over that specific location, not just the cost of the print itself.

[llllady]

@whenitsgoneitsgone

If you do decide to list them, you might want to make sure you spell the word aerial correctly.  Otherwise, some people may think you are selling a font (arial).  🙂

[vikingsandpintos]

I don't think they would be worth much, but I do feel your pain.

I work in a salvage yard, we buy junk cars and scrap metal. Sometimes we get groups of "Stuff" in, could be brackets, or parts, a little bit of everything. So much of it looks like it could be usefull for "Someone", just not sure who! lol

As an example, the other day a local boat repair business brought in like 40 used outboard props of various sizes...  Look kinda neat, ought to be able to make SOMETHING out of them, but who or what? We put them to the side for now, but will prob end up just throwing them in with the other scrap. What a waste, but what do you do?

[whenitsgoneitsgone]

“Is there any identification on the photos? By street address, town, neighborhood, etc.?

If so, you might bunch them up by town or neighborhood and sell those as a lot.”

I did find a few maps with grids laid out on them. There is a reference number marked in each block on the grids. There are also reference numbers marked on the back of each photograph. Unfortunately, there are several thousand photographs and only about 30 or so maps each printed on standard 8 ½ x 11 inch paper. Not nearly enough maps. Probably not worth my time trying to find the few photographs whose reference numbers correspond to the ones on the maps. Still a good idea though. Thank you.

“Buying frames would be throwing money away.”

There were two frames included with the lot. I will find a couple of photographs of the nicer homes and try selling them at the flea market, but as far as buying frames for the rest, you are right, it would just be throwing money away.

[whenitsgoneitsgone]

Yeah, I think you are right, but still had to ask. May just try selling a few at the flea market and see what happens. Only paid $25 for the whole lot so even if they don't sell, I've still got plenty of other stuff that will. Thanks.

[whenitsgoneitsgone]

There are several photographs of some really nice houses, but most seem to be photographs of just average homes. Nothing special or outstanding about them. If I had been in the business of selling these types of photographs, I think I would have targeted my sales efforts to people who may have actually wanted a photograph of their home i.e., people who may want a picture of their million dollar home hanging on their wall. If I lived in most of the homes shown in these photographs, I definitely would not have paid $129 or more for a photograph of it. Maybe that’s why these photographs never sold. They were trying to sell to the wrong market. If I lived in most of the homes shown in the photos, I would have just climbed a tree with a Polaroid camera! Heck, for my house, I would just stand on the hood of my car with a sketch pad.

[18704d]

"As an example, the other day a local boat repair business brought in like 40 used outboard props of various sizes...  Look kinda neat, ought to be able to make SOMETHING out of them, but who or what?"

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Aluminum? Brass?

Put them in a lot on eBay.  They can be repurposed.

Man Cave wall art.. Fishermen will hang one on their wall next to their mounted fish they've caught.

Repurpose into a clock or lamp, etc

https://www.pinterest.com/divonostefan/propellers/

I wish I could find a couple dozen.

Lynn