Youth sports, dance recitals, races, school events. There’s no single client, just a crowd of parents who each want photos of one kid. It can be great money, or a mess of DMs and Venmo requests. Here’s how to set it up so it’s the first one.
Decide how you get paid
- Pay per photo: parents buy what they want after the event. Simple, and no one pays for photos of someone else’s kid.
- Paid by the organizer: the league or school pays you a flat fee and parents download for free.
- Both: a small fee from the organizer, plus per-photo sales.
For your first few, pay per photo is the easiest to start with and doesn’t need anyone’s budget approval.
Get permission first
Check with the league, school, or venue before you shoot and sell. Many have photo policies, especially for minors. A quick yes in writing protects you and makes it easier to share the link with families.
Price it simply
One price per digital photo, with a deal for buying the whole set, is easiest for parents. Keep it low enough that buying five feels easy. Volume is the whole game here.
Make it easy to buy on a phone
Parents will open your link on their phone at the next practice. One gallery, a clear price on every photo, a cart, and Apple Pay or Google Pay at checkout. Every extra step loses sales.
Protect the previews
Watermark the previews so a screenshot isn’t as good as buying. The clean, full-size file is what they pay for.
Get the link out fast
Sales are highest in the first few days, while everyone’s still talking about the game. Cull and post within a day or two, and have the coach or organizer share the link with the team.
Split big events into sections
For a tournament or meet, split the gallery by game, heat, or team so parents jump straight to their kid instead of scrolling 800 photos.
How I do it in Edit
A Public project has no single client. It’s a storefront for one shoot, and every parent with the link buys their own photos and checks out on their own. Previews are watermarked, there’s a comment wall if I want one, and buyers never clutter my client list. Edit takes 0% of the sales.