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TIPS60 - What Exactly is a Purchase Order?

Here is another of our videos offering tips and inisights into the business of photography. a transcript of the video is included after the jump.



TRANSCRIPT:If you're a photographer, or any business for that matter that is doing business with other businesses, a purchase order is something that you're probably, if you haven't already seen it, will likely see very soon. If you're doing direct business to consumer, if you're dealing with the general public as your clientele, if you're a wedding photographer, if you are doing family portraits of some sort or even senior portraits, you're not gonna see purchase orders. Purchase orders are when you're doing business with corporation "X" or corporation "Y" and it is essentially an approval to pay you once work has been performed. It's a document. A purchase order you'll be often given a purchase order number. Sometimes you're asked to sign a purchase order. The problem with purchase orders, if you're not careful, is that there can be contract language on that purchase order that transfers ownership of your creative endeavors, your photography, to the company as a part of their boilerplate purchase order. So you need to make certain that your purchase order language has been reviewed, make sure that none of those things are on there that are egregious, changing the rights that you have on your existing contract.

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