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Home: Video University Forums: Digital Photography for Videographers:
Selling photos on hosting site

iamapt
User

Sep 27, 2007, 2:25 AM

Post #1 of 10 (834 views)
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Selling photos on hosting site	Can't Post

I have a chance to sell photos taken at an upcoming sporting event. What site do you recommend that I would only have to upload the photos and the rest would be taken care of by the site. (sales, printing, delivery).

Paul
The reward of a thing well done, is to have done it.
Jonas Salk April 12, 1955 Announcement of the polio vaccine

Brackish
Veteran

Sep 27, 2007, 5:11 AM

Post #2 of 10 (826 views)
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Re: [iamapt] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

I think PhotoReflect.com does this. Some of the photogs I
work with you use Photo Reflect so it must be okay.

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"We'll always show up at the wedding with a gift bag for the bride. Inside we have these incredible fuzzy slippers in the teal of our branding."

Brackish
Veteran

Sep 30, 2007, 5:45 AM

Post #3 of 10 (780 views)
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Re: [Brackish] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

I'm needing something like this, too.

Any users of photoreflect here? I have couple questions.

Also, any similar sites to photoreflect? I believe Sparky
mentioned something like photocart but I don't know
anything about them.

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"We'll always show up at the wedding with a gift bag for the bride. Inside we have these incredible fuzzy slippers in the teal of our branding."

Sparky
Veteran

Oct 1, 2007, 12:35 AM

Post #4 of 10 (756 views)
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Re: [iamapt] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

Sorry I don't have a link to these, but I'm sure google will be your friend. ;-)

Digilabs
Collages.net
Labprints

I think Snapfish and Shutterfly.com also do this.

I paid for my own cart, which is hosted on my stie ... about $250 I think, but I have to do my own fulfillment and it doesn't sound like you want to mess with that. So other than the initial cost I have a 3% cost for using PayPal. I think PhotoReflect was approximately 17% but I still fulfilled the orders. They do work with a lab though and will fulfill the orders.

You can look at it two ways. 1) If you want to keep more of your money and it's worth it to you to fulfill the orders then host your own cart. You can easily upload your orders to mpix.com and have them drop shipped.

2) If your time is more valuable then look at something like PR or the others as being your "employee." They do all the work and send you a check every two weeks or so.

I keep going both ways on this. Some weddings I get great orders and others I get zilch. Part of me just wants to post them all on pbase.com and encourage everyone to right click and save to the desktop. I'll probably continue to host my own cart for another year and see what the totals are so I can make a more intelligent decision.

Brackish
Veteran

Oct 1, 2007, 4:06 AM

Post #5 of 10 (752 views)
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Re: [Sparky] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

Personally, I'd kinda like to see the pics before they
go out to the customer (to check 'em over and make
sure they turned out alright) but I may end up
just having them drop shipped.

I worked with a photog yesterday who shoots most
weekends of the year and he told me he
really doesn't get much in the way of online
order sales.

Who is doing most of the online ordering? Family
such as grandparents and aunts/uncles? I wouldn't
think that their friends would be ordering much or any??

Between the weddings where you get nothing and
those where you do get orders, what would you say is the
average order?

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"We'll always show up at the wedding with a gift bag for the bride. Inside we have these incredible fuzzy slippers in the teal of our branding."

Sparky
Veteran

Oct 1, 2007, 3:17 PM

Post #6 of 10 (734 views)
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Re: [Brackish] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

The average order is $140. (Just checked.) I have a $35 minimum order so I don't get killed with two or three 4x6 print orders. I've only done a little over $2000 this year in sales.

Most sales appear to come from relatives, but it's impossible to know for sure. I'm just going by last names or emails that I occasionally see.

I used to be anal about seeing my prints go out, but after having them shipped to me and then me shipping them out as well I felt it was no longer needed. Prints looked fine and I cut my shipping costs.

There are probably ways to promote it more, but I don't. I won't put cards on tables or anything else that I feel doesn't represent me well. I don't want to show up at a wedding looking like I'm there to sell them something. If the b&g want to pass along the link ... fine, but at least for now it's not for me.

Brackish
Veteran

Oct 1, 2007, 4:51 PM

Post #7 of 10 (732 views)
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Re: [Sparky] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

I won't put cards on tables or anything else that I feel doesn't represent me well. I don't want to show up at a wedding looking like I'm there to sell them something.

I know how you feel here. For a stretch there I ran into photogs
who go around putting business cards out at all the
guests' dinner tables. Sometimes they'll put a stack
of their business cards next to the guest book.

Another tactic I've seen is for the photog to set up
a laptop next to the cake table with a slidedshow
of the day's earlier pictures. Again here, I have
reservations about doing this. Does it seem too
much like a sales presentation at their reception?
Opinions?

One thing that I think has some possibilities to get more
online sales is something that Brian Coe - don't know
if he's still with us - mentioned a while back.
He said one of his big sellers (for prints sold at the
reception) is formals shots of the various family
groupings where the B&G are not in the picture.
The reasoning as Brian explained is that it is a picture
of the particular family where they are all
dressed up and in one spot for a picture, which
only happens rarely, such as at weddings.
I wonder how a person could work out taking
group shots of families without the B&G in the
States? Anyone have thoughts on this? Anyone
doing it already?

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"We'll always show up at the wedding with a gift bag for the bride. Inside we have these incredible fuzzy slippers in the teal of our branding."

Sparky
Veteran

Oct 1, 2007, 10:40 PM

Post #8 of 10 (722 views)
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Re: [Brackish] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

Again here, I have
reservations about doing this. Does it seem too
much like a sales presentation at their reception?
Opinions?

I kind of put the slide shows in the same category as SDEs. I think it can be effective. The knock I've heard from others is that people see these and then wonder why it takes so long for photographers to deliver. Actually, I wonder about that as well.

My fear is setting my laptop out for all the drunks to spill beer on ... or my laptop growing legs and walking out the door.

Brackish
Veteran

Oct 2, 2007, 3:47 AM

Post #9 of 10 (712 views)
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Re: [iamapt] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

What I'm going through right now is how to make it
so's they don't steal the photos for free.

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"We'll always show up at the wedding with a gift bag for the bride. Inside we have these incredible fuzzy slippers in the teal of our branding."

Postal Boy
Veteran

Oct 3, 2007, 12:36 PM

Post #10 of 10 (687 views)
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Re: [Sparky] Selling photos on hosting site [In reply to]	Can't Post

Sparky,

You could try getting a laptop lock (big old cable with a locking mechanism that hooks into the little locking port of about every laptop made) and anchoring it to something permanent, or a table at least. They would need bolt cutters to get it off.

Actually, I think they should make a locking port on video cameras as well....that could be a life-saver at times.

-Postal