I am looking to sell prints online, and am looking for a website that I can direct people to, to view my photos and order them. I'd assume the site would get a certain percentage of each photo, but would let me mark it up to make a profit. I also need it to be able to store a lot of photos online, and a URL that is easy for people to look up to find my shots. Any recommendations? DPCprints doesn't have to storage room I need, so that is out.
How much storage room do you need? The space DPCPrints offers is only for the small thumbnails which can be 1 byte each if you want. Print storage space is unlimited.
Basically, this is what I'm trying to accomplish...
I was looking into going to some little league basball games in my area and getting some nice shots of the kids playing. I would inform the parents of a web address they can visit to view the shots, and order any sizes they need. There will be multiple teams and multiple days that I want categorized to help parents find the photos better.
Now I haven't investigated DPCprints too much, but I would need it to have folders that I can put specific pictures into (like our portfolio is arranged)
I am pretty sure you cannot. It's pretty much set up for artsy, topical shots. There are categories, and it picks similar shots, but it's not an "event" style site.
I think there's also a $29.95 option on Smugmug where you can sell. You just lose some privileges and the ability to brand your own site. There's a free trial as well. I did it but I personally didn't like the way the site management tools worked. (I did a trial of the $99 option too.)
If you join, get someone to refer you, as you will do both of you a favor if you stay, cause they get kickback, and you get a small discount.
How about setting up a nice gallery on PBase for viewing, with a link to each photo for sale on DPCPrints for purchase? I have done that with a few of my shots on PBase and I can tell by the views I have gotten on my prints, that they are getting viewed. (not purchased, unfortunately.) Might be a little tough if you're talking about a lot of pics, though.
Be sure you pick a site that gives you a professional look. //www.printroom.com works too, but that take a percentage of your sale so you have to build that in.
Now I haven't investigated DPCprints too much, but I would need it to have folders that I can put specific pictures into (like our portfolio is arranged)
Is that possible?
I am pretty sure that the development process for improvements to DPC Prints included the ability to do what you want -- many other people expressed an interest in similar functions (like weddings).
Unfortunately, the coding for the site upgrade is several months delayed, and I've heard no new estimate for project completion. But it's definitely something we want here.
If you can set up a site where people can place an order with you (and pay you), you could put the prints here in a personal folder, and place the order for the prints yourself (no approval needed), and have them drop-shipped to the customer.
I have my photos on www.shutterpoint.com - but don't waste your time with these guys - sales are slow and it screams 'amateur'. However, I was wondering if anyone knows of a site like shutterpoint where I can allow someone to actually download the image - kind of like allowing a licensing agreement for someone to purchase the rights to an image -- not just prints?
I took a look at smugmug and they look awesome. However, I'd like to be able to sell downloads to my work as well. Any advice?
... where I can allow someone to actually download the image - kind of like allowing a licensing agreement for someone to purchase the rights to an image
That's what stock agencies do. Look through the forums for extensive discussions of the various types of stock agencies.
I'm more interested in a mechanism that requests print ready versions of images when someone orders them. Then all I have to provide are web thumbnails and not do any real processing on images until there is a definate sale.
Does anyone know of a service where you can manage selling downloads yourself - without going through a stock agency (like www.shutterpoint.com - but more professional like SmugMug) in addition to selling prints? It would be nice to sell both myself and i often get requests... I just don't have the commerce system to do it myself.
I'm more interested in a mechanism that requests print ready versions of images when someone orders them. Then all I have to provide are web thumbnails and not do any real processing on images until there is a definate sale.
I'm pretty sure this is how digiproofs works, although it might only be for their self-fulfillment option. They have an interesting pricing structure that really pushes a 90-day purchase window (although there's one option that gives 365 days). Apparently, their lab (should you use it) is in Austin, TX. I think the good thing about digiproofs is you pay per event (plus print costs of course) and the size of the event dictates the price, so it works even for photographers just getting started.
Edit: I talked to a fellow who confirms the self-fulfillment option would be the way to do this, although you could set up a fulfillment account (no extra charge) so they act as the lab too. For smaller prints they use a Frontier on FCA; for larger, they use a lightjet. Profile available only for the Frontier. I can forward pricing/info if you're interested.
Does anyone know of a service where you can manage selling downloads yourself - without going through a stock agency (like www.shutterpoint.com - but more professional like SmugMug) in addition to selling prints? It would be nice to sell both myself and i often get requests... I just don't have the commerce system to do it myself.
Yep, you can run your won server, but then you have to do all the marketing for your stock images. Their fee is should include marketing of images. If they don't do any active market and rely on searches, don't use them. YOu really do need a e-commerce site to make the deliveries. When photo buyers want an image, they want it now. If you are off on a photo shoot you need to have a way to deliver the image and collect your fees.
I use Fotki.com for selling my prints, but I have a premium account that cost $25 for a year. They let you price your photos to whatever you'd like, you can have folders and subfolders to orgainze your pictures, and they prints in dozens of sizes (and the quality is top notch)
Their payment structure is good as well, you can get a check or have it deposited into your paypal account. I've sold dozens of prints through fotki with no problems.
Just another option to think about!
Check out PhotoReflect. No personal experience but I have heard some sport shooters say it is best. Some of these guys had tried several and settled there.
They do have to be approved, but I'm not sure why that makes it unsuitable for you...?
I would say it's a volume/timing issue. Also, different sizes have different aspect ratios therefore requiring a different portfolio image for each size. This is probably the biggest drawback of DPCPrints.
Becuase for the purpose I need it for, speed is very important. If I take pictures at a ballgame, I would want to have them online for sale that night for parents to buy when they are still thinking about it. The longer they have to wait to see the proofs, the less sales I will generate.
Becuase for the purpose I need it for, speed is very important. If I take pictures at a ballgame, I would want to have them online for sale that night for parents to buy when they are still thinking about it. The longer they have to wait to see the proofs, the less sales I will generate.
