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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Photo Shelter vs the rest
Alison Harbaugh, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 9:52 PM on 09.02.07 |
| ->> I was just about to sign up to use PhotoShelter as my prints sales online setup...then I started thinking... I offer more than just prints and I want people to be able to use credit cards for the whole package (shoot, and a variety of products) not just prints. So then I thought, why not host photos on a site where the client can access and let me know what they want to order and then I do the order (with mpix or something similar) and charge them for all they bought at once. I've been looking into the Merchant Account thing at SAM's club and their rates look pretty sweet. With Photo Shelter's Merchant account and then gateway provider there are so many charges that I have to deal with. So does anyone have any advice on how to streamline this whole process? I like the features of Photo Shelter, but I don't like all the costs involved to use the credit card feature. I just figured that customers will buy more and be able to share the site with relatives who will buy more if I offer the credit card option...help! |
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Peter Gaby, Photographer
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Madison | WI | US | Posted: 1:12 AM on 09.03.07 |
->> Hi Alison: I'm sure you will get more responses in the next day or so, but here are my thoughts and why I chose to go with photoshelter.
I basically have thought about many of the other options that are available, and i'm sure that you can find cheaper/better deals with other credit card companies/providers, but for me the total streamlining of photoshelter works best - yes, you do have to deal with a few more fees - PS credit card fees, hosting fees, and paypal fees, but it's all in one package for me.
I like the option of self-fulfillment with PS.
I can still use certain labs for certain products that EZ Prints may not offer.
But most importantly for me, I like the archive abilities.
I've additional harddrives at home of all of my archive, but I still end up putting most of my images into my PS archive - it's peice of mind for me.
I'm looking into changing my whole mindset about how I do things in the next couple of months, and will really be putting my PS operation into a new context for me.
By having everything at PS, it allows me to focus on doing what I like to do - and that's shooting.
I don't have to worry about wheather or not provider a is better/cheaper then provider b
Hope this rambling on and on makes sense and helped out.
Pete |
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Jeff Snyder, Photographer
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Metro DC Region | MD | USA | Posted: 8:23 AM on 09.03.07 |
->> Allison-
I completely agree with Peter. PhotoShelter's online fulfillment has worked great for me. My customers order through the site, or my website, and my PayPal account gets credited.
The self-fulfillment option, allows me to make prints on my Fuji Pictrography and ship them out to customers too.
I've also integrated my website with PhotoShelter, so that my archives are now searchable through my site.
Once you see that the costs are well worth the effort, you'll make the jump to PhotoShelter.
Jeff |
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Alan Look, Photographer
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Bloomington | IL | United States | Posted: 9:24 AM on 09.03.07 |
->> One important feature not mentioned by Peter and Jeff... Security for your product. For many years I've used another fulfillment system. Even after setting up my PhotoShelter account and my merchant account with PS, I still used the other because people knew where to find my images. Many of them had that site bookmarked.
I've cut my losses so to speak this year. After finding many of my images posted, unauthorized, on several social networking sites - I'm making the switch. My images were getting lifted for free with the "send card" option and by right clicking to save method. The theives were even bold enough to do it with my watermark and copyright statement right on the images. I was losing hundreds of $ in print sales.
With my PS account, I've shut off the download low-res comp feature. I breifly turn it on if someone needs one for real. That leaves 2 ways (on a peecee - maybe more on a mac) to get my images. One of those 2 ways is to PAY FOR THEM!
I also sell/license more than prints. One of the self fulfill items I have is a license for social sites. Self fulfill items are easy to set up.
If you have doubts, sign up for the trial subscription and be sure to send an email for help to PS's customer support if you have questions. They are great to work with and can often give you a variety of ideas to accomplish your goal.
AL |
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Alison Harbaugh, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 12:02 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Thanks to those who have responded so far. You make me feel a bit better about setting up with PhotoShelter. I am currently using it to show my first client the photos from their shoot and they seemed to like it. I probably will go ahead with it and send in the paperwork to get the merchant account set up...
If anyone has anymore advice, let me know! |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 12:45 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Alan,
I'd be very curious to hear how many licenses for social networking sites you've sold, and how you arrived at your pricing for that sort of license.
I'm not merely nosy...I know from a previous life in the downloadable software business that it does indeed make a difference in sales if you take simple measures to prevent electronic theft; but I have my doubts how much people would be willing to pay to spruce up their MySpace pages.
Chuck |
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Brian Shirk, Photographer
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McCall | ID | US | Posted: 1:45 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Allison-
I've had great experiences with Photoshelter. Being a control freak I like to be able to tweak things a little bit after orders have been placed... You can do this with Photoshelter - just set up orders for self-fulfillment. They'll e-mail you when someone places an order and it gives you everything you need to fulfill the order. It will also allow you to specify any kind of product/print/anything that could be ordered, so you really can do anything with it.
Between that and auto-watermarking, it's great - it takes about 15 minutes after every game to have everything uploaded (using the Photo Mechanic built-in uploader).
The paperwork is a bit confusing to set up CC's, but if you just take it one step at a time and go through the NetBilling gateway, you'll be a lot better off in the long run. If it's easy to do, something is probably very wrong. I think the whole package runs me about $75/month + 1.5% + $0.45/transaction (or something along those lines) - $50 of that being for 100GB of storage.
AFAIK, Netbilling is the only supported CC gateway for Photoshelter. I've no doubt that they're competitive with Sam's, at worst... And they settle batches nightly, which is much better than some I've worked with. |
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Phil Hawkins, Photographer
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Fresno | ca | usa | Posted: 2:15 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Do NOT go to Sam's club. Not because there's anything inherently wrong with Sam's Club, but there is charge-back protection with Photo Shelter. TRUST ME when I tell you, this charge-back protection is worth it's weight in gold.
Let's say an order comes in from a hijacked credit card, you send the $500 canvas wrap and 3 weeks later the REAL CC owner contests the order and YOU LOSE! In 8 years of running a hosting company, I have NEVER won a challenge to the charge back. The merchant is SOOL. Not only do you have to cough up the $500, but CB fees are $50 in addition. Or, a customer cancels an order after you sent it out and... trust me, the first question I ask is about the charge back policy. Photoshelter protects it's merchants. The fees they charge are well worth the elimination of frustration from running your own CC processing setup.
As far as having product to sell, try MyPhotopipe.com. They have everything under the sun for sale, and also feature Chromira prints. I love them!
Not to change the subject, but I always want to laugh when I read of people who say they "lose hundred's of $$ in print sales" because someone lifts a 400x600 72dpi JPG off the net. PUH-LEEEEZE! My first question is, how do you know that? Granted, if someone does try to print such an item, it will look horrible in any circumstance, and if your name is on the print, you might take a small quality-perception hit in your reputation with that person's local circle of friends, but I fail to see where the wholesale destruction of print-sales results from such an act. Focus on the dollars and forget the pennies (to a degree).
Phil |
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Jock Fistick, Photographer
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Brussels | Belgium | | Posted: 6:23 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Phil:
Maybe I am mistaken - but I don't think Alan is concerned that people are making prints from the low rez files they are stealing - but that these people are doing so instead of buying a print. So every theft is a person who didn't buy a print and thus it is a loss of "potential sales". And if I am correct in my interpretation - he is right. Some people are happy with having a souvenir on their computer that they can share with friends and family via email. And if they can find a way to get that for free - they will. But if the only way to get that image was to purchase a print - at least some of them would. But I agree with your assertion that in the grand scheme of things - this is probably small money and although we need to do our best to protect against image theft - we shouldn't loose sleep over this kind of abuse - unless of course it gets out of hand. And maybe in Alan's case it is or was getting out of hand. :-)
Cheers,
jf |
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Alison Harbaugh, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 6:27 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Great advice Phil! That's what I needed to hear! I'm pretty naive when it comes to all the financial stuff right now...
I've started the process with netbilling last week, but haven't completed it and they have been calling me everyday to finish up the process so I can start selling. In a way, I like that they are so on top of things, but I also felt that they were trying to push me into something too fast and that worried me. Thanks for all the advice guys! |
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Jock Fistick, Photographer
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Brussels | Belgium | | Posted: 6:34 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Alison:
Have no worries about your decision to join Photoshelter - it is by far the most feature rich and robust of these services available for working photographers today. No one else offers such a complete package of services and tools at varied price points. And even at the top end - you get far more bang for your buck on Photoshelter than you can anywhere else. |
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Stanley Leary, Photographer
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Roswell | GA | USA | Posted: 7:24 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Ask to speak to Pete at www.MyPhotoPipe.com if you have questions or concerns. He is a sports shooter himself, although not a member here.
They do the best job I have ever seen and this is why I have been working with Pete since 1993. He took his film based photo lab company and made it into MyPhotoPipe. |
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Phil Hawkins, Photographer
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Alan Look, Photographer
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Bloomington | IL | United States | Posted: 9:37 PM on 09.03.07 |
->> Jock, you nailed it. Thanks for clarifying for me. The whole intent of my post was to say "don't overlook security of your product".
FWIW - Photoreflect is where my images were getting grabbed from. It has been a very good tool for me, but this issue has led me away from that service. At least for now. I still have an account there and didn't move my archives from there.
I'm not losing sleep over the dozens of images that were lifted, I'm merely doing something about it.
As for the price of my offered license and how many I expect to use it? I don't really know, but one of the reasons I went that way was to inform people that they do need to pay to use my images. I didn't price it to gouge anyone or to get rich. Just a little something to make it worth their while and mine.
That's more than I intended on saying. If anyone wants more info, feel free to email me off this thread. I don't want to hijack it anymore.
Alison - my apologizes. |
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