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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Selling Prints online
Jonathan Nimerfroh, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 5:25 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> I would like to set up an online shopping cart for clients to purchase prints online. I would like to post a few weddings on the site and some fine art photos.
a friend of mine recommended - www.exposuremanager.com
any others out there?
Thanks!
-Jonathan |
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Michael Burns, Photographer
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San Mateo | Ca | USA | Posted: 5:41 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> Try:
www.spitfirephoto.com |
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Eric Isaacs, Photographer
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Santa Barbara | CA | USA | Posted: 5:47 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> Check the archives -- this is a heavily discussed subject.
(exposuremanager has been good to me)
EMI |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Maryville | MO | USA | Posted: 6:04 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> Photoreflect will cost you 18 percent of your total sales. So, although it works well... keep lookin'
I'm thinking seriously about http://www.lightboxphoto.com/
Also, take a good look at http://imagefolio.com/
I'm considering both. It's all about the bottom line. |
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Mike Brice, Photographer
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Toledo | OH | USA | Posted: 6:08 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> Delane,
You crack me up.
Alan holding a D3 for you?
How things out there in Philadelphia?
Mike |
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Jonathan Nimerfroh, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 6:16 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> thanks everyone. would anyone mind sending me a sample of a gallery they have online to get an idea of what the site will look like.
-Jonathan |
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Clark Brooks, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 6:22 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> If you want do your own fulfillment go with imagefolio. If you are html and/or perl saavy you can totally vamp it to fit the look and feel you desire. I've been an IF user since 2002 and have it nearly totally integrated into our site.
To keep the homepage content looking fresh at every visit, I modified some of the code to automatically change the lead photo as well as the two smaller featured photos at http://www.iphotonews.com. At no time will a viewer see the same combination of photos when they visit the site.
You can have password protected galleries for wedding and portrait clients as well as public galleries that display your past work.
If you rather have someone else do your fulfillment look at any of the options Delane mentioned. You can also check out SmugMug. I know a couple of people happy with their work. |
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Jody Gomez, Photographer
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Murrieta | CA | USA | Posted: 8:43 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> Jonathan, my site is hosted by www.exposuremanager.com you can see it here
www.jodygomez.com
Hope that's what you were asking for.
Jody |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 9:52 PM on 11.07.07 |
| ->> Mike...you know it. I was hoping to pick it up before the Coaches vs Cancer event at Madison Sq. Garden next week...but that seems unlikely since I havent heard ANYTHING YET. |
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Paul Alesse, Photographer
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Centereach | NY | USA | Posted: 10:06 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> In my experience and research with online sales sites, there is no perfect panacea. Everyone has their faves for different reasons. Printroom and Exposure Manager gets raves for customer service, but you are locked into using their print services and there are storage fees. Exposure Manager uses "no sales fees" as their selling point, but you get banged for prints that you could probably find somewhere else for a lot less.
For a company like ours that needs to upload thousands of photos every weekend, neither Printroom nor the others aren't going to be as cost effective, so we go with Photoreflect. PR doesn't carry a GB quota and you get to choose your lab that integrates well with the Express Digital software. When it comes to action and T&I workflow and fulfilling thousands of orders througout the year you can't beat the Express Digital/Photoreflect/Printing Fulfillment system. That has been key in our decision to go with them. That, and our relationship with our printing company who put us on the top of their priority list and are tops in customer service. For us, the manner in which our orders are handled, and the quality care given in the prints is so vital to our business.
But, with PR you suffer in other aspects. PR, as purely an online sales site, has terrible customer service, their site runs at a snail's pace at times, the software can get buggy every now and then, and yeah... you have those sales fees.
You have to determine what your sales model is going to be, your anticipated volume of photos to upload, and what products you plan to offer among other things. With that being said, you'll find a company that will "sorta" fit in the short term, and your decision to stay with them for the "long haul" will be dependent on how well they care and handle you as a client. |
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Phil Hawkins, Photographer
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Fresno | ca | usa | Posted: 10:23 PM on 11.07.07 |
->> Photoreflect is the best. No charge until you sell, unlimited galleries, and when you use Myphotopipe.com to do you printing, it's the best. myphotopipe.com gets Chromira prints out next day, and sometimes same day. I love 'em.
http://photoreflect.com
Phil |
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Doug Holleman, Photographer
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Temple | TX | USA | Posted: 11:18 PM on 11.07.07 |
| ->> Printroom.com. They have had a free December signup for Sports shooters for the last few years. Maybe they'll do it again. |
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Eric Isaacs, Photographer
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Santa Barbara | CA | USA | Posted: 4:21 AM on 11.08.07 |
->> www.emiphoto.com
I like the look and feel of exposure manager much better than printroom or photoreflect. My site was customized by a friend for integration but the standard exposuremanager options are pretty decent too.
EMI |
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Jesse Hutcheson, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Newport News | va | United States | Posted: 4:21 PM on 11.08.07 |
| ->> I've used many thoughout the last few years and I have found nothing to be better then exposuremanager. |
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Colin Corneau, Photographer
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Brandon | MB | Canada | Posted: 3:11 PM on 11.09.07 |
| ->> This is an interesting subject. I was wondering how photogs who sell their images online (fine-art specifically) handle subject/model releases. |
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Dave Amorde, Photographer
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Lake Forest | CA | USA | Posted: 4:51 PM on 11.09.07 |
->> "Printroom and Exposure Manager gets raves for customer service, but you are locked into using their print services and there are storage fees."
This statement is very misleading. Both companies offer a self-fulfillment option so that you can use whatever lab you want. Although both services have "storage fees", those fees are waived if you do a reasonable amount of sales.
I have accounts with both services, do print and self-fulfillment through both, and have never been charged a dime for storage. These two services seem to leapfrog each other as far as products and features go, but my perception is that ExposureManager is more configurable, but PrintRoom is easier to get going with. If online sales isn't your primary focus, I would suggest PrintRoom, otherwise EM would get my vote.
Photoshelter also allows all of the features for online sales, and then some. I have an account with them, but have been too damn busy to do anything with it. If I ever get around to setting up a merchant account with a credit service, it's possible I'll drop EM in favor of Photoshelter. Their focus seems to be moving toward servicing the higher end stock market - at least that's what the most recent newsletters have focused on - so I'm not completely sold that they are the best longterm solution for me. But the guys behind it are pretty cool. :-) |
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John Blankfort, Photographer
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Monterey | CA | USA | Posted: 6:15 PM on 11.09.07 |
->> Paul is right, Photo Reflect does have the best workflow, however the support is really bad, the fees high and they make it near impossible to brand your site. All those items caused me to switch to Exposure Manager after 3 years at PR.
Exposure Manager charges 100 bucks a year for unlimited storage. 20GB download limit a month, but it’s waved if you sell 100 bucks during the month. The price on small prints is a little less than most PR labs, but on the larger prints, they are a little more expensive. The prints are very nice, I’ve had no complaints. Upload process works great if you FTP. Photo Mechanic works great for this. You can easily customize your site. One of the best things about EM is that it’s web based. I can have other shooters, FTP the low res files up… then provide me with a DVD later. With PR, you have to upload and print from the same computer, unless you want to jump through a lot of hoops. The PR web site is buggy, down or slow and their software is really really bad. Takes them months to correct the simplest issues. Like having to re-upload the entire gallery, if you change or add a sub-gallery.
I’ve very happy with EM. The support is over the top. Email them on Saturday morning… You’ll get an answer in an hour or two. I would highly recommend EM over PR. |
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Jonathan Nimerfroh, Photographer
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Philadelphia | PA | USA | Posted: 12:12 PM on 11.13.07 |
->> thanks everyone i went with exposuremanager.
Dave could you resend the email with the halloween photos again. i somehow lost it.
thanks! |
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