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Archive 2015 · sell images/prints online

  
 
heikoM
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · sell images/prints online


Hey everyone,


I just got a second website linked to my site where I can sell image-downloads and prints to wedding guests.

I wonder if some of you can share a bit of experience.


Do you shoot images on the wedding day especially to sell later (moneyshots) like couples, grandmas etc.?

I guess I have to select the images I put on the site in a different way. It is not to tell the story, more like "could someone be interested in purchasing that image?


I intend to sell a 1200px download for 2€, a full size download for 10€,
a simple small print for 3€ and then fine art prints and canvas for 80-240€

make that sense?


Do you feel it is worth the hassle of selecting differently and putting online? Do you get money out of it?



would be cool the get some tips from you guys,

thank you,

Heiko



Aug 13, 2015 at 01:36 AM
sherijohnson
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · sell images/prints online


typically any family group shots are the most likely for purchase, or of course of the wedding couple. I just put all of them in the wedding gallery and the couple is free to share the link with anyone they like.


Aug 13, 2015 at 07:56 AM
elevationphoto
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · sell images/prints online


I use zenfolio where you can set pricing for type of print and size. in terms of wedding day, I make sure to take photos of guests and go around asking if people want their photos taken. I never try to take my focus off the bride and groom, so this is usually during the reception at a slower part of the day. That being said, I don't expect print sales- however when they do happen it is a nice bonus. In terms of advertising without soliciting, I become friends with the bride and groom on facebook and share their wedding gallery link on their facebook pages. It drives up website visitors, increases exposure, and leads to sales.


Aug 14, 2015 at 08:33 AM
glort
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · sell images/prints online


heikoM wrote:
Do you feel it is worth the hassle of selecting differently and putting online? Do you get money out of it?


I feel I could make money out of you putting pics online for sale by making a bet you won't come near selling enough to go near justifying your time and effort.

Sorry, but I cannot see it flying one bit.
I have never tried it with wedding pics but I sure have with sports and the mentalities/ problems/ difficulties I feel are going to be exactly the same.

First thing is, how are you going to make the GUESTS aware there are pics for sale?

I really think you are going to have a very hard time going up against the Uncle Bobs with their new Iphoney 127 that takes pictures with an amazing quality yours don't have and can't beat.

FREE.

Thinking about it, I believe to make this work you would have to go the whole hog and do pics Photo booth style where you took the pics specifically to sell of groups being wacky etc. People are going to take their own pics of the B&G and things like that so the same rules apply, you have to get something they can't themselves.

Next thought that comes to mind is is even if you do get these group shots and manage to avoid everyone else taking them over your shoulder, You are up against the old thing of the pics being downloaded off the site where you are trying to sell them.

If you think small size, crappy quality and watermarks that form more of the pixels in the image than the photo itself will stop this, I think as the sports shooters have found, you will come to learn very different.

Good luck with it but I would not put too high hopes in it and would keep my eye open to other ideas for increasing your returns from wedding work,




Aug 15, 2015 at 08:29 PM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · sell images/prints online


By all accounts, print sales have gone over the last few years. One bright spot is the photo selling site Instaproofs — they have a successful method of extracting better sales from events.

Since print sales have gone way down, I personally don't look for images that used to generate revenue. I don't stalk children any more at events (grandparents used to spend large on great kid pics), and we really try to truncate the family group set. We should more for the venue (because referrals are huge for us) and the couple (because it's all anyone wants to see on social media).




Aug 15, 2015 at 08:48 PM
heikoM
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · sell images/prints online


Sounds not very promising. Will try it and see if it´s worth the hassle. Thank you for your input.

heiko



Aug 17, 2015 at 01:40 AM
BSPhotog
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · sell images/prints online


LeeSimms wrote:
By all accounts, print sales have gone over the last few years. One bright spot is the photo selling site Instaproofs — they have a successful method of extracting better sales from events.

Since print sales have gone way down, I personally don't look for images that used to generate revenue. I don't stalk children any more at events (grandparents used to spend large on great kid pics), and we really try to truncate the family group set. We should more for the venue (because referrals are huge for us) and the couple (because it's all anyone wants to see on
...Show more

You still using Instaproofs? For weddings or just other events? You think it is a viable alternative to the SmugMug/Zenfolio/Etc fullfillment tools out there for selling prints online?



Feb 05, 2016 at 05:03 PM
glort
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · sell images/prints online



Hows the online selling going so far?

Any thoughts or things you have learn't with it?



Feb 06, 2016 at 08:57 AM
skg photos
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · sell images/prints online


I am getting pretty fed up with Zenfolio's repeated down time and complicated shopping cart, but admit to earning about 1k a year or more through guest print sales from weddings. And I'm low volume.

Still, there are numerous abandoned shopping carts seen in statcounter reports.

Came from Smugmug three years ago, and don't want to go back.
Would love to hear from anyone happy with their web service, if it does not involve coding and self fulfillment.

All I want is a great pro lab for order fulfillment, and a site that understands ecommerce without making it so very hard for customers to buy. And at a price point somewhere under $400 a year.



Feb 06, 2016 at 03:19 PM
heikoM
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · sell images/prints online


I did not do it.

After your comments here I had my doubts. Then there were problems with my selling site (German one). There was no way to have the site look similar to my website.

In the end I dumbed it.

heiko



Feb 09, 2016 at 02:22 AM
ashton lamont
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · sell images/prints online


I have always had a shopping cart and my experience is as with others - it is in terminal decline. Unless you are VERY pushy e.g. do not provide high resolution files, have viewing sessions instead of online galleries, offer time-limited discounts, distribute contact details to guests at their tables whilst shooting couples, etc a passive gallery is not going to generate much longterm income at all.

However if you offer an inclusive loose print entitlement with a files only package you will often find that extra prints are ordered by the couple with the main print run. Of course this will only work if there is some point in the couple getting prints from you; therefore the print quality must be pro and not the same as they could obtain themselves from high volume high street and online consumer labs. Not all couples take up their inclusive print entitlement whereas others may order a lot more.

Pete



Feb 09, 2016 at 08:06 AM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · sell images/prints online


BSPhotog, I never used Instaproofs but know they have a successful print selling system others endorse. We use Pixieset as it's a far better looking public viewing/download site.


Feb 09, 2016 at 02:28 PM
glort
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · sell images/prints online


skg photos wrote:
Came from Smugmug three years ago, and don't want to go back.


I used to be on the DG forums which is the Smugmut offshoot. I spose it was about 2-3 years ago when they had their big revamp/ price hike.
There seemed to be a LOT of very ticked off people and the response from the owners/ admins/ plebs was sickeningly sweet and glossed over all the problems with more syrupy spin doctoring than a politicians PR guy could ever come near.

I have noticed the forum has completely died in the arse and I have been wondering if that was in direct relationship to the fortunes of the company and it's hosting as well. I would love to ask on the forum if the move was a successful one or something that did go the way everyone at the time was saying but I know I'd get an answer so spin doctored it would make me sea sick without telling me anything at all.

The changes they made were very unpopular but they kept towing the line that people would come around and see their wisdom and they would be taking on the financial might of MS in a year.
I had my doubts but of course saying anything that wasn't in line with smoking the corporate Cool aide got shouted down and the person made out to be an idiot for even questioning their superior wisdom.

I'd love to know how it worked out for them.




Feb 10, 2016 at 02:21 AM
skg photos
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · sell images/prints online


When I left Smugmug, they did an unannounced update that broke all my categories and links and couldnt be fixed fast because so many other huge issues had happened and support couldn't handle it. Their attitude, as you said, was blame, not accepting responsibility for releasing untested updates. So irritating.

I had two weddings to digitally deliver by a certain date, and believe it was in June.
I had no choice but to set up at Zenfolio to keep my contractural obligations to clients. Smugmug had cost me so much time over various issues that I was actually happy to finally find peace at Zen, a site that seemed to work and where the support was much less 'snippy'. Smugness is not exactly a quality most of us are drawn to in a service provider, but SM lived up to their name. And Zenfolio seemed a better fit for my needs.

Until this year. The e commerce has always been awful for both Zenfolio and for smugmug, requiring in -person sales support for even the most tech -savvy clients, but now the site seems down as much as it is up, and only fractions of galleries load at any given moment.
Their status page outright lies, and never shows the reported issues.

They are, lately just full of excuses, but don't seem to really care, catering more to hobbyists than pros.

What was a Zen experience has turned to angst, as people try to order before an expiring glallery and the site is down yet again. I have so many abandoned shopping carts it's crazy!

For over $300 a year, its become pretty horrible service.

But Smugmug was so bad that I'll never give them another dime.

I'd welcome other options or suggestions....Can anyone recommend their host for online galleries? Is anyone happy? this should not be so hard in 2016.

Edited on Feb 10, 2016 at 04:26 PM · View previous versions



Feb 10, 2016 at 09:36 AM
MRomine
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · sell images/prints online


As others have said it continues to decline and has for years now. Although I had one wedding late last year where the grandmother of the bride place an initial order of $1,800.00+ and then a few days later added another order of $250.00 +. She wanted me to make prints for her from photos that she took on her own iPhone. I think this was the largest wedding photo order I've ever gotten from an on-line gallery. Her granddaughter got the digitals in her wedding package.


Feb 10, 2016 at 09:52 AM
Chris Geiger
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · sell images/prints online


I sell only about $1,000 a year in prints from weddings. It used to be much more. People are shooting their own photos at weddings and look at them on their phones. Few people buy prints. I started with smugmug but when they raised their prices, I switched to photocart and did the hosting on my own web server. Once you buy photocart, you don't pay extra for hosting like zen or smugmug.


Feb 11, 2016 at 01:39 AM
ashton lamont
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · sell images/prints online


The reluctance of guests to buy "professional" photos and greatly value their smartphone and tablet pics may in part be explained by the "IKEA Effect", as recently featured on the BBC's highbrow panel quiz show Qi hosted by Stephen Fry.

Its from a study by the Harvard Business School and in summary it states:

In a series of studies in which consumers assembled IKEA boxes, folded origami, and built sets of Legos, we demonstrate and investigate the boundary conditions for what we term the “IKEA effect” – the increase in valuation of self-made products. Participants saw their amateurish creations – of both utilitarian and hedonic products – as similar in value to the creations of experts, and expected others to share their opinions.

Pete



Feb 11, 2016 at 04:09 AM
jmraso
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · sell images/prints online


Most of the images we take at certain moments or stages are far from being wow captures, for example "eh Jaime, can u take a picture with my friends on their table ?", so they all hold hands, hug ... and look at the camera smiling ! Then when I head to another thing I see that people taking their own super quality (and I mean it) smartphone pictures, and I wonder why they called me !

I stopped selling small prints long ago, I just sell big ones where a good and high price is justified !



Feb 11, 2016 at 04:20 AM
BSPhotog
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · sell images/prints online


Chris Geiger wrote:
I sell only about $1,000 a year in prints from weddings. It used to be much more. People are shooting their own photos at weddings and look at them on their phones. Few people buy prints. I started with smugmug but when they raised their prices, I switched to photocart and did the hosting on my own web server. Once you buy photocart, you don't pay extra for hosting like zen or smugmug.


It looks like Photocart is done and no longer being updated. The website links to a new product called "Stylist" for $299 (one time fee, with 1 yr updates) for self-hosted sales. Have you moved to this? If not, does it look any/much different?



Feb 11, 2016 at 02:55 PM
LeeSimms
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · sell images/prints online


I loved Photocart back in the day. Yes — they're essentially done.

For $1000 annual print sales, a free subscription to Pixieset, ShootProof, etc makes more sense.



Feb 11, 2016 at 03:06 PM
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