Business Decisions: Selling photos online
I’ve been investigating ways of selling photos online. One of the sites that has been suggested to me was Photo Reflect. I went to the site, downloaded their custom software called Xpress Digital Darkroom Web Edition 8.9. I must say that my experience with this software has caused me to look elsewhere. Further, their customer support seems lacking. Searching for information using Google, you’ll see that others have had similar experiences. Lastly, even though I am not a Mac user, they are not Mac friendly. They have a plugin available for Aperture, but that means to use Photo Reflect, you’d have to spend several hundred $$$ additional, just to use them. There are alternatives.
Photo Reflect’s pricing structure seems very amenable to lower volume sales and to those who are just getting started. They charge a flat 18% fee on each sale with no monthly fee. Here’s why I don’t like it, so far.
In the brief 3 days that I’ve had the software:
- It crashes nearly every time I use it, sometimes for no apparent reason
- My images come up looking like negatives in the thumbnail view, but they do display correctly in the full sized view.
- There is not a way to create subdirectories. I plan to shoot lots of sporting events, sometimes tournaments lasting a couple of days. I’d like to have a structure like: Hardees Basketball Tournament -> 2/1/2008 -> Kings vs. Celtics, etc.
- My request for assistance with the crashes and thumbnails still remains open. There has been no response
- Sometimes, the website is very unresponsive. It may take minutes for a page to load. Not good!
I’ve investigated several alternatives, one of which seems to keep getting recommended in various forums, Exposure Manager.
Exposure Manager
People really seem to like Exposure Manager. Exposure Manager’s pricing structure is $99.95/year + 10% of sales. Of course, this is a little more expensive, since you have a fixed cost, than Photo Reflect’s. However, a little bit of math will indicate that once you get past $1,249.38 for the year, or about $104 in gross sales/month, you start making more money with Exposure Manager.
Break Even = $99.95 / (.18 – .10). We just need to know, based on the difference, how much money is needed to cover the $99.95 yearly fee.
Though I have not tried it, it appears that the EM is fully customizable, allowing you to fully integrate it into your site, giving a nearly seamless appearance.
More Photos
By far, though, the best that I’ve seen so far has been More Photos! Wow! That is a professional outfit from the looks of it. Have a look at the demo! It is also the most expensive on monthly basis, charging a $200 setup fee and a minimum of $49/month based on the number of images uploaded. The $49 includes up to 2,500 images (peak). The break even point, as compared to Photo Reflect comes rather quickly as More Photos does not charge a commission fee.
Break Even = $49/.18 = 272.22 after the first year. So, if you sell more than about $273 photos/month, you make more money with More Photos. This might be a consideration when I get rolling along. Right now, in the early stages, having fewer fixed costs is ideal. Later, after things really get rolling, I could see a switch, possibly, unless I was supremely satisfied with EM. Note: The first year break even sales required is $364.82, due to amortization of the $200 setup fee over the first 12 months.
Roll Your Own:
Lastly, there is the roll-your-own method. Although I am a software developer, at this time, I have no desire to roll my own.
All of the services collect payments and send you a monthly check when you have at least about $20 coming.
Summary:
All 3 do the same things, allow you to sell photos online.
Photo Reflect’s software and customer service is flaky.
Sales < $100/month, Photo Reflect is the least expensive.
Sales > $100/month and less than $275/month, EM gets the nod.
Sales > $ 275/month, More Photos seems to be the better deal.
So, have I missed anything? Anyone care to chime in with their experiences/advice in selling photos onilne? Any other place that I should look?
Paul,
Great post, as usual!
I’ve never had experience with the “canned” photos online systems, so I cannot comment on those…
However, there is an important axiom that needs to be mentioned here:
“If you build it, They probably won’t come…”
Unlike the movie, Field of Dreams”, If you build a website (and I suspect this may be partially true of the “canned” sites), you simply cannot rely on this as your sole marketing method – you will starve…Art online does not sell well by itself – this is backed up by statistical surveys – It is second-to-last behind buying furniture online….
In my experience, The ONLY way to use a website for selling photos, be it “canned” or one you’ve put together yourself, is to funnel potential buyers to your website…Think of your website as a “market presence” rather than as a “sales channel”…
A good example of this is the way one of my clients, Aaron Chang (A client of mine for over 20 years), sells prints… He is one of the premiere surf photographers in the world, and even has his own line of clothing…He FUNNELS people to his website after exposing them to his work at trade shows, email marketing, galleries, brochures and so on…
Here’s his gallery website – - <a href=”http://www.aaronchanggallery.com/”
BTW, Aaron has it set up so he never actually sees the print that I make and send to his client – - He receives the order and payment from the client via email, sends me the order, then I make the print, drop-ship it for him, and charge him for the print, shipping and my time…
Now, granted, not everyone can afford this (I think this is where your “canned” sites would be great!), or is as “famous” as Aaron, but you can learn from the “big boys” how to make it work for you – - Funnel people to your website after initial contact at galleries, trade shows, art festivals, brochures, etc…
I hope this helps…
Thanks again, Paul, for an excellent post
Cheers,
John
John, that’s exactly what I intend to do is ‘funnel’ people my way. I plan to be a various events, like sporting events, etc. and handing out business cards like crazy. I also plan to have posters in strategic locations, as well as business cards so that everyone can get one and come to my website.
Certainly, you’d starve to death waiting for someone to find you among the billions of websites!
Paul – I may be mistaken, but doesn’t SmugMug offer a selling option? I have seen a few photogs with their work there with buying options. I don’t know if you are after something where you just need the vehicle to sell them, or need someone to handle selling them for you.
Thanks, Mark. After having a look at the professional version of SmugMug, which is the only place that you can do sales, I have decided to try their 14 day free trial. SmugMug looks very impressive and they have lots of clear, concise documentation as well as some cool drag and drop upload tools for files. It is 50% more expensive than Exposure Manager ($99.95/year + 15%) vs. $149.95/year + 15%, but the look is far more professional and easier to configure as well as the number of options available to customize the site.
Paul, you can’t beat the customer service at Smugmug. They would amaze you in that department. The tools for customization are powerful. I wish I were clever enough to fully exploit them at my site. You, on the other hand, would do wonders with a site there. I like their prints–they provide you with a profile–and they are constantly upgrading all the features. Uploading is a breeze. They are extremely helpful with color matching prints, etc. Good luck with the trial run.
Paul, You may also want to take a look at Zenfolio (zenfolio.com). They seem to do a great job of presenting photo’s and have custom tools for individual photo sales.
I set up a trial at smugmug a week ago. The service so far is really great and I am able to make some great customizations.
Guess it all depends on how you want to do things. I use Imagequix and love it. The best part is you can have it set up through a lab so they do it all (and you get your profits etc.) or you can have it so money goes to you and you deal with the prints. Check it out. I’m a big fan.
Thanks, P.J. I’ll have a look at Imagequix. I rather like their pricing model better than SmugMug. I’ll have to do an evaluation on this one as well!