Sell photos?

[jeffreyh]

I just started my own photography company and am wanting to sell my nature and

wildlife photos online. Does anyone have any recomendations on how to handle

orders?

 

I can build a site myself, but do not know anything about shopping carts and all

of that. Should I do call/email orders, or Paypal? Is there a service out

there that can manage that for me for a small fee (percentage of sales preferably!)?

 

Also, I do not really want to keep stock (due to different sizes, mounting

styles, etc...), rather I would prefer to just have pictures printed as orders

come in. Should I not do this? If I have them printed as they are ordered,

what is a reasonable turn-around time to have them shipped out to the client? I

do not want to have them shipped straight from the lab for several reasons.

 

Should I offer framing, and how many different frame styles, or is that too much

for just starting out selling?

 

Any suggestions and advice would be great!

[steve_levine]

There is probably more money, and a greater public demand (and more potential profits) for a small "lemonade" stand at the end of your driveway.

[William Kahn]

Jeff, you're obviously enthusiastic about your plans and I hate to pop your balloon, but.....Steve is probably right. I've been involved in two websites in the last three years - a stock photo agency which I bailed on after one year, and the art-oriented gallery which I'm in now. I have yet to have a single sale. I get lots of positive comments....but no sales. I've had a lot more success selling framed/unframed prints in real art galleries, craft-gallery restaurants and art/craft shows. You didn't indicate whether you plan on having your own website, and I don't know anything about the success level there. My advice, find a classy restaurant that has art work on the walls for sale, and see if you can get in there. It's a great place to start....

[j._scott_schrader]

You and half the world's population want to do what you are suggesting. It is good that

you are not planning on stocking and monitoring an inventory. In the world today no

matter how good your work is everybody thinks they can do it. I have been successfully

selling my wildlife/landscape work for the past 20 years...Sales have gotten to the point

where it is no longer profitable enough to continue doing it. I am in the process of closing

my wildlife/landscape business...although I will continue to do the commercial stuff

(mostly product work).

 

My dop in sales coincided with the masses purchasing digital cameras and computers to

work over the images. That does not interest me so I am shutting down the business.

 

I would bet my last dollar that the lemonade stand would be more profitable.

[szrimaging]

<p>Jeff,</p>

 

<p>Since no one else actually answered your question, I will. As far as the sales go, you could do it by email/paypal. They email you the order, and you send them a request via paypal. Or Paypal may have an already made solution for instant billing. Not sure. The next method for quick, easy ways to get a store is to buy a pre-made one. There are several out there, just do a google search for it. Otherwise, you could always contract it out.</p>

 

<p>As for stock, this really is tough to answer. Do you print work yourself or send out for it? Do you do limited editions? Are you able to offer high-end framing?</p>

 

<p>That said, art is one of the few categories I find it hard to sell online. A computer screen can't do it justice, so people really want to see it in person.</p>

 

<p>Do you sell your work in any form other than the web?</p>

 

<p>I might suggest, as a method to pull more visitors to the site, is pulling in more artists, kind of like a collective. Build your personal site, then link off to the "collective's" site for sales. Just an idea. One I have been toying with.</p>

 

<p>What ever you decide, good luck.</p>

[conrad_hoffman]

I don't know much about setting up web sites with carts and the like, but wanted to offer a less pessimistic viewpoint than some others. No question that it may be tough, and trying to adapt traditional products and business models to your endeavor will surely lead to failure. The old adage "find a need and fill it" still applies. The answers to your questions will not come from photographers who are having problems. They might come from successful photographers, if you can find any, but they certainly will come from your target market. Since we're not forking over cash for your product, what we think is entirely irrelevant. You need to identify your potential customers and find out exactly what they want, why, what they expect for delivery times, how they want to pay for it, and how they want to receive it. With that information, you can put together some kind of business model. Only then will you know if this will work or not. The hardest lesson I've had to learn in the business world is that people don't want what I want, and their standards aren't my standards. Though it doesn't really cover e-businesses, you should also pick up a copy of a classic book- The E-Myth. Read it and try to apply the philosophy to what you're trying to create.

[bobatkins]

How many photographs have YOU bought in the last year?

 

Divide that by 10 and you'll get the number bought by the average person and a good idea of your potential market.

 

Not that you can't make money - obviously some people do. On the other hand some people are movie stars and some are major league baseball players. Just because something is possible doesn't make it likely.

 

I'd advise not giving up your day job until you actually see some income from photo sales.

[sknowles]

Some excellent advice in the responses. If you're just started your company, all of your

questions should have been addressed in the business plan (lots of on-line resources on

those as they're fairly extensive and comprehensive). If you don't have one, I would suggest

going back and develop one. That's where you think about your audience, customers, and the

company to provide the products and services, including your Website. You may just be

ahead of yourself because that's what the market research is about in the business plan. Have

you talked with other photographers in the area to get their perspective and experience?

Have you talked with photographers at festivals, street fairs, events to get their perspective

and experience? Good luck.

[jim mucklin]

Jeff, you can handle all the work yourself and have them order from you site thru e-mail or you can add a shopping card and handle paypal, credit cards. You can also find a service that will host,print, handle the credit cards, make your photos look crappy and charge you a hefty fee. As Bob and the others have said it's tough just to get noticed via the net, there's a lot of competition out there and the touch factor, me included that wants to see it before I buy it. Framing is a beast to it self, you'll never have the right color,or right color mats and then there's the shipping. I don't want to discourage you and if you would like to contact me off site, I could recomend some mat and framing in the East that I use and my workflow, or you could check out my site.

jimmucklinphotography.com

[debwire]

Have you considered Zazzle.com?

[bruce_tarleton]

Jeff,

 

If you are still interested in a way to sell your photos through a website you have created you may want to check out www.proofbuddy.com . This software is still in the developemental stages but offers you some insight to what its features are. There is a beta going on so you could even try it out.

 

There are many avenues available to you Jeff. I hope you find one that fits your needs.

[dmo_galleries_chicago_phot]

Hi Jeff. I opened <a href="http://www.dmogalleries.com">DMO Galleries</a> online using the Yahoo! small business interface. You can build your site on their platform, and they take care of the shopping carts and sales tax calculations and all that stuff. I find it to be very easy, and it's relatively cheap.

 

I don't keep stock either--it's a pretty big capital investment to spend the money to have inventory sitting around if you're not sure when/if it will sell. I've never had any complaints about turnaround time having the photos processed after they are ordered and shipping them to the customer.

 

Best of luck!

 

Doug Oldham

[qtluong]

Until sales are significant (which, as others have hinted, could be a while), email orders are just OK. If you do not show physically images (such as in galleries or art fairs), there is no need to keep an inventory. With the right approach, it is still possible to make a living with

<a href = "http://www.terragalleria.com/fine-art-prints.html">online print sales</a>, but it's true that it is becoming more difficult.

[plottphoto]

Jeff, a local photographer claims he makes between $150.00 to $400.00 per month in profit using this service: www.exposuremanager.com. But keep in mind, he goes to the events and shots the pictures, then tells potiental clients to go to this site to buy the prints. Once they look at there picture they might buy other work because they like it, I really think that?s the idea...Just like every business in the world, it's how you market it. Please keep in mind, I haven't seen his P&L reports, but I know he is an honest person and a good photographer. Hope it helps, John