claybruster1

I have two different places set up for online proofing and fulfillment. I used dotphoto.com and photoreflect.com. With photoreflect.com you can download a program for free (Express Digital Web Edition) that is a complete workflow solution. As for prices, well that's pretty wide open and I'm sure you'll get a very wide opinion. I have more markup on my 4 x 6 and 5 x 7 because I can print them so cheap and the orders and low prices come in so low it's not worth my time so I raise my price on them but offer discounts for orders over a certain dollar amount so if they buy many of them they can get them cheaper. I also have a minimum order so I don't end up working for a 7.50 order. My 4 x 6's in most cases are $6.95.

Anyway, there's my opinion.

If you're going to be doing mostly weddings and do enough of them to support it, Pictage.com is an excellent choice. They run specials all the time but they also will offer specials and email your clients for ticklers, provide beautiful custom and standard albums for your images and many other optiions. I believe their rates are about $100 per month.

I use photoreflect.com in combination with the free version of Express Darkroom Web Edition. This version of the software is free and it essentially allows you to set up the website, control it and all the parameters through the Web Edition software and you pick the labs with the print options you want, set up the packages and price them. When an order comes in, you have the opportunity to edit and crop and add text or what ever you need to do on the images that are ordered, then send it to the lab. PhotoReflect collects the money from the client and charges about 18% total with the ecommerce and cc processing fees. They send you the balance after the order has shipped. The lab is charged against a credit card you give them. Keeps all of the process in one location. I like simplicity.

Clay