Gallery system to allow people to buy prints?
Discussion
Looking for some suggestions on either software to integrate into our current website or a fully hosted solution where we can allow customers to browse a gallery of photos and then have options on each photo to purchase from a range of sizes?
We're shooting an event as a company in May and want guests to be able to view the images we take and purchase what they want online. We don't require a tagged on printing service as we do all this ourselves. We just want a gallery with options on each print for people to buy there and then which then sends us an email with the details and we dispatch out to the customer.
Fully hosted would be better from my perspective but would look at integrating if it was going to be the better option.
Any suggestions? The only places I've found (smug mug etc) either seem to want to do everything for you (printing etc.) or charge a fortune to get any kind of customisation.
Thanks!
We're shooting an event as a company in May and want guests to be able to view the images we take and purchase what they want online. We don't require a tagged on printing service as we do all this ourselves. We just want a gallery with options on each print for people to buy there and then which then sends us an email with the details and we dispatch out to the customer.
Fully hosted would be better from my perspective but would look at integrating if it was going to be the better option.
Any suggestions? The only places I've found (smug mug etc) either seem to want to do everything for you (printing etc.) or charge a fortune to get any kind of customisation.
Thanks!
Photobox is who I am currently using, upload photos, can have them watermarked automatically (watermark isn't on final image) and the clients can pick a range of products, you can chose how much to charge and what products are available. Cost price and 10% of your profit is what they take.
GetCarter said:
Your Postcards are a bit pricy Steve. Also .... how often to you appear in public as Sophia Williams?
LongQ said:
GetCarter said:
Your Postcards are a bit pricy Steve. Also .... how often to you appear in public as Sophia Williams?
Oh and WhoTF is Sophia Williams? (I'm sure I'll regret asking that)
LongQ said:
GetCarter said:
Your Postcards are a bit pricy Steve. Also .... how often to you appear in public as Sophia Williams?
GetCarter said:
LongQ said:
GetCarter said:
Your Postcards are a bit pricy Steve. Also .... how often to you appear in public as Sophia Williams?
Oh and WhoTF is Sophia Williams? (I'm sure I'll regret asking that)
50's a heck of a lot for a single image no matter how fabulous they are - can you get mixed packs?
On the other hand I'm sure the Post Office would be delighted with the volume of business were they to be popped in the post ....
LongQ said:
GetCarter said:
LongQ said:
GetCarter said:
Your Postcards are a bit pricy Steve. Also .... how often to you appear in public as Sophia Williams?
Oh and WhoTF is Sophia Williams? (I'm sure I'll regret asking that)
50's a heck of a lot for a single image no matter how fabulous they are - can you get mixed packs?
On the other hand I'm sure the Post Office would be delighted with the volume of business were they to be popped in the post ....
Will click on Chic with trepidation!
marctwo said:
The Photobox solution is hosted by them. Is there anything that can be used on a separately hosted site?
Unless one sets up one's own 'add to basket', I'm not quite sure why you would not want a separately hosted site?I have my own domain and website, but all the orders and printing are dealt with elsewhere... I just get the money.
..or am I missing something?
Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 18th March 14:31
GetCarter said:
Unless one sets up one's own 'add to basket', I'm not quite sure why you would not want a separate;y hosted site?
I have my own domain and website, but all the orders and printing are dealt with elsewhere... I just get the money.
..or am I missing something?
Maybe it's me that is missing something? From what I can see you simply put a link on your site that re-directs to the external site to choose and order? And it seems very obvious that they have been re-directed and that the gallery site is not part your own site?I have my own domain and website, but all the orders and printing are dealt with elsewhere... I just get the money.
..or am I missing something?
I'm talking about something that allows all the ordering, payment, printing and shipping to be taken care of by an external company but the user just sees everything as part of your site. Does that exist?
marctwo said:
The Photobox solution is hosted by them. Is there anything that can be used on a separately hosted site?
I think many of the early developments have not closed down or gone on line for lower costs.A quick Google turned up a load of stuff that doesn't fit your spec but perhaps the odd one that does?
http://www.lightstalkers.org/resources/lightbox-ph...
I know nothing about it but it seems to offer the features you seek so may be worth a look.
marctwo said:
GetCarter said:
Unless one sets up one's own 'add to basket', I'm not quite sure why you would not want a separate;y hosted site?
I have my own domain and website, but all the orders and printing are dealt with elsewhere... I just get the money.
..or am I missing something?
Maybe it's me that is missing something? From what I can see you simply put a link on your site that re-directs to the external site to choose and order? And it seems very obvious that they have been re-directed and that the gallery site is not part your own site?I have my own domain and website, but all the orders and printing are dealt with elsewhere... I just get the money.
..or am I missing something?
I'm talking about something that allows all the ordering, payment, printing and shipping to be taken care of by an external company but the user just sees everything as part of your site. Does that exist?
Not sure what advantage you would get. Nobody has ever not ordered from me as I didn't print myself. Most people understand the concept of 'print on demand' these days.
Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 18th March 14:47
GetCarter said:
Ah, Okay. You can host via Zenfolio (and others) and order from them, so it *looks* like it's your site... but it ain't. As I say - if you are prepared to print yourself, it's easy. Just get an eBay / PayPal thing going and you can order or print from wherever and do all the 'stuff' yourself.
Not sure what advantage you would get. Nobody has ever not ordered from me as I didn't print myself. Most people understand the concept of 'print on demand' these days.
Thanks. Zenfolio looks to be the closest match, thank you.Not sure what advantage you would get. Nobody has ever not ordered from me as I didn't print myself. Most people understand the concept of 'print on demand' these days.
Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 18th March 14:47
My girlfriend uses zenfolio for her photography business and it works a treat. Very easy to set up and use. I set up her domain and the forwarding so it now looks as though it is entirely her site, very few references to zenfolio on it until you get to the cart/ordering side of things and even then it's branded correctly just with a different URL.
I think the same will be the case for most other hosted options. Suspect if you were to get a proper ecommerce site set up you could do away with the 3rd party branding but it probably won't be cheap.
An alternative to the hosted options is a wordpress site with a photography theme and some ecommerce plugins, but they will be time-consuming to set up and maintain which is why we skipped them even though I've used wordpress in the past.
I think the same will be the case for most other hosted options. Suspect if you were to get a proper ecommerce site set up you could do away with the 3rd party branding but it probably won't be cheap.
An alternative to the hosted options is a wordpress site with a photography theme and some ecommerce plugins, but they will be time-consuming to set up and maintain which is why we skipped them even though I've used wordpress in the past.
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