Sports Shooting and Web Ordering

[PhotoJourno]

I have been taking pics at each game of our Regional Little League of Baseball, and have gathered about 100-120 decent shots from each game. Half are action shots involving different kids, and the other half is of each kid batting, and somewhere in the field. Season is about to close, and parents are starting to get really anxious to get photos of their kids playing Bball.
The last photographer that did this, apparently printed a bunch of 5x7s and sorted them in zip-lock bags per team, and then at closing day he set up a booth and simply had parents go through and buy whichever they wanted.
My problem with this, is the overhead cost compared to whatever may or may not sell (it's my first year doing it, so I am not sure what percentage of printed images would sell).
So I decided to post the pics per game and or team in the web, and try to set up a system where the parents write down the photo number, and then email me with their request, whether for printed or emailed format.
Is there a 'Photobucket' type site where I can simply upload images and have someone else take care of the ordering for me?... Otherwise, I can have an email template (html page) where they write down what they want, and then I can process each order personally).
I am really not sure how to take care of this whole issue.
The other question would be in regards to the value of a -say, for instance- 5x7 print vs. an emailed version of the photograph (that can be high-mid resolution, from the original 6mpxl jpg, to the 5x7 equivalent in electronic format).
Thanks for posting your comments on these two issues. Last Game's pics are at http://www.gravina-productions.net/MJ-Gravina/national-pirates/index.htm .

Cheers,

[Mike Panic]

contact your local lab to see if they offer some sort of online pro hosted solution, if you can't find one, shoot me a PM and ill get you info for where i work, as we do offer it.

your other option would be buying software outright like www.picturespro.com and taking care of hosting and everything yourself.

the software my company uses would allow you to sort by team and all that fun stuff, if thats what you are looking to do, and you don't need a domain name (it does help though)

[subtle_spectre]

See this thread: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=138432&highlight=printroom

[PhotoJourno]

Thanks for the link to that post. I have browsed quite a few websites, and found out that www.ClickImage.com (myphotographer.com) is the best option, they only take about 13% of the sales, and direct deposit the rest on a daily basis to my checking account, which is exactly what I needed. Now, instead of having to worry about web mastering, I can just clean up my rig and then go out to take some good action shots.
Thanks everyone for your constructive comments, this forum is the best source of information for Canon/Photo junkies, such as truly yours.

[Mowman]

you could also check out www.photoreflect.com (http://www.photoreflect.com) I do not use it personally, but one of the local sports photographers uses it for all of his sales.

[sf_1857]

My understanding is that photoreflect.com only does the order fulfillment, not the printing. You have to hook up with a lab through Labtricity, or do it on your own.

I'm in the same boat, trying to decide what online service to use.
I've been posting game shots on shutterfly.com then pointing parents to that site but I only want to handle poster orders locally and have prints (up to 8x10) handled totally by an online service.

Looks like printroom charges quite a bit for the prints but it may be worth it. I'll look into www.clickimage.com (myphotographer.com (http://www.clickimage.com (myphotographer.com)).

www.samuelfowler.com (http://www.samuelfowler.com)

[jimbolowe]

See www.exposuremanager.com
They do a pretty good job and you can choose between an their outside lab for prints or you can have them printed at your local lab (selful fillment feature).

[freeflydrew]

i just signed up for smugmug pro... seems like a good enough outfit

[_andrew]

Is there one available in Australia? I cannot find anything at the moment and that would make things alot easier. Currently I am getting my website together and I am thinking of linking the gallery directly to my photo's on that website.

I could do all the orders myself but then there will be issue's in setting up a system to handle credit cards and so on.

[Mercy299]

Check out www.eventpictures.com They make it pretty simple, not sure about the prices though.

[sf_1857]

I'm going with www.printroom.com (http://www.printroom.com/). Got tired of researching.
I like that fact that you only upload thumbnails, then if an order is made, the larger files are uploaded.

Also has "no right click" security and other cool features.

[song4themoon]

How about invest in only a proof book to have a sample of all the pics and create a order form. The parents can look at the small images in the book and order from there. Those books are only a few bucks..

Here for example .. something simple, just to show http://favorsngifts.com/c=1HYOekLHrbrQRPTNyY7YfUpXF/product/WNL226543

[fisher104]

A sports photographer near me prints sample pages (maybe 16 pics/page) on plain paper with a number and parents that are interested can ask to see the pic on a monitor. He then takes an order and prints the pics. This involves very little waste and doesn't rely on parents going home, remembering the site, and ordering. It also catches impulse buys.
Good luck.