Help me select a business website for sports

[HuskiesD1]

I plan on growing an already existing youth sports photography business this fall.

I like my SmugMug site. Good layout, photos look good, its pretty quick, and reasonably priced.

But, I have some problems

First, I don't like the fact that they pay once a month.

The following I could live with, but would rather try something else:
Unless there is something I missed, customers have to click a small "Buy Photo" to bring up the cart menu. I would prefer to make it really, really obvious that sales are possible.

I would also like a self-fulfillment option - I'm picky about enlargements.

Again SmugMug is excellent, just a couple problems I hope I can solve.

Thanks!

[Dennis_Hammer]

Well I use exposuremanager. They also pay once a month but when you view a photo the price menu is right there next to the picture. They also have a self fullfillment option and a huge variety of products including metallic prints which are fantastic for sports. You can customize the galleries to match your website and if you do use their shipping the package looks like it came from you.

heres a referral link

http://www.exposuremanager.com/aff/hammerphotos

[bobbyz]

Feature wise Exposure manager is best. Looks a little old so if you don't mind that I would give EM a try.

BTW - I have zenfolio Pro after I moved from SmugMug. It does offer Self Fulfilment but pain (IMHO) is that you have to collect money from your client and you still get charged 6%. I wish Zenfolio collected money and I did the ful-fillment.

[Mike R]

I have used Exposure Manager for a year now. They offer you everything that you require.

[Gatorboy]

I highly recommend Photo Cart (http://www.picturespro.com/pages/photography_shopping_cart/).

[copr33]

I vote for exposure manager. Been with them for over two years.

[Gatorboy]

Ugh! I just looked at Exposure Manager -- You've got to pay a yearly fee PLUS commissions on your orders? This is no different than Smugmug, Photoreflect and the rest.

This makes Photo Cart much more appealing. Pay a one-time fee for the software, and run it on your OWN web space. No additional fees, or commissions -- plus all upgrades are free.

[Mike R]

Ugh! I just looked at Exposure Manager -- You've got to pay a yearly fee PLUS commissions on your orders? This is no different than Smugmug, Photoreflect and the rest.

This makes Photo Cart much more appealing. Pay a one-time fee for the software, and run it on your OWN web space. No additional fees, or commissions -- plus all upgrades are free.

The yearly fee for EM is $99. The commission is 10%. I feel that I get a lot for the 10%. I don't have have additional credit card fees or monthly bank fees.

Another thing they do is ship direct to my customer with my branding along with sending emails to them when the order is processed and then when shipped. What all this means is that I'm paying a little for convenience.

I really don't think they should be compared to Smugmug. I don't know enough about Photoreflect to say.

You do have a nice well organized, easy to navigate site.

[amfoto1]

Hi,

I've been using Printroom.com for nearly three years and it works well for me. It's geared for pros selling photos.

But, I think most sites - and can tell you that Printroom is one - pay out your profits once a month. I think I've heard of some sites that don't pay out until you've achieved a certain total, which might mean payment less than monthly. Printroom sends me a check every month, no matter the amount.

Printroom costs me $99 a year plus a small percentage of ongoing sales. There's a free intro membership level, as well as a $199 a year membership with more features that I personally don't need.

We used SmugMug in the past and had some issues. I understand they have improved a lot since then, though.

One key reason I like Printroom is that they are local to me and most of my customers. This means my customers essentially get overnight shipping without paying for it.

They also have a huge selection of products, including metallic prints. Their specialty items (mugs, coasters, mouse pads, etc.) are a little pricey, I think that might be because they out-source them. Print prices, though, are right in there with most online services.

Email communication is excellent. I have about 100 galleries with probably close to 10,000 thumbnail images up, and have used only about 1/3 of my space allocation under the basic plan (and can add more if needed for s one time charge).

They now offer event-specific galleries. These are linked to the event, rather than the photographer. We are experimenting with one right now, to see how well it works out.

Also, as far as I know, Printroom is the only licensed user of automated number recognition applications for sports photography. I don't use it myself, but can see where it would be very useful for quickly handling certain types of sports photos en masse. Last I heard, a couple other sites were using it in violation of some guy's patent and were in lawsuits over it. Printroom worked out an arrangement to use it and is licensed. There's a bit of additional cost to using it, that's apparently passed along to the customer.

Support is also excellent for us paying "pro" members... I haven't had to use it, but it's very nice to have the name of a person, their direct email and phone number, and those of their supervisor, should it ever be needed. Questions I've submitted by email have been very promptly answered.

Shop around, it's a competitive world! Get sample prints made and sent to you. Etc.

[Chip Andrews]

I have been using orderpicture.com for about 4 months. No fees & they take 12%. It was the easiest way to get started while trying to keep my costs down. I have been very happy with them so far. Quality of the prints & products have been great.

[eigga]

Photobiz.com is the answer