Website for Selling Photos

I know this has been discussed many times on POTN, but it's been awhile and I'm sure options have changed. I'm an aviation photographer. I love taking the photos, I tolerate editing them, but absolutely hate printing them, framing them, etc.

For now I use Fine Art America. I like the fact I can upload a customer's photos and they can get exactly what they want without going through me. I make money just for doing the shoot, so I'm not trying to gouge the pilots, just give them an option to get what they want without a lot of work from me. This is where FAA excels, but they sell odd sized prints so you're forced to buy their frames. For example, one of my favorite sized prints is 12x18... you can buy a 13.375x20 from FAA. Not good. Also I hate that I can't limit what I sell. I don't want to offer tote bags, bed spreads, shower curtains, etc. Honestly, this is embarrassing.

Is there another website I can use that offers me a store front, where the customer can pick a print, get it framed and shipped to them without input from me? Of course I want great quality prints. Maybe I'm asking too much!

Here is what I have now. Please feel free to buy a throw pillow if you want! My Store

I use Smugmug. It's pretty good with "hands off" stuff. There are a couple different labs you can choose when you want to sell your prints. I use Bayphoto, which worked well because I was already using them before my site. You can also set it up so that some type of your "signature" ends up on the prints and they will be sent to whomever ordered them, you don't have to deal with it.

Zenfolio, but it's not free.

So SmugMug seems to just be for photos. I want the customer to have the ability to order photos, have them framed, etc. It appears Zenfolio allows me to do this. Does it let me choose what to sell? For example, I don't want to sell shower curtains or pillow cases. Can I choose the options I want the customer to see?

Pixieset

Thanks, I will check them out today.

Flynlow wrote in post #18511028
So SmugMug seems to just be for photos. I want the customer to have the ability to order photos, have them framed, etc. It appears Zenfolio allows me to do this. Does it let me choose what to sell? For example, I don't want to sell shower curtains or pillow cases. Can I choose the options I want the customer to see?

I have my Smugmug website linked to Bayphoto & people can order whatever Bayphoto offers (including framed prints). You can make adjustments that control what items they can/cannot buy.

Flynlow wrote in post #18511028
So SmugMug seems to just be for photos. I want the customer to have the ability to order photos, have them framed, etc. It appears Zenfolio allows me to do this. Does it let me choose what to sell? For example, I don't want to sell shower curtains or pillow cases. Can I choose the options I want the customer to see?

You can set it up to only sell what items you want to offer.

Smugmug itself offers the client prints (standard sizes, and their color profiles aren't bad), books, wall art (metal or canvas), "keepsakes" (mugs, mousepads, magnets, stickers, even aprons), and phone cases. Only thing that may be missing is frames: but people are more likely to want to shop for their own frames if hanging a print or two on their wall. I like smugmug because it's easy to customize and make your website it's own style.

Great info. I've read through their website and wasn't sure. This sounds like everything I need. I simply want the ability to be hands-off after taking the photo. This is not a full-time job for me, so once I've taken the photos, I want them to be able to order anything they want. I frame my own photos for my house, but find a lot of people just want to click on what they want and have it show up.

I actually like the look of Fine Art America's website and what it does. I just don't like the fact that they make me sell things I don't want to offer, and their photo sizes are odd. This makes it really hard for someone to get a print, then go find an off-the-shelf frame.

Just to add a +1 vote for Smugmug. They have a deep catalog and lots of customizability, including pricing and formats of products (ie. only "classic" formats like 8x10 and 8x12, instead of "digital" formats for weirdly-sized sensors).