STICKY: How to photograph a high school Senior

mtimber wrote in post #14703741
Smugmug deal with the backend for £120.00 a year...

That is dirt cheap and excellent value...

Except that they take 15% of your net profit.

Dave Jr wrote in post #14703813
Except that they take 15% of your net profit.

You can setup where you fulfill the order. I think then % is less like 5-6% could be wrong.

bobbyz wrote in post #14703827
You can setup where you fulfill the order. I think then % is less like 5-6% could be wrong.

It's 15% of the net no matter which lab you use (of theirs), as far as I know.

Not only that, but the WHCC base pricing through smug is much higher than what you pay through WHCC directly, so it's a double whammy.

I just got home from tonights portrait and I learned yet another lesson. Dont just pay attention to what your client is wearing in each frame, pay attention to what you are wearing, my shirt was inside out. I was wondering why the couple infront of me at bestbuy was looking at me strangely, but then again most people do.

Ha! That is awesome.

jerefish wrote in post #14704508
Ha! That is awesome.

In the mirror it looked fine, however from the back the tag is a bit obvious, I doubt the mother didn't notice since she was behind me for most of the shoot. Although they didnt react unusual.

Mental note, buy reversible shirts with no tags.

I use Photobiz

As far as im concerned its the only way to go. Costs me $70.00 per month and i host 2 sites, wedding and senior/family sites. They take less than 2% for credit cards on their part. All orders come to me and I pay NOTHING else. Smug and everyone else is 15%..that 15% ads up when you start to get busy..no thanks. 15% of 5000.00 is $750.00 right of the profit line...no thanks....15000.oo in product sales less 15% is $2250.00 from my pocket. my total costs for photobiz is 840.00 per yr and their merchant services are cheaper than my bank

By the time you factor albums and other products that we sell......im giving too much back to them,,,,,,no way am i giving 15% of my profit to a web host company......thats why they are in business,,,,,they take your $$$$,,,,,,do the math

Mike, do you do all your picture sales from the website? I plan to only do secondary from there and if I dont get 5000 in additional sales from an 8x10 here a 5x7 there then it would have been cheaper to use smugmug than photobiz which is a flat rate per month plus 2%. for more complex things like albums I would make them come to the studio since thats all custom and it would be hard to explain on an online ordering form.

Dave Jr wrote in post #14703859
It's 15% of the net no matter which lab you use (of theirs), as far as I know.

Not only that, but the WHCC base pricing through smug is much higher than what you pay through WHCC directly, so it's a double whammy.

Did't know that.

GerryDavid,

Cheapest solution is your own cart but it might require some getting to know. But if you doing things Sal way where you get them to select images with you then why do you need images to be ordred through SM/Zen?

It seems photobiz has cheaper monthly rate for smaller number of images.

bobbyz wrote in post #14704752
GerryDavid,

Cheapest solution is your own cart but it might require some getting to know. But if you doing things Sal way where you get them to select images with you then why do you need images to be ordred through SM/Zen?

It seems photobiz has cheaper monthly rate for smaller number of images.

For their friends and family to order from. I dont really want to drive to the studio half an hour each way to meet them in person to sell an 8x10 for $40 during a busy week when I should be working on other things.

Mike - I went to the link to your site but when you click on ordering, other things, they all go to photobiz. Branding wise nice to have everything look like it coming from your main site, there shouldn't be mention of others site.

GerryDavid wrote in post #14704779
For their friends and family to order from. I dont really want to drive to the studio half an hour each way to meet them in person to sell an 8x10 for $40 during a busy week when I should be working on other things.

Mark them up by atleast 25% so you don't care for the 15% fees.

sevillafox wrote in post #14703563
I've had feedback in the form of the high school hall rumor mill. All the kids came up to me one day and were shocked I had a $3500 package and were commenting on how expensive I am.

I can see how that could impact your business. We all know how information gets lost in translation. Before you know it people will start thinking the lowest-priced package is $3500 and could end up going to the competition.

5DmkX wrote in post #14701288
Nice set, I really like them! Now this brings up a question I'm always asking myself, in #1 she has what looks like an insect bite on her right upper chest on on her right thigh. Same in #2 -- is that something most would try to remove, or do you leave it as is?

Tom

Thanks Tom! I'll clone it out.