Client Downloaded proofs

I typically create a viewing gallery online for the client to select finals. Typically they just give me the file numbers, but today, much to my surprise, she picked a bunch of pictures and said " I am attaching the ones I want."

I have right click, save as disabled, so I guess they took the time to take screen shots, crop and save, AT LEAST the 14 images they selected as finals that they want to purchase, if not the whole 100 image session.

I don't know how I feel about this, the proofs are not good quality, low res, and have a huge watermark on them......but now I am thinking......if they are going to do this anyway, maybe I should offer all the proofs, in 400x600 size with the centered watermark on a CD for like 25 dollars or something AFTER the transaction is complete for the finished items. Thoughts?

This is a sample picture from the gallery that they downloaded and resent to me....much more compressed than the original.

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I asked the client how she did this, and she said she just "dragged the images to her desktop" HOLY CRAP, is it that easy even with the right click disabled??

USER876 wrote in post #11229089
I asked the client how she did this, and she said she just "dragged the images to her desktop" HOLY CRAP, is it that easy even with the right click disabled??

Yep. It is THAT easy! If you put it up there, expect it to be stolen.

I always include facebook and web sized files of all ordered images for my clients. Helps to avoid that. And, well, I don't proof online anyway.

You must always expect any image on the web, however displayed, to be taken and printed. That's the minor reason I don't do online selling and also the minor reason I don't put any image at all from a photography session on the web until after the sales session.

It's hard for me to push the in person sales sessions.....they want time to look at them and share them with their friends and family for comments. I did learn my lesson though and only put the gallery up for a week to make them make up their mind sooner. I find the longer it goes, the less motivated they are to cull through 100 pictures to pick 5 10 or 20 finals to purchase.

She is ordering a decent amount, so she didn't steal them to use them.....I asked her how she did it and she told me.....basically she said it was easier to to view them side by side on her desktop to make a decision than navigate through the gallery. My online proofs are not retouched, are small size with a huge watermark on them, so there is not much they can do with them that is useful.

USER876 wrote in post #11228906
.........but now I am thinking......if they are going to do this anyway, maybe I should offer all the proofs, in 400x600 size with the centered watermark on a CD for like 25 dollars or something AFTER the transaction is complete for the finished items. Thoughts?

This is a sample picture from the gallery that they downloaded and resent to me....much more compressed than the original.

If it's online, people will industriously find some way to capture it...... the image may be crappy according to our standards, but the client normally won't care.

You're on track with the concept of offering an 800x600 o 400x600 low rez CD for a modest fee.... that's a good idea and could possibly garner you more customers as word gets around - but that's a bad idea to stamp a watermark right in the middle of the image. The client will feel ripped off that they paid extra for something they can't effectively use.

I offer a high rez disk at extra cost in my economy wedding packages, but they're included in the higher priced wedding packages since I've already built them in. For the low end wedding packages, I'll be happy to include a low rez disk if the client asks - it's identical to the online gallery anyway so no skin off my nose, and the client feels they are receiving additional service at no extra cost. It's a win-win on both sides. - Stu

They don't need to do that. If you have the person who will make the purchasing decision at the sales session, she can certainly make that decision right then.

"Let me think, let me ask" means you've done something wrong in your sales presentation. Your response should be, if that's what you get, is "Showing requires an $XXX.00 deposit."

We have learned that the incentive to purchase photography is highest when the client first sees it. Every time after that the client sees the image without puchasing it, the desire ever to purchase it declines a bit more. A large part of the desire to own the image is to show it--if they've already shown it, they've already satisfied a large part of the desire to own it.

Every time the client takes a look at it on the web, every time the client shows it to a friend or relative, the desire actually to buy it decreases.

What RDKirk just said. If you want to sell your portraits then by all means sell in person, DO NOT OFFER ONLINE VIEWING PEROID!!! And you don't have to be a pushy salesperson to make good money!

You can't really stop this if its on the internet. Just chalk it up to free advertisement.

RDKirk wrote in post #11229724
Every time the client takes a look at it on the web, every time the client shows it to a friend or relative, the desire actually to buy it decreases.

I have never though about this, but it is absolutely true.

you can't stop people from taking the image off the web, even with right click disables - its even as simple as hitting printscreen and pasting that into paint, then cropping out the picture.

You guys make a lot of sense. I will try to push sales sessions, it's just my home is far from a lot of my clients so I would have to travel to them or ask them to meet at the shooting location (which is usually closer to my day job). I guess I can bring a laptop and meet them at a starbucks or panera and go through the pictures. they do ask for gallery's though....then what????

Most of my customers lately are only buying low res files for facebook / dating sites....800 on the long edge. I charge MUCH more for high res files. so to give them a whole disk from the session in low res.....well they may not be retouched, but I would have to charge something considerable to justify them paying me for the 5-6 small files to begin with.