Selling photos online. Not prints, but digital copies.

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dtype - 04 Apr 2006 01:04 GMT

Hi all, this group has been quite helpful so far, so I thought I'd ping
the group expertise yet again.

I'm interested in posting some picture galleries online, but want to
sell the digital files, not prints. Do any of the reputable services
offer such a thing?

I've looked at smugmug & shutterfly, and see only the ability to sell
prints.

istockphoto & dreamstime put you into a group pool, but don't allow you
to set your own pricing on galleries (from what I can tell). Otherwise
the model for these sites is exactly what I'm looking for, at a
personal/custom level.

Having prints available is good, but what I _really_ want is for a
customer to pay, and be able to download the full res image, much like
with istockphoto/etc, but managed by me as a personal gallery. Even
better would be if this site allowed a customer to manage a digital
locker of sorts. I assume such a site would just work from a percentage
of the revenue, with perhaps some annual fee.

Any recommendations? Have I missed a service from one of the stock
photo sites perhaps?

-drew

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Frank ess - 04 Apr 2006 01:30 GMT

> Hi all, this group has been quite helpful so far, so I thought I'd
> ping the group expertise yet again.
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
> -drew

I've sold a few "files" through FotoTime: I park the "proofs" in an
album and the "printables" in another. We haggle over price and
resolution, once there is agreement and PayPal or whatevr, I put the
purchased file up and send the URL of the appropriate album to the
buyer. Fototime counts album accesses, I take the files down (move
them to a storage album) after a stated interval has passed. My volume
is low enough I don't mind minding the store. Might be a hassle for
others.

Alternatively, FotoTime talks about a plan where you set your price,
the buyer orders prints (made by printclub, I think) and FotoTime pays
you the difference in $25 increments as they accrue. I've not used
this scheme. Fototime.com

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Frank ess

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Frank ess - 04 Apr 2006 03:27 GMT

>> Hi all, this group has been quite helpful so far, so I thought I'd
>> ping the group expertise yet again.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>> services
>> offer such a thing?

<snip>

>> -drew
>
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Alternatively, FotoTime talks about a plan where you set your price,
> the buyer orders prints (made by printclub,

That would be ClubPhoto

I think) and FotoTime pays

> you the difference in $25 increments as they accrue. I've not used
> this scheme. Fototime.com

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dtype - 04 Apr 2006 03:44 GMT

> Alternatively, FotoTime talks about a plan where you set your price,
> the buyer orders prints (made by printclub, I think) and FotoTime pays
> you the difference in $25 increments as they accrue. I've not used
> this scheme. Fototime.com

Yeah, unfortunately this gets back to the prints thing, and I'm
interested in selling files, not prints.

As for your manual method, this works, but I'm hoping that someone
offers the service to make it a bit easier for me, so I don't have to
manage credit card transactions, digital lockers, manual labor for each
sale, etc.

-drew

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Paul Furman - 04 Apr 2006 05:45 GMT

>>Alternatively, FotoTime talks about a plan where you set your price,
>>the buyer orders prints (made by printclub, I think) and FotoTime pays
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> manage credit card transactions, digital lockers, manual labor for each
> sale, etc.

So the stock agencies don't let you set the price? Is that the problem?
It seems like those are the place to go because that's where
professionals go to get stuff.

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Rob M - 04 Apr 2006 07:24 GMT

Try having a look at www.theimagefile.com

I have spoken to them and intend to join now that I am building a library of
saleable pics

Rob M

> Hi all, this group has been quite helpful so far, so I thought I'd ping
> the group expertise yet again.
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>
> -drew

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Gisle Hannemyr - 05 Apr 2006 09:28 GMT

> I'm interested in posting some picture galleries online, but want to
> sell the digital files, not prints. Do any of the reputable services
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> the model for these sites is exactly what I'm looking for, at a
> personal/custom level.

ImageVortex (www.imagevortex.com) lets you set your own price.
They, however, handle the business side of things, and pays you
70% of the preceeds. I don't know if this covers what you're
after.

(Byw.: I've no affliation with ImageVortex, and I've never used
their services.)

> Even better would be if this site allowed a customer to manage a
> digital locker of sorts. I assume such a site would just work from
> a percentage of the revenue, with perhaps some annual fee.

I've seen several fee based "stock agencies". I didn't save the
links, so I can't tell you where they are, but they do exist.

IMHO, these are mostly scams. They do nothing to attract a buying
public to your galleries/digital locker, so in most cases, the sale
of files will not even cover the hosting fee.

If I were looking for a stock agency, I would pick one with a strict
editorial standards (so my stuff would probably be rejected).
Buyers do not waste time wading through galleries that for the most
part contains junk.

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- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://hannemyr.com/photo/ ]
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