UK printing

mdjgclmdjgcl Registered Users Posts: 29 Big grins
edited September 6, 2012 in SmugMug Support
I live in Canada and have a mother in the UK. Trying to have some wedding prints done in the UK using my North America based SM account. I see we can choose the currency we want to pay with in the shopping cart but only US printing options are displayed. I was hoping to be able to have them printed and shipped from the UK. Anyone know if this is possible?

Thanks

Mark

Comments

  • grannyrobingrannyrobin Registered Users Posts: 134 Major grins
    edited September 3, 2012
    If you have a business level account, you can set a price list and choose Loxley Colour in Scotland as the lab.

    If not, our labs ship all over the world - including the U.K.

    -Robin
  • johnlogukjohnloguk Registered Users Posts: 137 Major grins
    edited September 4, 2012
    OK, can we only select one lab to do our printing?

    I might sound naive but I'd assumed that once we had a British printer all orders from within the UK would be printed there to save customers high shipping costs from the US. I'm in the UK, most of my sales over the years are from the US, but I always assumed that was because UK customers didn't want to pay for a US printer. Consequently I always encouraged UK customers to deal with me direct if they wanted prints.

    If we have to choose just one printer for all orders this is madness. I'm sorry to appear dumb, but please lead me through this.
  • rainforest1155rainforest1155 Registered Users Posts: 4,566 Major grins
    edited September 4, 2012
    Basic and Power level only offer EZPrints. The Portfolio level includes EZPrints, BayPhoto and WHCC (getting Loxley support added is being worked on). At the Business level, you have all our labs.

    Selecting the lab on the Portfolio level is done via a site-wide setting in the account settings > me > printing section. In addition, you can override the site-wide setting via the gallery settings of any gallery.

    On the Business account selecting a lab works the same way as it was with the Pro account level - you can create pricelists and when creating a pricelist, you pick the lab for it. All details on pricing on the Business level can be found here.

    It's not possible to offer the same gallery via different labs at this point. If you wanted to offer photos to customers from the US and Europe and make use of a lab close to them, you could only do that by creating and uploading separate galleries and set up the lab of your choice in the different galleries.
    Sebastian
    SmugMug Support Hero
  • johnlogukjohnloguk Registered Users Posts: 137 Major grins
    edited September 5, 2012
    Basic and Power level only offer EZPrints. The Portfolio level includes EZPrints, BayPhoto and WHCC (getting Loxley support added is being worked on). At the Business level, you have all our labs.

    Selecting the lab on the Portfolio level is done via a site-wide setting in the account settings > me > printing section. In addition, you can override the site-wide setting via the gallery settings of any gallery.

    On the Business account selecting a lab works the same way as it was with the Pro account level - you can create pricelists and when creating a pricelist, you pick the lab for it. All details on pricing on the Business level can be found here.

    It's not possible to offer the same gallery via different labs at this point. If you wanted to offer photos to customers from the US and Europe and make use of a lab close to them, you could only do that by creating and uploading separate galleries and set up the lab of your choice in the different galleries.

    Just when I was thinking that Smug couldn't over complicate and mess up any more, I almost wish I hadn't asked. So if I want to use a UK printer for a UK customer and a US printer for a US customer for the same image, which is the obvious logical solution, I have to set up two different galleries?

    I'm speechless, sorry this is unbelievable, I wonder if everyone is aware of it?
  • mdjgclmdjgcl Registered Users Posts: 29 Big grins
    edited September 5, 2012
    As a Pro account holder who admittedly does very little printing and few sales on Smugmug, it seems logical to me that if a customer can select to pay for prints or downloads in a variety of currencies, £ sterling for example because the customer resides in the UK, that same customer should be able to have the print printed in the UK and thereby avoid having to use USA based printers and also subsequently pay the high shipping costs that follow. All this without having to post photos in separate galleries for USA customers and UK customers.

    I just uploaded a bunch of pics from LR4 right to Walmart and had them printed locally in less than an hour for far less than anything offered by Smugmug and I can ship 10 photos to the UK via priority post from Canada for a tenth of what Smugmug charges to ship to the UK from the USA.

    To me the most useful process would be to have all printing labs available for all galleries, so that customers can pay in whatever currency they prefer and print from the lab of their choice. Why does this have to be so complicated? Am I missing something here?

    Mark
    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
  • johnlogukjohnloguk Registered Users Posts: 137 Major grins
    edited September 5, 2012
    mdjgcl wrote: »
    As a Pro account holder who admittedly does very little printing and few sales on Smugmug, it seems logical to me that if a customer can select to pay for prints or downloads in a variety of currencies, £ sterling for example because the customer resides in the UK, that same customer should be able to have the print printed in the UK and thereby avoid having to use USA based printers and also subsequently pay the high shipping costs that follow. All this without having to post photos in separate galleries for USA customers and UK customers.

    I just uploaded a bunch of pics from LR4 right to Walmart and had them printed locally in less than an hour for far less than anything offered by Smugmug and I can ship 10 photos to the UK via priority post from Canada for a tenth of what Smugmug charges to ship to the UK from the USA.

    To me the most useful process would be to have all printing labs available for all galleries, so that customers can pay in whatever currency they prefer and print from the lab of their choice. Why does this have to be so complicated? Am I missing something here?


    Mark
    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


    My thoughts entirely Mark.

    We waited years for a European printer, I'd have thought that over that time Smug would have thought this through.

    Their main reason for the recent massive price hike was the increased cost of storage, now they're encouraging people like me to have mirror galleries, instantly doubling my storage space. No wonder Smug are in big financial trouble.

    I don't know whether to be sad, angry or just frustrated.

    All I want is to be able to sell my images as widely as possible. It shouldn't be that complicated.

    ne_nau.gif
  • Rogue 1Rogue 1 Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 150 Major grins
    edited September 5, 2012
    It sounds like there are two distinct questions here - Currency and Lab -

    I regards to currency, I'm happy to say 'non-issue.' - Your customers checkout using the currency of their choice! Regardless of lab- or what currency you set your prices in - EG: If you price in Pound Sterling and a client in Florence orders a print (or prints), when they check out they simply select EURO for currency - viola!

    As far as offering multiple labs in a single gallery on all images, or for a single image, what some overlook is that no two labs offer the same products at the same base cost with the same skus etc -

    EG: Bay Photo in the US is not offering the same product for the same price on the same paper as Loxley in the UK (Or EZPrints or WHCC) -

    You must select a lab, a product and set the price - and apply it to a photo, a gallery or your site -

    You can use multiple labs for different reasons, but only one lab per image - just no way around that (that we can see) -

    Soooo - if you wish to offer the same image with two lab choices, you really need two images - It's not difficult to do, but yes, it is more work than if your business model doesn't require it.

    Look at the issue from another perspective, one analogy would be a person going into a showroom, looking at a picture of a car, and then choosing which manufacturer they'd like to build it - BMW or Mercedes, but the same car -

    This is why companies that do business globally have 'region' options on their websites. When you land on their page, before you get any info, you're asked to choose your region, e.g.: United States, United Kingdom or E.U. etc -

    And if an imperative, you have the ability to do this too! By duplicating your product and placing it in region specific galleries, each set to use the appropriate lab.

    thumb.gif
  • Rogue 1Rogue 1 Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 150 Major grins
    edited September 5, 2012
    johnloguk wrote: »
    My thoughts entirely Mark.

    Their main reason for the recent massive price hike was the increased cost of storage, now they're encouraging people like me to have mirror galleries, instantly doubling my storage space. No wonder Smug are in big financial trouble.
    ne_nau.gif

    Hi John, I promise you, we're not in any financial trouble at all - but we also prefer not to be...

    We've always been 'unlimited uploads,' and intend to remain as such - while everyone has latched onto the upload topic, we outlined several other reasons for the price hike, including growth and engineering - it's been said before, but we conciously avoided raising prices (vehemently resisted to put it more accurately) for years. Which unfortunately has resulted in a bigger hit down the road.

    If splitting your product into region specific areas and pricing is what your business model requires, we're behind you 100%.
  • johnlogukjohnloguk Registered Users Posts: 137 Major grins
    edited September 5, 2012
    I stick with what I said originally, this should be easy to sort out, not difficult at all. It took years to choose a European printer, someone could have worked the system up while you were choosing.

    The price lists could easily include options for all possible printers, the customer can choose which one they want to use. Presumably they'll choose the one closest to them to minimise costs, but if they feel that a more distant one is worth the shipping costs then fine.

    In many ways it was better when you just had one US printer with no options. At least we knew what we were getting. You added all the different options, giving the impression that the extra choices made the service better, but it is all smoke and mirrors, not better at all, just confusing.

    The financial difficulties issue is really for a different thread, but if Smug was really so well set up financially we wouldn't suddenly be looking at a doubling of fees and people leaving in their droves. If you really weren't struggling before, you will be when half of us have left.

    I hate being so negative, Smug used to be the best, with service and support second to none. But the more you've tried to offer the worse the experience has become.
  • FrankCFrankC Registered Users Posts: 90 Big grins
    edited September 6, 2012
    Rogue 1 wrote: »
    Look at the issue from another perspective, one analogy would be a person going into a showroom, looking at a picture of a car, and then choosing which manufacturer they'd like to build it - BMW or Mercedes, but the same car -

    This is why companies that do business globally have 'region' options on their websites. When you land on their page, before you get any info, you're asked to choose your region, e.g.: United States, United Kingdom or E.U. etc - b

    I think a better analogy would be buying a book - I can buy it from Amazon UK or Amazon USA. Normally I will choose UK.
    Similarly for prints - at the start of viewing a gallery (with the intention of buying) a user would set their buying preference (UK or USA), and the appropriate products would be made available. The underlying images are the same - it's the lab which needs to change.
  • Rogue 1Rogue 1 Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 150 Major grins
    edited September 6, 2012
    FrankC wrote: »
    I think a better analogy would be buying a book - I can buy it from Amazon UK or Amazon USA. Normally I will choose UK.
    Similarly for prints - at the start of viewing a gallery (with the intention of buying) a user would set their buying preference (UK or USA), and the appropriate products would be made available. The underlying images are the same - it's the lab which needs to change.

    I think Amazon is perfect example, and I'd thought to reference them after my last post.

    I'm in the US and login/shop at Amazon.com - for vendors and products sourced in the USA.

    If I wish to purchase an item sourced in the UK, Amazon doesn't provide that option to me on Amazon.com, as a customer, I need to navigate to amazon.com/uk - the regional site.

    I cannot put an item on Amazon.com in my cart and then select where in the world I want it sourced from. Even Amazon hasn't figured out a way to do this.

    Amazon has built duplicate sites for each region it serves (Japan: http://www.amazon.co.jp/ - Gemany: http://www.amazon.de/ - etc)

    Different vendors, products, currencies and as needed, languages.

    IMHO, this is apples and apples - the only way to cater to clients in other regions in this manner is to provide region specific sites/areas.

    And again this is easily accomplished with a SmugMug account using categorization - if you wish to cater to multiple regions, create a top level category for each region, featuring region specific products, vendors, and currency, to which your client's can navigate dependent on their needs.
  • FrankCFrankC Registered Users Posts: 90 Big grins
    edited September 6, 2012
    I always knew that analogies weren't perfect :D

    You can argue it however you like - but the reality is that what some people (including me) would like, is the ability to have a single set of photos (i.e. galleries), with the ability to order them from the lab closest to them.
    My reason is, that I shoot events here in Europe, so most people will use the European lab. However, some people will have attended the event from the USA, and so would like to use the US lab. And vice-versa for American photographers.

    I am just stating what I would like. Telling me I shouldn't want to do this is pointless. I know that SM haven't set it up to work this way, but I wish you had.

    When/If you add labs in other countries - this is just going to make the situation even worse.
  • Rogue 1Rogue 1 Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 150 Major grins
    edited September 6, 2012
    FrankC wrote: »
    I always knew that analogies weren't perfect :D
    I am just stating what I would like. Telling me I shouldn't want to do this is pointless. I know that SM haven't set it up to work this way, but I wish you had.

    Would that anything were perfect, my friend. :D

    I hear you Frank - really - and if I implied that 'you shouldn't want this' my apologies, never the intention...

    My personal strengths lie in understanding how to best utilize the system as it currently exists. I do hope there may have been a nugget or two in there that may help you (or others seeking options) -

    Slàinte -
  • FrankCFrankC Registered Users Posts: 90 Big grins
    edited September 6, 2012
    Rogue 1 wrote: »
    Would that anything were perfect, my friend. :D

    I hear you Frank - really - and if I implied that 'you shouldn't want this' my apologies, never the intention...

    My personal strengths lie in understanding how to best utilize the system as it currently exists. I do hope there may have been a nugget or two in there that may help you (or others seeking options) -

    Slàinte -

    No apology needed. BUT, did you not get that I (like everyone else) want SM to work just the way that suits me...................... (joking, of course).

    I actually had covered this point on dgrin earlier, when the UK lab first appeared. That was a big step forward. But, I also think it's no harm to point out how it could work even better for some people, when rolling-out future changes.

    Slán, Frank
  • Luc De JaegerLuc De Jaeger Registered Users Posts: 139 Major grins
    edited September 6, 2012
    I still wonder...

    The UK Lab is a huge step forward but its implementation is not complete. Prints can be ordered via the UK Lab but we cannot order any calendars from them (which we still have to buy via MyCanvas in the USA...) and this is still very inconvenient (knowing that the UK Lab provide calendars as well!).

    I'd love to see the UK calendar capability implemented too...

    Also, there are lots of scripts that let one know from where (from which country) a visitor visits or browses a web site (that's where the stats are based upon).

    Is it not possible to let such a script assign a price list/Lab depending on the country of the visitor and if the visitor/country cannot be determined assign a default Lab (UK or USA)?

    Just a question because I'm trying to follow the logical reasoning of our customers too but I'm not knowledgeable enough to understand if it's possible to code or program that kind of stuff. If it's not possible, someone has to find out a script or programming language so that this feature IS possible (we're living in the 21th Century after all....). I know that Windows was programmed to be all drag&drop and point&shoot but that the drag&drop capability only now becomes more and more available (programmable?) after tens of tears -- which is a shame... Perhaps it's the same with assigning a 'coming from' script to a price list and Lab...

    Luc
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