Frames?

photographz

I am in search of a great place to use that offers framed prints also. I already think Smugmug is a great place...but I don't find an option for framing. Imagekind has been bought by Cafepress who recently made some very un-artist friendly decisions on the Cafepress platform (forced 10% "commission" on sales through their marketplace-so on a $45 print, you get 4.50 for instance), making me shy away from IK because I don't trust that they won't make continued, sweeping changes everywhere. I have a specific second photography business that my husband and I will be starting soon and really like this platform here already. I haven't anywhere near maximized my potential here yet, being caught up in other business and my full time job, but I can see smugmug as being a very workable way to sell for this new business off our own URL. BUT, I need framed prints! Sooo...anything in the works to offer them anytime soon (I know, no dates, but I've got some serious overhauling to do on another business so I'm not going to be doing this tomorrow)...

fredjclaus

The problem I have run into with framed prints is this. While I feel they do have a place and if your images are Gallary quality, you can make a mint selling framed prints. However if you are not not doing gallary quality, then framed prints won't really sell that well.

When a customer purchases a print it's mainly because they like the image, and want to put it in their own frame. Even if you sold it framed, they will just take the print out and put it in one that better fits their room colors.

I would suggest to seriously consider the framed print option. If you feel matting them would sell, that's great, but I would not suggest framing them prior to sale. Plus when you frame a print you have to add an additional $50.00 or so for shipping handling and insurance against damages in shipping.

Just my two cents, but that is what I've learned from others who have tried it.

photographz

Intersting. I've sold many framed prints before through other suppliers, but I want a dedicated "art" type supplier for the new business. I could use someone like Zazzle but to me, the name is really connected to mass production of t-shirts, not nice prints and posters. From what I've run into, casual buyers that want a nice print for their living room don't know a thing about matting and framing and would rather have an all in one ready to hang photo to buy.

In the end, if nothing else, a way to allow customers to buy from one of the labs or IK for framing would work for me. I'd rather stay away from IK because I'm unsure how their owners (meaning cafepress) will mess with them (or if they will), but they really have the best options out there for me. I don't want an account there if possible, since the one main feature I liked about SM was the fact that I could easily integrate my gallery here into an offsite URL which I CAN'T do at IK (in other words, myphotosite.com instead of myphotosite.imagekind.com). I *could* handcode it, but I'd really rather not. I really want the control over the site layout and appearance, as well as individual SEO and the fact that presenting it that way gives the customer the look of dealing with a stand alone site using a fulfilment company rather than dealing with that company directly (like buying from an artist at an art fair vs the "framed prints" aisle at wal-mart or target).