Also, I have a concern that some customers will buy one photo and then get it copied at the local store.
If you switch to Bay Photo, I believe the paper they use says "professional photo do not copy" or something to that effect. Then, I'd invite them to copy it at a store. The minimum you can sue for is $50,000.
That's the answer right there. It would be ideal if the pro pricing screen allowed coupons to be set at the product level (just add another column - as though that is so simple ). Not sure about the logistics of making the pricing screen and the actual coupon design page work together. However, then it would give flexibility AND the ability to go ahead and show what affect the sale would make on profit.
To be really really useful coupons need to be more targetted so that we can do things like:
-- offer an incentive so that people can get a discount on a specific gallery or set of galleries without allowing them to use the discount on all galleries (such as the first week of a new gallery to drive sales or for an old gallery to bring in the stragglers before deleting it).
-- offer incentives for specific products, to get customers to give more consideration to gifts and other products besides orindary prints.
-- to let a specific organization or group get discounts on just their images, without fear of the coupon code leaking out and being used for unintended purchases.
-- etc. etc.
I agree. If people buy my note cards directly from me, i offer 10 for the price of 9. I would like to be able to do that kind of discounting through smugmug as well.
Great start, though.
Sandy
sjhpubs
PortViews
Fine Photographic Prints & Notecards with Local Color
This is the place for pros to discuss the business side of our coupons feature.
Want to chat about promotions? Strategy? Marketing? Post away right here!
For help or problems with coupons, we have a separate thread here, or you can email our Support Heroes directly.
THANK YOU!!! Many of us have been waiting for this for a long time. There are a lot of people chiming in with faults and what-ifs, but take time to pat yourselves on the backs, treat the staff to a dinner, give them an extra couple days off for the holidays, whatever...they deserve it.
I had been exploring other options for print fulfillment, but this has me here for a while longer : ) Print credits were sorely missed when I came over from printroom. I'm happy now!
Print Credit Scenario
Maybe I'm missing something, but the print credit scenario seems ridiculous to me:
If the customer had a $200 print credit, they would only have to pay for the shipping on the order, $4.95. They would have $90 left for future orders. Rather than charge your card $110 and then add $85 to your profits, we charge your card $25.00. That covers the $10 worth of prints and the $15 that is SmugMug's 15% share of the markup.
If essentially you're willing to give your customer something and pay their print cost - you're not making any money. Why should Smugmug get 15% of the "markup" that isn't actually there?
It basically costs you in artificial markup - making the feature absolutely useless, and potentially quite expensive.
I already pay subscription fees to Smugmug - a % commission when I'm making money is fair enough, but a % commission when I'm not is just outrageous.
Idea:
It would be nice to assign a coupon code to a certain gallery rather then have it valid for all your pictures.
i second this as i only want to offer discounts to a certin group of client galleries. After being featured on Groupon last week - I want to offer 25% to those clients and there will be approx 50 galleries - Any tips on how to do that efficiently without offering 25% to the rest of my images??
Thanks!
At cost : Can we now proof edit at cost orders?
With the ability to now to see all at cost orders (yeah SM) are we now able to proof/edit orders coming in with at cost coupons? This would be great for family (no more fussing with penny markups &/or worrying about confusing it with a clients gallery
With the ability to now to see all at cost orders (yeah SM) are we now able to proof/edit orders coming in with at cost coupons? This would be great for family (no more fussing with penny markups &/or worrying about confusing it with a clients gallery
I love it and already running my first sale tomorrow. (I just noticed the the coupon start time is not ET).
Few wishes to make this an even better tool for us:
1. Apply this coupon to a specific category/categories or gallery/galleries, (We can use same model that we use to apply pricing to multiple Cat/Gal.).
2. Auto coupons - I set up my portfolio pricing and set up auto coupon of 20% off to a 'Category/Gallery A, B and C', every time I change my 'portfolio' pricing the Categories/Galleries prices changes accordingly. That is another long waited wish feature of introducing virtual pricing. The coupon is applied automatically to this gallery, the client don't need to even know about it. (show/hide).
3. Limit coupon to products. (20% off just on 'original digital download' etc.)
4. I LOVE to sell 'gift cards' but not sure how to use 'Print Credit' in that respect. I can set up a demo gallery with 'virtual gift cards' images and price them at $100, $200 etc. when my client buy them, I pay 15% and when they use the credit I pay 15% again??? any idea.
If essentially you're willing to give your customer something and pay their print cost - you're not making any money. Why should Smugmug get 15% of the "markup" that isn't actually there?
This part of the system didn't surprise me as it's common in business with partners/affiliates/franchises/etc. But I believe this is actually counter to what was announced in the original coupon discussions thread.
How does it work on Downloads with no cost and no shipping?
It appears to be dangerous as it has no value limit. I would like to use it give a person perhaps X dollars of purchase at cost just to give some limit on it.
Perhaps that can be in a future update. I am sure you will getting a lot more request for improvements.
Will we see the order that is used on the coupon? We normally do not see orders unless the items are above cost.
DM
My title says it all "At Cost Plus Dollar amount markup". Simple I can add $1 or $5. just enough to keep making a profit. Let me choose if I want a customer to know what my actual cost is.
I also shoot sports MMA/UFC fights and would love to give coupons but as Dudley said, I set my 4x6 prices cheap, now for multiple sales. People are more likely to buy my 4x6's of an event than anything else. I would hate to lose 10-15% on next to nothing because they can use them on anything. I only use Bay Photo for printing, so that is a deep cut!
Maybe I'm missing something, but the print credit scenario seems ridiculous to me:
If essentially you're willing to give your customer something and pay their print cost - you're not making any money. Why should Smugmug get 15% of the "markup" that isn't actually there?
It basically costs you in artificial markup - making the feature absolutely useless, and potentially quite expensive.
I already pay subscription fees to Smugmug - a % commission when I'm making money is fair enough, but a % commission when I'm not is just outrageous.
These are my thoughts as well. I am very appreciative for all the hard work that has gone into all of this. Smugmug is great! But there is room for tweaking.
The above is not so much complaining but just pointing out that there are many scenarios where this can potentially cost you comparitively a lot of money instead of making you money. Discussing this stuff helps us all learn more about how the stuff works and how to best utilize it.
I also agree that paying a % on a break even (or less) sale is a little hard to swallow.
Very cool! Can't wait to hear how that works for you!
I sent out coupons to everyone that has ordered from me in the past. I also sent a special coupon to anyone that I've done a shoot for. Finally I created one that I posted on my Facebook account. But no takers yet :cry. Wish I could figure out a way to get my name and coupons out there better!
Or maybe simply adding a column that would show the profit %-margin given the price we've set. At least we will know that a certain price would be a loss sale if we gave particular percentage coupon out.
For example, if it show we are making a 20% profit, then we know for this item a 25% off coupon would mean we are taking a loss on the sale of this item. At least we'll know. Could something like this be simply implemented?
No replies to this?
Let me see if I can make my question clearer. Say, the cost on something is $10. My normal gallery marked up price is $100. I give my family an "at-cost" coupon and have them only pay $10. Would I be charged the Smugmug 15% on the normally $90 markup?
Johnny J. Chin ~ J. Chin Photography Facebook ♦ Flickr ♦ SmugMug
SmugMug referral coupon code: ix3uDyfBU6xXs
(use this for a discount off your SmugMug subscription)
Say, the cost on something is $10. My normal gallery marked up price is $100. I give my family an "at-cost" coupon and have them only pay $10. Would I be charged the Smugmug 15% on the normally $90 markup?
no, you wont be charged anything on an at-cost coupon.
no, you wont be charged anything on an at-cost coupon.
Let's look at a similar scenario with a 50% coupon on a $100 item. Will the 15% be charged on the $100 or the $50 the customer paid?
I'm guessing the answer will be on the $100. If so, there's $15 of expenses to be factored into the cost. So using the strategy of setting higher prices and then using coupons may not be as beneficial to the bottom line as once thought.
no, you wont be charged anything on an at-cost coupon.
PERFECT! Thank you so much!
My extended family thanks you too. They now can order photos without having me do it for them "at cost".
Now if I can only figure out how to price the items along with sale coupons for my regular sales. Hmmm....
Johnny J. Chin ~ J. Chin Photography Facebook ♦ Flickr ♦ SmugMug
SmugMug referral coupon code: ix3uDyfBU6xXs
(use this for a discount off your SmugMug subscription)
The profit is taken out of the difference after coupons are applied. So $100 order total - $20 of product = $80 difference in proprice vs. base price. Now take 50% of $80 ($40) and that is what we calculate profit on. 85% of $40 would be yours, the other 15% would be ours.
However, the print credit coupons seem to be a rip-off. I mean print credit for a client is often one of the most inexpensive things I can give them, but with it set up this way it becomes quite pricey as I have to pay the typical mark up plus the print cost.
The profit is taken out of the difference after coupons are applied. So $100 order total - $20 of product = $80 difference in proprice vs. base price. Now take 50% of $80 ($40) and that is what we calculate profit on. 85% of $40 would be yours, the other 15% would be ours.
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Absolutely agree with this suggestion!
-Danny
dannyberryphotography.com
Facebook
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I agree. If people buy my note cards directly from me, i offer 10 for the price of 9. I would like to be able to do that kind of discounting through smugmug as well.
Great start, though.
Sandy
THANK YOU!!! Many of us have been waiting for this for a long time. There are a lot of people chiming in with faults and what-ifs, but take time to pat yourselves on the backs, treat the staff to a dinner, give them an extra couple days off for the holidays, whatever...they deserve it.
I had been exploring other options for print fulfillment, but this has me here for a while longer : ) Print credits were sorely missed when I came over from printroom. I'm happy now!
Pardon typos, I'm on my droid phone!
Become a friend or fan on facebook:
www.facebook.com/samellisphotography
www.facebook.com/samellisseniors
www.facebook.com/samellisweddings
Maybe I'm missing something, but the print credit scenario seems ridiculous to me:
If essentially you're willing to give your customer something and pay their print cost - you're not making any money. Why should Smugmug get 15% of the "markup" that isn't actually there?
It basically costs you in artificial markup - making the feature absolutely useless, and potentially quite expensive.
I already pay subscription fees to Smugmug - a % commission when I'm making money is fair enough, but a % commission when I'm not is just outrageous.
Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
i second this as i only want to offer discounts to a certin group of client galleries. After being featured on Groupon last week - I want to offer 25% to those clients and there will be approx 50 galleries - Any tips on how to do that efficiently without offering 25% to the rest of my images??
Thanks!
Brandi
www.theresidentartist.com
With the ability to now to see all at cost orders (yeah SM) are we now able to proof/edit orders coming in with at cost coupons? This would be great for family (no more fussing with penny markups &/or worrying about confusing it with a clients gallery
Great Job
I noticed your website isn't on it? How are you advertising? E-mailing to customers? Etc.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU http://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/wings.gif
for your hard work introducing the long waited coupon feature.
I love it and already running my first sale tomorrow. (I just noticed the the coupon start time is not ET).
Few wishes to make this an even better tool for us:
1. Apply this coupon to a specific category/categories or gallery/galleries, (We can use same model that we use to apply pricing to multiple Cat/Gal.).
2. Auto coupons - I set up my portfolio pricing and set up auto coupon of 20% off to a 'Category/Gallery A, B and C', every time I change my 'portfolio' pricing the Categories/Galleries prices changes accordingly. That is another long waited wish feature of introducing virtual pricing. The coupon is applied automatically to this gallery, the client don't need to even know about it. (show/hide).
3. Limit coupon to products. (20% off just on 'original digital download' etc.)
4. I LOVE to sell 'gift cards' but not sure how to use 'Print Credit' in that respect. I can set up a demo gallery with 'virtual gift cards' images and price them at $100, $200 etc. when my client buy them, I pay 15% and when they use the credit I pay 15% again??? any idea.
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I created a thread over on the Smugmugs Feedback UserVoice titled:
- "Thank you for coupons. What I really need is catagory/gallery/client &/or event specific coupons. "
If this is you, please go add your vote: http://bit.ly/4Lwa4mThanks,
Keith Tharp.com - Champion Photo
My title says it all "At Cost Plus Dollar amount markup". Simple I can add $1 or $5. just enough to keep making a profit. Let me choose if I want a customer to know what my actual cost is.
I also shoot sports MMA/UFC fights and would love to give coupons but as Dudley said, I set my 4x6 prices cheap, now for multiple sales. People are more likely to buy my 4x6's of an event than anything else. I would hate to lose 10-15% on next to nothing because they can use them on anything. I only use Bay Photo for printing, so that is a deep cut!
These are my thoughts as well. I am very appreciative for all the hard work that has gone into all of this. Smugmug is great! But there is room for tweaking.
The above is not so much complaining but just pointing out that there are many scenarios where this can potentially cost you comparitively a lot of money instead of making you money. Discussing this stuff helps us all learn more about how the stuff works and how to best utilize it.
I also agree that paying a % on a break even (or less) sale is a little hard to swallow.
Harris Photographic Arts
http://www.harrisphotographicarts.com
Very cool! Can't wait to hear how that works for you!
I sent out coupons to everyone that has ordered from me in the past. I also sent a special coupon to anyone that I've done a shoot for. Finally I created one that I posted on my Facebook account. But no takers yet :cry. Wish I could figure out a way to get my name and coupons out there better!
Facebook - Twitter
Nikon D200, D80, SB600, nikon 50mm 1.8, nikon 18-135 3.5-4.6, nikon 70-200
No replies to this?
Let me see if I can make my question clearer. Say, the cost on something is $10. My normal gallery marked up price is $100. I give my family an "at-cost" coupon and have them only pay $10. Would I be charged the Smugmug 15% on the normally $90 markup?
Facebook ♦ Flickr ♦ SmugMug
SmugMug referral coupon code: ix3uDyfBU6xXs
(use this for a discount off your SmugMug subscription)
I'm guessing the answer will be on the $100. If so, there's $15 of expenses to be factored into the cost. So using the strategy of setting higher prices and then using coupons may not be as beneficial to the bottom line as once thought.
Want faster uploading? Vote for FTP!
PERFECT! Thank you so much!
My extended family thanks you too. They now can order photos without having me do it for them "at cost".
Now if I can only figure out how to price the items along with sale coupons for my regular sales. Hmmm....
Facebook ♦ Flickr ♦ SmugMug
SmugMug referral coupon code: ix3uDyfBU6xXs
(use this for a discount off your SmugMug subscription)
Want faster uploading? Vote for FTP!
The percentage off coupons are very fair.
However, the print credit coupons seem to be a rip-off. I mean print credit for a client is often one of the most inexpensive things I can give them, but with it set up this way it becomes quite pricey as I have to pay the typical mark up plus the print cost.
Ouch.
-Nate
Equipment
Canon Stuff (and third party stuff as well)
Tampa Bay Wedding Photography
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here's how it goes. basically for amount and % off coupons we reduce the pro price by the amount of the coupon and then go from there. so....
$100 order total - $50 in coupons = $50 adjusted pro price. $50 - $20 of product = $30 in gross profit which will be split 85/15
sorry for my mistake. we're talking about how to update the breakdown to make this easier to understand.
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