Why Are A Lot Of Sites Selling At Cost

deb22

I was hoping to get an idea of prices [I just set vague amounts for now] from looking at pro sites and almost 50% of the sites had ALL items at cost.Is this a mistake on their part or am I doing it wrong? e.g. of one site with very nice pics is BARRIER ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY. I tried to contact him but the contact went to smugmug not him, others I was able to contact but don't want to be nosy maybe they don't care but .... Should I contact or not contact when I come across this ? I know I would want to know.

claudermilk

deb22 wrote:

I was hoping to get an idea of prices [I just set vague amounts for now] from looking at pro sites and almost 50% of the sites had ALL items at cost.Is this a mistake on their part or am I doing it wrong? e.g. of one site with very nice pics is BARRIER ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY. I tried to contact him but the contact went to smugmug not him, others I was able to contact but don't want to be nosy maybe they don't care but .... Should I contact or not contact when I come across this ? I know I would want to know.

Good question. I would want to know as well.

Keep looking around, I was able to find several back when I was on the same quest as you. I started with the sites used as examples in SmugMug's help/docs and links here in the pro forum area.

denisegoldberg

If the prices were all at cost it is possible the sites you were looking at were power, not pro sites. It's difficult to tell the difference from the outside looking in - pro sites can still offer items for sale at smug's default prices; power sites can't sell at a profit.

--- Denise

deb22

denisegoldberg wrote:

If the prices were all at cost it is possible the sites you were looking at were power, not pro sites. It's difficult to tell the difference from the outside looking in - pro sites can still offer items for sale at smug's default prices; power sites can't sell at a profit.

--- Denise

Thanks Denise I never new that is a possibility, I am sure thats why it went to smugmug on the contact and not the artist.O.k I'll pay a little more attention when peeking around.I just saw some amazing sites all custom done and prices at cost it seemed wrong to me and I wanted to inform them in case of an oversight on their part.Have a great weekend!!

Dan7312

People who want to post HD video or images greater than 12MB will need a pro account even if they are not selling their images at a markup.

deb22 wrote:

I was hoping to get an idea of prices [I just set vague amounts for now] from looking at pro sites and almost 50% of the sites had ALL items at cost.Is this a mistake on their part or am I doing it wrong? e.g. of one site with very nice pics is BARRIER ISLAND PHOTOGRAPHY. I tried to contact him but the contact went to smugmug not him, others I was able to contact but don't want to be nosy maybe they don't care but .... Should I contact or not contact when I come across this ? I know I would want to know.

MarkW

Deb, you'll find went it comes to prices everybody is going to be different and there will be no distinguishable pattern. However what I can recommend is that you settle on a percentage increase for your pricing. That way you can make a consistent profit on the items that you choose to sell. For my website I marked everything 300-400% with the exception of the smaller prints like 4x6 prints. They're marked up even higher.

I recommend you download and read this business strategy and pricing guide from Stace Reeves. http://www.stacyreeves.com/greatestpricingguideever.pdf. While it talks primarily about wedding photography pricing it can still be used for any business model/photography style.

I hope this helps!

deb22

MarkW wrote:

Deb, you'll find went it comes to prices everybody is going to be different and there will be no distinguishable pattern. However what I can recommend is that you settle on a percentage increase for your pricing. That way you can make a consistent profit on the items that you choose to sell. For my website I marked everything 300-400% with the exception of the smaller prints like 4x6 prints. They're marked up even higher.

I recommend you download and read this business strategy and pricing guide from Stace Reeves. http://www.stacyreeves.com/greatestpricingguideever.pdf. While it talks primarily about wedding photography pricing it can still be used for any business model/photography style.

I hope this helps!

THANK-YOU MARK I will definitly check out that link.I have always printed myself at home so I need to change prices for that and I live in Canada so people wont pay U.S. prices up here [well now they will if we stay close to par] so all info is of service to me. Thanks again.