Income from Smugmug site

berhimwich

Is it possible to make an income (even a small one) from selling prints on Smugmug? I'd rather shoot for myself and then have people buy prints because they like them, kind of like at a small art gallery (only in this case, online). I don't drive, so getting around to drum up business and do shoots for people would be very difficult logistically for me. If it takes time, that's fine, I'm in no rush to make money right now.

If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. Thank you very much!

Andy

berhimwich wrote:

Is it possible to make an income (even a small one) from selling prints on Smugmug? I'd rather shoot for myself and then have people buy prints because they like them, kind of like at a small art gallery (only in this case, online). I don't drive, so getting around to drum up business and do shoots for people would be very difficult logistically for me. If it takes time, that's fine, I'm in no rush to make money right now.

If anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it. Thank you very much!

sure it is. but they won't just start appearing at your site and buying. you've got to promote yourself. i give out business cards, i approach folks (companies, institutions, etc) directly and sell directly to them.

i get many folks coming to me directly via google search, too.

DewrGleision

Alright then, but whats the profit margins? Also, do profits consitute having a more "serious" account? Like a pro account or something? I havent seen a price list for my photos, but Ive only really messed with the galleries a bit...
Didnt GROUPER post something about a manipulatable price list?
Argh... Online time = not as good as used to be...

mercphoto

Making moola

berhimwich wrote:

Is it possible to make an income (even a small one) from selling prints on Smugmug?

From the (few) established professional photographers I know, they say they spend more time on the business side of things than behind the camera.

The Internet, such as a smugmug site, can help you with some of the issues of running a business and making money from it. In this case the order fulfillment portion: taking orders, making the product, and shipping it to the customer. But you still need to do the marketing side. People still need to find out about you, who you are, what you do, and why they should give you their money instead of spend it somewhere else. Just popping up on a google search won't do it.

So yeah you can make money on smugmug, but the success will be more because of you than anything else.

dugmar

I've been attending race events and I have sold a fair share of prints off my site. I hand out about 100 business cards per event however. I also post links to my photos on all the chat rooms for each race series. The Miata cup guys have bought the most so far...

Doug

DewrGleision

Thats all right and good, but my question (if I might be so bold as to draw attention to it) is still unanswered; whats a profit margin on smugmug?
Or is that another one of those taboo things Im not supposed to ask about?

gubbs

DewrGleision wrote:

Thats all right and good, but my question (if I might be so bold as to draw attention to it) is still unanswered; whats a profit margin on smugmug?
Or is that another one of those taboo things Im not supposed to ask about?

It's up to you, on the "pro user" deal I understand you can set your own selling prices..have a look here

dkapp

DewrGleision wrote:

Thats all right and good, but my question (if I might be so bold as to draw attention to it) is still unanswered; whats a profit margin on smugmug?
Or is that another one of those taboo things Im not supposed to ask about?

I found this on the smugmug site. Its listed in their pro section.

"Set your prices and make 85% of the markup. smugmug will take the order, pay the credit card processing fee, ship prints to your customer, provide customer support and real-time reporting of sales."

Here is the link:
http://www.smugmug.com/pro/

I hope this answers your question. If you need more info, let me know.

Later,
Dave

mercphoto

Profits

DewrGleision wrote:

Thats all right and good, but my question (if I might be so bold as to draw attention to it) is still unanswered; whats a profit margin on smugmug?
Or is that another one of those taboo things Im not supposed to ask about?

Your question may or may not be taboo, but it is a bit ambiguous. Who's profit margin are you asking about, the photographer's or smugmug's?

If you want to know the photographer's profit margin, you subtract the cost the photographer has assigned to that print or merchandise, subtract the smugmug cost of it, and take 85% of that difference. Each "pro" account can set their own prices, and thus can control their own profit margins.

If you want to know smugmug's profit margin, that is something I do not know. Baldy may or may not choose to divulge that information, and they certainly don't have to. But the question I have to you is why do you want to know? Or rather, does it matter?

I raise this issue for one important reason. Smugmug will charge you $X for any given print or merchandise. For that price you get a certain amount of quality, support and service from smugmug. And you are either happy paying that amount, or you are not happy paying that amount. And, really, smugmug's profit margin doesn't enter into the equation.

GREAPER

I think he was asking about the photographer's profit margin. If you have a pro user account you can set the prices where you want them. Your cost for the print stays the same. Smugmug gets 15 percent of whatever you mark it up as a fee for handling the transaction for you. I for one think it's a great deal. Smugmug rocks.

DewrGleision

Thanks GREAPER; I have renewed faith in your charisma factor. At least your brain works!
Agreed: smugmug is sufficiently awesome enough to become the holy grail of online photography and just plain coolness!
Ah, so only pro users can make profits. Gotcha; now even know the margin thereof! Thanks people!