If there is no Fix I think I leaving SmugMug

bachamp

There are 2 things that really frustrate me with SmugMug...

First is a small one, but the homepage slideshow. Why not have links to the image... :dunno
People see an image they like, they should be able to click on it to get A, more info, and B buy it.

Second. I have the pro account $150 per year. Why the fark is there like a million options for buying images. :dunno. Why would I want anyone to buy an image that is cropped? :dunno
Why not make it like Zenfolio, where there is a very obvious way to buy an image.
I have had people contact me saying they would like to buy x image but couldn't work out how too.
Yes for double the price I could get "price lists" and be able to narrow down the options, but the method to buy is still the same, and really, I would make $150 per year profit to justify the extra cost.

I'm looking at Zenfolio, they have nowhere near the customization that smugmug offers, but I might be able to get it to work for me. At least then I might make a sale on the odd occasion. :thumb

Rant out...
[url]www.benchampion.com.au:thumb[/url]

zacHer0

Thanks for the feedback on the slideshow!

I see you have a Portfolio account which means that you CAN use one priclelist. In your pricelist you can delete the items that you do not want to offer. You can edit your "Standard" pricelist by going into Account Settings > Business > Making Money > Pricelists > Manage, then click on Standard, then click Edit List. Within the pricelist click on the trash can icon next to the item you want removed.

bachamp

zacHer0 wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback on the slideshow!

I see you have a Portfolio account which means that you CAN use one priclelist. In your pricelist you can delete the items that you do not want to offer. You can edit your "Standard" pricelist by going into Account Settings > Business > Making Money > Pricelists > Manage, then click on Standard, then click Edit List. Within the pricelist click on the trash can icon next to the item you want removed.

But if I have one photo that is 3:1 and another that is 2:1 how do I have it so the client only shows prints that match the ratio of the image? (without having to deselect the required cropping button?)

zacHer0

bachamp wrote: »

But if I have one photo that is 3:1 and another that is 2:1 how do I have it so the client only shows prints that match the ratio of the image? (without having to deselect the required cropping button?)

The shopping cart cannot discern that currently, sorry .

brecklundin

always a lot of "sorry" from SM...been that way since the beginning when they leaned on the "we're a family so bear with us" party line.

gryhnd

bachamp wrote: »

I have had people contact me saying they would like to buy x image but couldn't work out how too.

They may also be trying to purchase using a mobile device, which SM doesn't currently support. See http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=239546

We all losing huge $$ on that alone.

AceCo55

brecklundin wrote: »

always a lot of "sorry" from SM...been that way since the beginning when they leaned on the "we're a family so bear with us" party line.

Can you tell me of ANY photo selling website that is able to do this? ie only show the appropriate product options once the buyer selects an image to buy - based on the photo ratio???
If the answer is "no" ... then you have just made a cheap shot with no validity at all since you appear to criticizing Smugmug for not providing a feature that no-one else does either.
If the answer is "yes" ... can you let us know where so we can see it in action.

Even if another site does do this, it is not obligatory that Smugmug HAS to provide it as well. Smugmug offer a service/product with a certain set of features. It is up to you to decide if that set will suit you or not.
MacDonalds offer a certain set of menu choices ... but it's a bit unfair to criticize them for not not offering hamburgers with fried rice in them.

Djm3006

AceCo55 wrote: »

Can you tell me of ANY photo selling website that is able to do this? ie only show the appropriate product options once the buyer selects an image to buy - based on the photo ratio???
If the answer is "no" ... then you have just made a cheap shot with no validity at all since you appear to criticizing Smugmug for not providing a feature that no-one else does either.
If the answer is "yes" ... can you let us know where so we can see it in action.

Even if another site does do this, it is not obligatory that Smugmug HAS to provide it as well. Smugmug offer a service/product with a certain set of features. It is up to you to decide if that set will suit you or not.
MacDonalds offer a certain set of menu choices ... but it's a bit unfair to criticize them for not not offering hamburgers with fried rice in them.

Traces of Texas

Why would I want anyone to buy an image that is cropped?

Bachamp, I guess I'm missing something here. It appears that the options are to sell them an image that they, themselves, crop or to not sell them an image at all.

Why would you NOT want to sell them an image that they've cropped? You still make money.

My Smugmug customers had to crop probably 80% of the shots they purchased this year. No biggie.

dogwood

Just a thought on sales - stop using your SM site for sales and start making sales in-person with your clients. I started doing this last year and my sales easily doubled. Clients LOVE the in-person sales presentations too. I project the images using a digital projector and I can make suggestions about photos, hear what they want retouched, etc, etc. I can also quickly work out a deals when clients want several similar photos.

There are so many benefits to in-person sales that I can't even begin to cover it here. It's easier than converting your files and waiting to upload them and waiting to hear back from clients (I just show the RAW files and explain they have not been retouched). There's no wasted time emailing questions back and forth with clients. There's no more downloads of "proofs" (which we all know happens whether or not you watermark images). I get instant feedback from clients. No more waiting on SM for payment. The whole process of in-person sales is easier, faster, and more profitable.

Try it with one client and if you're not happy, go back to web galleries. My prediction is once you try in-person sales, you will never go back to web gallery sales.

Golfnut

A different solution...

Traces of Texas wrote: »

Bachamp, I guess I'm missing something here. It appears that the options are to sell them an image that they, themselves, crop or to not sell them an image at all.

Why would you NOT want to sell them an image that they've cropped? You still make money.

My Smugmug customers had to crop probably 80% of the shots they purchased this year. No biggie.

Try setting up multiple pricelists and then assigning the photos to the appropriate price list. For example, you can create pricelists with different aspect ratios:
3:2
1:1
2:1
3:1
4:1 (Bay Photo only)

When you create the gallery, only choose the aspect ratios that match the desired one for that particular pricelist. For example, when you have 3:1 images, only choose the pricelist options for the 3:1 aspect ratio.

Then in the Gallery view, you can use the "Customization/Set Price" menu to choose a default pricelist for the gallery (usually a 3:2) and then for each photo that has a different aspect ratio, choose the appropriate pricelist.

I have done this with photos and the cropping option never comes up because the aspect ratio in the pricelist for a given photo always matches the aspect ratio of the photo.

-Charles
www.arrowphotos.com