e-commerce or no e-commerce

[private]

I am trying to decide if I should have e-commerce on my future website.

Do you think people will order more or less if they HAVE to go to website and order prints, or is it worth my time to also have order forms as well. I just don't want to deal with cc payments.

I think I want to market to Internet savvy people, but all of that being sd - there is prob a huge market with the older generation...so much to think about...

[imagesbyjk]

People order less from websites. Web based ordering is convenient for event photos and out of town clients. But your sales will always be higher if you can get the order at the initial viewing. I use EventPix for my online sales. I also am set up to take credit cards. I do that online as well so I don't have to mess with forms or machines. Its pretty simple.

[OsmosisStudios]

I wouldnt include anything on the site itself for ordering: make a note that if people would like prints to contact you.

[candleman]

unrelatd:
(laugh at imagesbyjk 's signature quote)
its brilliant.. i'll remember that one.


that reminds me if Nixons quote "things are more like thay are now than they ever were before"

hahaha..

[private]

Originally Posted by imagesbyjk

People order less from websites. Web based ordering is convenient for event photos and out of town clients. But your sales will always be higher if you can get the order at the initial viewing. I use EventPix for my online sales. I also am set up to take credit cards. I do that online as well so I don't have to mess with forms or machines. Its pretty simple.

How did you get set up to take credit cards - paypal?

[imagesbyjk]

Originally Posted by private

How did you get set up to take credit cards - paypal?

Originally I used Quicken for my business and they had the ability to run cards through their program. Somewhere along the line they changed how they did that and the company they used to process the charges became a separate entity and I just stuck with them. There's probably a bunch out there but the one I use is Innovative Gateway Systems.

[naeno]

Originally Posted by imagesbyjk

People order less from websites. Web based ordering is convenient for event photos and out of town clients. But your sales will always be higher if you can get the order at the initial viewing. I use EventPix for my online sales. I also am set up to take credit cards. I do that online as well so I don't have to mess with forms or machines. Its pretty simple.

Here's my 2 cents. You make a very very valid point that people will order more at the initial viewing of pictures. It would be the first time clients would be looking at the pictures and their emotions would run higher. However, there are many like me who do not have a storefront, so, my two options are 1)have people view their proofs on a website 2) order a proof book and have clients order from the proof book. For me personally, I would rather lose a bit in sales and save myself the hassle of the proof book.

Also, I looked at Innovative Gateway Systems. They are a very impressive system. However, you have to be set up with a merchant account at your bank before you can use them. Again, something that I don't have yet (I'm just starting out and very very small time right now). I personally will be using paypal. It acts as the merchant account for me and saves me having to set one up right now. Paypal will send clients invoices (whether they have a paypal account or not) and clients can chose to pay with cc online or give me a check/cash/money order. They could also have the option of giving me the cc number and I could run it through paypal.

Anyway, private, I finally decided to allow clients to view proofs from a website I create (I already have a web hosting account and domain name anyway), but clients will have to place orders through me via e-mail or phone. I'm going to fulfill the order through Mpix, and have the pics sent to me so I can make sure the order was fulfilled correctly and all pics look good. Then, package the pics nicely (packaging is very important) and let the clients come pick them up. Yes, it's a couple extra steps, but I think it will work well and allows me the ability to have quality control. Good luck!

[private]

Naeno - how do you package your photos?

[k9mom]

Naeno and others,

Do you offer framing options for the photos you sell, or do you just sell the photo only and let the client worry about framing?

[naeno]

I'm going to use apparel boxes. They are only about $.30 - $.50 each online and they come in a variety of sizes (you should be able to get them locally at Party City or something similar) . I'm going to print my logo onto clear labels and attach the label and a bow to each box. I know for me, and most others, something handed to me in a plain manila envelope isn't very impressive. I could be handed the exact same thing looking like a pretty gift, and I'm going to get a lot more excited about it.

I'm going to leave the framing up to my clients. I've worked in a frame shop and know that's a whole other ballgame I don't want to get into.