Selling Digital Downloads

[presscamera]

Hello I am a Smugmug member from Australia I am looking for an option to be able to be able to sell Digital Downloads of images.
Can anyone Suggest anything??

Kerry Berrington

[gus]

G'day PC...i often miss the point buuut.. SmugMug has this feature. Did you mean something else ?

[presscamera]

G'day PC...i often miss the point buuut.. SmugMug has this feature. Did you mean something else ?

I know that you can set smugmug for people to be able to download images for free.

What I mean is to be able to charge people money before they get the high res download. Currenty Smugmug offer Professionals the ability to set their own prices for print purchases.

[mercphoto]

I know that you can set smugmug for people to be able to download images for free.

What I mean is to be able to charge people money before they get the high res download. Currenty Smugmug offer Professionals the ability to set their own prices for print purchases.

I'd like to be able to do this as well. What would be really cool is the ability to sell small, medium, large, or original files at different prices. Smug charges a fee for the bandwidth, fee collection and bookkeeping and I price-for-profit.

[tailchaser]

I'm also interested in seeing this feature for pro members. It would sure beat the alternatives!

[Aaron Wilson]

why not upgrade to pro? You want to sell your image files? and not prints? I would never give out my image files... People will take those files and make copies and then sell them for you and not share the profit. http://www.digitalgrin.com/images/smilies/ne_nau.gif

[Nikolai]

why not upgrade to pro? You want to sell your image files? and not prints? I would never give out my image files... People will take those files and make copies and then sell them for you and not share the profit. http://www.digitalgrin.com/images/smilies/ne_nau.gif
I personally would like to keep my originals, too.

But hey, I have a solution for "image download selling":

open "business" paypal account
make sure all your images have unique names/IDs/tags
let people browse the smaller versions
make sure you let your visitors know they can puchase the original - and direct them to that paypal account
once they have paid - send them an archive or let them know a link to a copy - and you can specify time frame
I'm still not sure why would you let the originals go, but hey, it's your property, not mine..:-)

Good luck!

[Aaron Wilson]

1 thing that I do is upload to smugmug.com. copy write with the water mark ("proof"). I then use snagit to get a copy of that pic... to lazzy to do it in photoshop. Plus i make it so that right click no longer works. I have a paypal account. I take the proofs and sell pics on ebay. I also include my url to smugmug account so that creats traffic. I have people go there and then ask me to sell them a diffrent picture if they win the bid. It kill's 2 birds with one stone. I get the sale and the traffic to my site. If you want pm me and i'll get the urls for ebay. This may help you... you could do the same but sell the image file.

[mercphoto]

why not upgrade to pro?

A pro account won't let you sell digital images.

You want to sell your image files? and not prints? I would never give out my image files... People will take those files and make copies and then sell them for you and not share the profit.

Don't be so quick to make such encompassing generalities. I used to race karts and I bought digital images of myself racing. Its not uncommon for racers to ask for digital files, and photographers started offering them because it was an easy sale, did not require them to make an actual print, wear and tear on printers, etc. The profit margin was high with less sales effort.

Also, the few times I've done product photography the client required digital files, not prints. They needed the files for web pages, for magazine photo submissions, catalogs, etc. What I do is proof them over smugmug, then they tell me which files they want to buy, and I burn a disc. How much easier if they could buy the file from smugmug right then?

Besides, what stops someone from ordering a 4x6 from me, scanning it to digital, then selling it in the first place?

[mercphoto]

I would never give out my image files... People will take those files and make copies and then sell them for you and not share the profit.

I'll make a caveat to my response to the above. One, I would not offer digital files for purchase of "general" or "stock" photos, somewhat for the reason stated below. But commissioned work (product, portraits, whatever) I would offer that option. I even know that some wedding photographers are starting to offer "digital" wedding packages, where the clients gets files, not albums and prints anymore. Right or wrong depends on your viewpoint and, ultimately, if your pocket gets sufficiently filled during the process.

[Aaron Wilson]

That is a good point. About you being a racer and so on. If I was the one to take the photo's of you I would sell that file to you for a fare price knowing that it's going to be on a web page and all. But if a fan of yours wanted that file I wouldn't sell it to them. For the sole reason as you want it.. they could re-print it on to shirts, mugs, web pages and so on. A scan of a 4x6 is not bad but it will not be that good for a poster size as it would start to blurr. :dunno but like a basick lanscape pic... that can be used in add and who knows what else. I usually tag my photos with some type of copy write.. on the back or small corner in front.

[scrooks]

I'd love to be able to sell digital copies of my event photos. They are very ephemeral so I don't really care that they are likely to take the digital file and make their own prints -- I will price accordingly. From what my clients and potential clients have said, I would guess that a large percentage of people would pay for a download if it were available. There's a growing group of people out there who are learning to deal only with digital image files and make their own prints on demand when they want them. For these people they have very little interest in using some "outmoded old technology" by sending off for a print that they have to wait a week to get.

So I could increase, perhaps drastically, my sales volume by being able to sell downloads. The hard part for me would be deciding how to price the download. I don't sell much above 4x6 (and nothing above 5x7), so I'd probably make a tidy profit simply pricing them a little more than, or even the same as, a 4x6. Event photography is a volume business, I make very little money per print. Remember that we're not all selling exclusively fine art here!

[mercphoto]

That is a good point. About you being a racer and so on. If I was the one to take the photo's of you I would sell that file to you for a fare price knowing that it's going to be on a web page and all. But if a fan of yours wanted that file I wouldn't sell it to them.

Good point. The race photogs usually only sell you the files of you, not files for the entire race. Otherwise the profit loss is obvious. :)

I usually tag my photos with some type of copy write.. on the back or small corner in front.

Come to think of it, my karting photos I bought as digital files have a copyright notice, lower-right, in the JPG.

[presscamera]

I am happy to see the amount of interest in my original post about selling digital downloads.

As others have mentioned There are many types of photography where the ability to sell a digital download would be usefull. ie- Real Estate, Products, Sport Events. Even with Stock Photography you normally supply a digital file after you have agreed on a licence fee. And you could price accordingly.

It would open up Smugmugs appeal to professionals overseas who could use the service. It is not practical for International users to try and get their clients to order prints from U.S.A.

Dot Photo have a system for selling digital downloads but their system only generates a link to one image through a light box.

such as

http://www.dotphoto.com/MemDigiViewImage.asp?AID=0&IID=17113112


However they are working on incorporating it into their main shopping cart
where you can select digital dowload after browsing an album

[savannahga]

I want this feature also!

[Baldy]

Interesting thread! I must admit I buy digital photos all the time from the stock houses to illustrate our help pages, etc. (Ironic that the site with 13,500,000 digital images buys stock photos... :scratch) And I'm trying to buy a shot in digital form from the San Franciso Chronicle for my own personal use.

I have to talk to onethumb about how hard this would be and where it fit's with other priorities.

Thanks,
Baldy

[onethumb]

Would making it an option in the shopping cart be acceptable?

Like in the dropdowns for prints, there was a dropdown for Digital File or Digital Image or something?

And then at the end, on the order complete page, they'd have the option of downloading their image, and we could include a link in the order confirmation email as well?

Would your customers understand that "add to cart" also adds digital downloads?

Thanks,

Don

[mercphoto]

Would making it an option in the shopping cart be acceptable?

Like in the dropdowns for prints, there was a dropdown for Digital File or Digital Image or something? Would your customers understand that "add to cart" also adds digital downloads?

Yes, I think it should be in the shopping cart, for the sole reason that money is exchanging hands, and anything involving a purchase should go through only one interface - the shopping cart.

You're correct that we need to think out how we'll do this. My gut instinct answer to your question is "yes". Then we had the issue that I had raised a few months ago when my customers didn't know you could get a print above 8x10. (This was when standard prints was 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10 only). We expanded standard prints to include other sizes. Recently we had another person who offered prints mostly in the odd sizes only, and their customers didn't know to look over at "speciality prints".

I'm not sure what the answer to this problem is. Fundamentally, we need to be able to focus the attention of the customer over to the "standard prints" list box so that they can choose the other options. Because having all options in one list box gets rather large.

One thought I had was to have only print sizes in one box, then paper type in another. But this doesn't really work because luster paper is priced differently than glossy or matte. But it would make the list boxes shorter.

So, if we can somehow get people to notice the list box that has standard prints, speciality prints, gift items, and digital downloads, then we can add digital downloads to the list and have sizes of thumbnail, medium, large and original as choices, priced separately.

Does this help?

[lynnesite]

Interesting thread! I must admit I buy digital photos all the time from the stock houses to illustrate our help pages, etc. (Ironic that the site with 13,500,000 digital images buys stock photos... :scratch) And I'm trying to buy a shot in digital form from the San Franciso Chronicle for my own personal use.

I have to talk to onethumb about how hard this would be and where it fit's with other priorities.

Thanks,
Baldy

Why would you buy from the stock houses rather than opening a thread here with what you're looking for? :scratch

Especially since you could trade services or do the compensation to those who have the pro accounts as well as others via the referral method so easily?

Unless of course they're way cheaper than we would be!
:rofl

I do like the option of pricing digital downloads, wouldn't be a frequent flyer for me though. I would have used it this week--a customer asked to be charged for the research fee/web gallery with proof-sized images at delivery. A little unusual, but they want the costs broken up into several chunks. They still have to give me their press runs, sizes, markets etc, then after they make their picks, they'd like to pay right then (suuuuweeeeet, eh?)

My event stuff has "legs", the above example is for sponsored individuals by a national company, I had the images they want in stock. It sells for editorial use besides personal use long after the event itself. YMMV!

Lynne
stock photographer

[presscamera]

Would making it an option in the shopping cart be acceptable?

Like in the dropdowns for prints, there was a dropdown for Digital File or Digital Image or something?

And then at the end, on the order complete page, they'd have the option of downloading their image, and we could include a link in the order confirmation email as well?

Would your customers understand that "add to cart" also adds digital downloads?

Thanks,

Don

Don

I think this would be great and I would upgrade to Pro if you could get this
as it would open up more oportunites to market your work on an International basis.

Cheers

[scrooks]

Would making it an option in the shopping cart be acceptable? Yes, I agree with others that it should be a shopping cart purchase so that things are consistent. How to make it clear that downloads are available for purchase in the ordering process, I don't know. I haven't given that one too much thought at this point. My users are not terribly computer literate, but the ones who actually want a download may be slightly more so.

It would be nice to offer different sizes of downloads also. I wonder how many people who would order downloads of my stuff would really want a 1.5 megabyte image. I'll bet most would be happier with something with maybe half the resolution and a lower quality on the jpeg settings. That's something I would be fine letting Smugmug do the conversion for, although I imagine others would want to carefully tweak each size on their own.

[savannahga]

I agree

[savannahga]

Image file downloads would be the best for me, being that most of the people
who contact me are for files. I have a very specific nitch site. Savannah is a tourist town & the many websites, tourist businesses, & Chamber of Commerce, Visitors bureau etc. may need my services to promote Savannah. I want to be their go-to guy. I can sell them now (which I already have) but doing it via the "Cart" will make it alot easier for both of us.

Jeff

[CelsoDiniz]

Hi, I have a couple of questions about SmugMug vs. DotPhoto vs. ShutterStock vs. iStock vs. DreamsTime vs. BigStockPhoto...

You can see on my BLOG (http://amateurphotomoney.blogspot.com/)that even though I'm an amateur photographer I've been trying to sell my photos on four sites that read IPTC information at upload time and have customers who buy exclusivelly downloads. They are ShutterStock (http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=2525), iStock (http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?action=file&userID=406230), DreamsTime (http://www.dreamstime.com/Celsodiniz_info) and BigStockPhoto (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/core.php?infoac=byR6tmJsP4&you=1). ShutterStock pays 23 cents on the photo downloaded, and the others pays 50 cents on the download. And since January I have sold $25 dollars...

The problem with those sites is that they accept the pictures they like or actually the ones they need. But I'd like to send potencial buyers to a personal web site where I could set my own price and put the pictures I want availabe for downloads. SmugMug does not serve this purpose, but it looks like DotPhoto does. Is that right ?

On the other hand it looks like DotPhoto does not have a set of customers who only buy downloads like ShutterStock, iStock, DreamsTime, BigStockPhoto. Do they ?

And my final question maybe should be sent to SmugMug support: Is SmugMug planning to offer ot its users (like me) the ability to build special galleries with downloadable pictures at my own price ? Because I would rather stick with SmugMug than have to go now signing up for another service provider like DotPhoto... I already have ALL my photos on SmugMug anyway...

I'd love to hear your and other users thoughts about all my questions above.

Thanks,
Celso.

I am happy to see the amount of interest in my original post about selling digital downloads.

As others have mentioned There are many types of photography where the ability to sell a digital download would be usefull. ie- Real Estate, Products, Sport Events. Even with Stock Photography you normally supply a digital file after you have agreed on a licence fee. And you could price accordingly.

It would open up Smugmugs appeal to professionals overseas who could use the service. It is not practical for International users to try and get their clients to order prints from U.S.A.

Dot Photo have a system for selling digital downloads but their system only generates a link to one image through a light box.

such as

http://www.dotphoto.com/MemDigiViewImage.asp?AID=0&IID=17113112

However they are working on incorporating it into their main shopping cart
where you can select digital dowload after browsing an album

[mercphoto]

You can see on my BLOG (http://amateurphotomoney.blogspot.com/)that even though I'm an amateur photographer I've been trying to sell my photos on four sites that read IPTC information at upload time and have customers who buy exclusivelly downloads. They are ShutterStock (http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=2525), iStock (http://www.istockphoto.com/file_search.php?action=file&userID=406230), DreamsTime (http://www.dreamstime.com/Celsodiniz_info) and BigStockPhoto (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/core.php?infoac=byR6tmJsP4&you=1). ShutterStock pays 23 cents on the photo downloaded, and the others pays 50 cents on the download. And since January I have sold $25 dollars...

The problem with those sites is that they accept the pictures they like or actually the ones they need. But I'd like to send potencial buyers to a personal web site where I could set my own price and put the pictures I want availabe for downloads.

I occasionally need to sell digital files as well, and I have to handle this outside of Smugmug (usually by mailing a CD, or doing an FTP transfer). But, I get significantly more than 50 cents a file too. ;) I think that for some users, having a Smugmug digital download would be a great idea. Smug would charge some fee for the download, and pro users could set their own price. Just like with prints. I have no idea how much Smugmug would have to charge to make this worth their while. The other can of worms is though it is simple for them to sell your original file, what if you wanted to offer smaller sizes for sale? Do they do the downsampling or do you? And if you do, it increases Smugmug's storage capacity needs to store multiple versions of the same file.

Smug could certainly say they are in the business of prints and merchandise, not of digital files. And if they say that I am fine with that. The argument could be made that these other sites are so cheap that it is not worth competing with them. While I would like to sell digital files as stock as well, I'm not about to sell files as cheap as these placing are willing to let them go for.

[Matthew Saville]

I still think selling mounted / framed prints would be even cooler... :-D

-matt-

[mercphoto]

I still think selling mounted / framed prints would be even cooler... :-D

Not sure there is a market for that. And the overhead is really high, as well as labor. I don't know if anyone knows about www.usa-pics.com, but I was an agent for them. They didn't last very long, and they tried to do exactly that.

[Doug Munn - JLM PHOTO]

It would be nice to be able sell screen savers for download.

We do racing and equine photography. At events people would like to remember their successes with screensavers.

Three sizes could be 640x480, 800x600 and 1024x768 if there was the option whereby we could upload a image file that could be put in the corner with our logo or copyright information, that would be fantastic.

I think that this would be a hot seller, goes along with photo mouse pads.

[mercphoto]

It would be nice to be able sell screen savers for download.

Agreed. I'd like to be able to sell digital files as well, and to be able to say which sizes I will allow for sale, and how much for each. Thumbnails, medium, large, and original file options.

Hey guys, the requests are getting more numerous. :) Surely Smug can make some money charging some amount for the bandwidth consumed during the download.

[SteveLongPhoto]

I did a track day last year and the photographer wouldn't sell me a disk of the Hi-Res images of me. All he would sell me was a $10 CD of 3 LO-RES images. It even took him extra time to resize the photos. What's he going to do with a bunch of pictures of a middle-aged fart riding a dirt bike around a race track? Who's he going to sell them to if not me? At another event a different photographer sold me a CD of every shot they made of me in Hi-Res for $75. I was happy and he made $65 more than the other guy.

So, yes, I would like to be able to sell hi-res digital files as well. Think about it, you could probably sell the download for close to same price as an 8 x 10 or 11 x 14, and it's all profit. Smugmug takes their 15% and everybody is happy.

[minoltaman]

Digital downloads rock and it would make an outstanding extra revenue stream for smugmug and the photographers here. Dd's are here to stay with the micro-sales sites, regular stock sites and scripts that do the Dd popping up everywhere these days. This is a newish wave just hitting and adding this service to smugmugs line-up would easily allow smugmug to wax the rest of the players on the net, hands down, putting smugmug head and shoulders above all of the competition.

Anything will do for me as long as I can sell at least the full size images and everything else would be extra gravy for me. Coupon codes to allow for discounts in the payment stream would be nice as well as the ability to sell smaller images.

Would love to see this one in the near future for sure.

Excellent suggestion.

-don

[CelsoDiniz]

SmugMug, not sure you've been checking the threads where many users manifest their interest to sell downloads ! This is really important to us.

You can check on my blog http://amateurphotomoney.blogspot.com/ that I've been working with four sites that read IPTC information at upload time and they are dedicated to sell only downloads of pictures. They are BigStockPhoto, DreamsTime, iStock and ShutterStock.

The only problem is they pick only the photos they need or they like. So, I'd love to have the option to point buyers to my Portfolio Album on SmugMug and give them the option to download any other of my photos they like paying my own price.

I see many people indicating DotPhoto for that, but I've tried them and to be honest I don't like the way that site is designed, and on the other hand I love SmugMug features and I've been your user for years now. See ? We'd rather stick to SmugMug than look for others...

What do you say ? Is there any chance you guys will let us sell downloads any time soon ?

Thanks !
Celso.

[minoltaman]

Would making it an option in the shopping cart be acceptable?

Like in the dropdowns for prints, there was a dropdown for Digital File or Digital Image or something?

And then at the end, on the order complete page, they'd have the option of downloading their image, and we could include a link in the order confirmation email as well?

Would your customers understand that "add to cart" also adds digital downloads?

Thanks,

DonSeems like a winning solution to me!:lift Lets get it:whip done! :deal :super

Thanks!

-don

[JamesJWeg]

Just for informations sake for smugmug staff, I have personally sold 330 photo's via digital download in the last 30 days, you are missing some money here. My current method is upon payment I totally open up thier gallery and they can just downloadd them, and SM gets NOTHING!!, NADA!!! NONE!!!! of the money, I would use a digital download feature simply to make life easier for me assuming it is done on the same percent basis as prints. Digital downloads are great for stuff like the track pics that I am doing, the person is buying shots of themselves, now I wouldn't go that route for regular artistic style shots.

James.

[minoltaman]

Just for informations sake for smugmug staff, I have personally sold 330 photo's via digital download in the last 30 days, you are missing some money here. My current method is upon payment I totally open up thier gallery and they can just downloadd them, and SM gets NOTHING!!, NADA!!! NONE!!!! of the money, I would use a digital download feature simply to make life easier for me assuming it is done on the same percent basis as prints.

Exactly, if you don't own a dd program this is a practice many of us use with password protected galleries and paypal or the like (this is yet another reason to have strong password protection). I have also sold many downloads, and like you said James, smugmug ain't getting a penny off of the open gallery system. I purchased an automated program last year so I don't have to do this as often anymore. But, I still do use the open gallery or directory system to fill peoples digital download file requests at times. To be quite honest, I sell a ton more downloads than prints.

Good post, James.:nod

Cheers

-don

[CelsoDiniz]

Hello, I have just found a new site where we can sell downloads: www.canstockphoto.com (http://www.canstockphoto.com) ... meanwhile I'd like to know if SmugMug has finally committed to let us sell downloads of our pictures here, or not...

SmugMug, not sure you've been checking the threads where many users manifest their interest to sell downloads ! This is really important to us.

You can check on my blog http://amateurphotomoney.blogspot.com/ that I've been working with four sites that read IPTC information at upload time and they are dedicated to sell only downloads of pictures. They are BigStockPhoto, DreamsTime, iStock and ShutterStock.

The only problem is they pick only the photos they need or they like. So, I'd love to have the option to point buyers to my Portfolio Album on SmugMug and give them the option to download any other of my photos they like paying my own price.

I see many people indicating DotPhoto for that, but I've tried them and to be honest I don't like the way that site is designed, and on the other hand I love SmugMug features and I've been your user for years now. See ? We'd rather stick to SmugMug than look for others...

What do you say ? Is there any chance you guys will let us sell downloads any time soon ?

Thanks !
Celso.

[Baldy]

Hello, I have just found a new site where we can sell downloads: www.canstockphoto.com (http://www.canstockphoto.com) ... meanwhile I'd like to know if SmugMug has finally committed to let us sell downloads of our pictures here, or not...I think the honest answer is we're intrigued enough to think about user interface issues, etc., but we're not yet committed in the sense that we can't promise we'll do it.

All the best,
Baldy

[JamesJWeg]

I think the honest answer is we're intrigued enough to think about user interface issues, etc., but we're not yet committed in the sense that we can't promise we'll do it.

All the best,
Baldy
Baldy, I think in all honesty DD's are the direction of the future, it would be a big mistake for you to miss getting on this asap.

James.

[onethumb]

Baldy, I think in all honesty DD's are the direction of the future, it would be a big mistake for you to miss getting on this asap.

James.

So here's an interesting question: What should the base line price be? We have to have a minimum, simply because it costs smugmug money to process the request (writing shopping cart software, credit card processing fees, customer support assistance, etc).

So, like the 4x6s are $0.29 base and then Pros can mark them up, we need a base price to begin with for digital downloads. (Note that if someone orders a single 4x6, we lose quite a bit of money on that order. Luckily, that doesn't happen often, but digital downloads are different). I'd think the base price would almost have to be in the $1-$2.50 range, but that number is just off the top of my head without actually running numbers on what our costs would be.

Pros could then charge, say, $5 or $10 (or more) and make the spread between the base and their price.

Anyone have thoughts on what this base price should be?

Don

[winnjewett]

Anyone have thoughts on what this base price should be?

Don
I don't think it will matter what the base price is to any photographer. Here's why: A photog who expects to sell one or two to each customer will set his price up in the high range (> $10), and the photog who expects to sell lots to each customer will set his prices lower. It sounds as though smugmug will do fine with either option.

To ensure this happens, why not offer a quantity discount:
1-4 ....... $1.00
5-9 ....... $0.75
10-24 .... $0.50
25-99 .... $0.30

[Nikolai]

I don't think it will matter what the base price is to any photographer. Here's why: A photog who expects to sell one or two to each customer will set his price up in the high range (> $10), and the photog who expects to sell lots to each customer will set his prices lower. It sounds as though smugmug will do fine with either option.

To ensure this happens, why not offer a quantity discount:
1-4 ....... $1.00
5-9 ....... $0.75
10-24 .... $0.50
25-99 .... $0.30
I agree with winn:thumb , let's start with something and have this feature in place, any pro would crank the pricing anyway.

A couple of minor tweaks:

1. There should be a "Main Switch" to enable/disable DD in general

2. Base prices (for those who can't change them) should take standard '.9' rule into account.
In winn's example:
$0.99
$0.74
$0.49
$0.29
etc.

HTH

[mercphoto]

I don't think it will matter what the base price is to any photographer. Here's why: A photog who expects to sell one or two to each customer will set his price up in the high range (> $10), and the photog who expects to sell lots to each customer will set his prices lower. It sounds as though smugmug will do fine with either option.

To ensure this happens, why not offer a quantity discount:
1-4 ....... $1.00
5-9 ....... $0.75
10-24 .... $0.50
25-99 .... $0.30

Neat idea, but I don't know how to implement it, nor why Smugmug should. For example, I would like to sell a lot to anyone, whether prints or digital downloads. So why not volume pricing for everything?

As per pricing, I want Smugmug to make enough to make it worth their while. I would not mind pricing per size as well (medium, large, and original -- any reason to sell a thumbnail?)

How about medium $1, large $1.50, and original $2.00? I'll agree it doesn't matter a ton to me, I won't price any file under $10 myself.

[CelsoDiniz]

Check this out:

http://www.dotphoto.com/PricingAndReturn.asp

Digital Downloads Product Price Screen Res $1.00 Hi Res $2.00

Note: Those are ideas for minimums... and we can put our price on top of it...

[CelsoDiniz]

While DotPhoto works like SmugMug with the additional feature to allow DD... Here you can also check other services that focus on sharing stock photos only:

http://www.bigstockphoto.com

You can download stock photos by purchasing Photo Credits for as low as $1.48 each - compare with standard stock photo prices of $40 - $200 each.

(http://%0Ahttp://www.dreamstime.com)http://www.dreamstime.com

Designers?
1. Register for free and access the lowest prices royalty free stock photography.
2. Buy credits for downloading stock photos; high resolution stock images can reach as low as $0.67 each.
3. Immediately download from our huge collection of royalty free images. More stock photos added daily!
for

img/sep.gif
Photographers?
Sell your stock images and get 50% from each sale you make. Join our powerful photo community and reach new stock photography markets.


http://www.istockphoto.com/

That cheap. Really.
$1 - Low resolution stock photography
$2 - Medium resolution stock photography
$3 - High resolution stock photography
http://www.shutterstock.com/ (http://www.shutterstock.com/)

For photo buyers:

Subscription Prices 1 Month ..... $139 (USD) (http://subscribe.mhtml) 3 Months ..... $395 (USD) (http://subscribe.mhtml?picked_sub=90) 6 Months ..... $749 (USD) (http://subscribe.mhtml?picked_sub=180) 1 Year ..... $1359 (USD) (http://subscribe.mhtml?picked_sub=365)
For photographers:

Current Payout is (US) $0.20 per download!

Note: Those are ideas for minimums... and we can put our price on top of it...

[winnjewett]

2. Base prices (for those who can't change them) ... Is there any reason for non-pros to enable this feature? They can't make money off of the sale of their photos, and I don't think that smugmug can legally profit from the sale of other people's copyrighted material (printing services are different).

-winn

[CelsoDiniz]

Is there any reason for non-pros to enable this feature? They can't make money off of the sale of their photos, and I don't think that smugmug can legally profit from the sale of other people's copyrighted material (printing services are different).

-winn Others please correct me, but the deal here is for SmugMug to allow users (photographers) to direct potential customers to their portfolio on Smugmug, where those buyers would be able to download photos for an specific price. Let's say SmugMug minimum is one dollar, and I set up it for 5 dollars... If they buyer downloads it, I keep 4 and 1 goes to SmugMug. As simple as that. Nothing to do with the use of the prints that will come out of those downlaods because we're talking about "royalty-free" here...

And talking about "royalty-free"... I guess this extract from an FAQ of BigStockPhoto would help to clarify things a little bit about the download business:

What does "royalty-free" mean?
It means that we won't ask you to pay based on the number of times you are using the photo. You pay for each download, and you cannot resell the photo as a stock image or alone, but it may be included in a work or product as long as the photo itself comprises 50% or less of the overall value or the product you are selling.

What can I do with the photos I download?
Anything you like more or less, except resell or repost them, or defame the models in the photos - as long as you are not breaking any copyright or trademark laws. There are some uses that would constitute

For instance, you cannot use the photo as part of a trademark, since the photos copyright belongs to the photographer.

Another example that would get you in trouble most likely would be creating a web site for Nazi Skinhead Child Molesters Organization and showing a recognizable office building with a label "Our Offices" (unless of course you really had offices there!).

So there are some limits, but not too many. Consult your legal advisors if you are concerned about your specific usage.

Can others buy them after I do?
Yes, the photo can be purchased by any BigStockPhoto member from this web site.

Do I lose my rights to the photos after I've uploaded them?
You do not lose the copyright or ownership... but by uploading, you do agree to allow BigStockPhoto to use and sell your photo for a minimum of 90 days, and pay you for it. We do not encourage removing your photos - and if you are the kind of person who posts and then removes photos alot (some do), we would kindly suggest that you might be better off elsewhere as it costs a lot to host, market, approve and manage the photos. We are hoping you'll leave you photos online for a very long time. That being said we are reasonable people and if we get a request to remove a photo, most likely, we'll take it off the site for you. But we can't prevent anyone who has already downloaded/purchased it from using it.

[winnjewett]

Others please correct me, but the deal here is for SmugMug to allow users (photographers) to direct potential customers to their portfolio on Smugmug, where those buyers would be able to download photos for an specific price. Let's say SmugMug minimum is one dollar, and I set up it for 5 dollars... If they buyer downloads it, I keep 4 and 1 goes to SmugMug. As simple as that. Nothing to do with the use of the prints that will come out of those downlaods because we're talking about "royalty-free" here... What I meant by stating that SM couldn't profit from non-pros is that they have not given permission for SM to do so, and they themselves are not profiting.
-winn

[simon bennett]

[QUOTE=onethumb]So here's an interesting question: What should the base line price be? We have to have a minimum, simply because it costs smugmug money to process the request (writing shopping cart software, credit card processing fees, customer support assistance, etc).

If you're going to automate this as a feature, then as someone who tests the logic of complex computer systems, may I suggest the following:

1) You're looking to implement this as part of your 'cart' process. Make sure that the user knows from the beginning that they're selecting and receiving a digital version of the image. Make that clear. You're adding to a wed-standard process. ie: people will go in to auto-mode and this is where they're likely to miss any deviance from an original path. Just make sure it's obvious.

2) Baseline. The simple answer is - you can't. I'd suggest having a list of possible transaction prices (and included % for SM's take) - then the two parties involved contact each other and agree on a sum for the transaction (all can be done through SM). SM displays total including breakdown of their commission (do this as a sliding % scale) and once the two parties agree to the final figure (electronic signature) - the download can take place. All automated, all immediate (dependant on time it takes for two parties to agree on price), no hassles.

If you're looking for a T/BA (Test/Business Analyst) ... let me know.

[Nikolai]

Is there any reason for non-pros to enable this feature? They can't make money off of the sale of their photos, and I don't think that smugmug can legally profit from the sale of other people's copyrighted material (printing services are different).

-winn
Unless I'm mistaken, non-pros cannot benefit from selling their prints also..
And I'll don't think any pro would sell the original for $1 either (unless we're talking about cellphone pictures:-)..

I would agree with you that this feature should be OFF by default anyways..

[onethumb]

I don't think it will matter what the base price is to any photographer. Here's why: A photog who expects to sell one or two to each customer will set his price up in the high range (> $10), and the photog who expects to sell lots to each customer will set his prices lower. It sounds as though smugmug will do fine with either option.

To ensure this happens, why not offer a quantity discount:
1-4 ....... $1.00
5-9 ....... $0.75
10-24 .... $0.50
25-99 .... $0.30

Volume pricing is an extra layer of complexity which I'm not willing to add.

Fixed price, just like prints, no matter the quantity.

Don

[onethumb]

Check this out:

http://www.dotphoto.com/PricingAndReturn.asp

Digital Downloads Product Price Screen Res $1.00 Hi Res $2.00

Note: Those are ideas for minimums... and we can put our price on top of it...

FYI, should we do this, we're only going to offer Original sized downloads, not other sizes. So we're talking about a single price.

Don

[mercphoto]

FYI, should we do this, we're only going to offer Original sized downloads, not other sizes. So we're talking about a single price.

And I don't have a problem with that myself.

[CelsoDiniz]

FYI, should we do this, we're only going to offer Original sized downloads, not other sizes. So we're talking about a single price.

Don
That's fine with me too...

[Nikolai]

FYI, should we do this, we're only going to offer Original sized downloads, not other sizes. So we're talking about a single price.

Don
Fine by me...:thumb

[JamesJWeg]

FYI, should we do this, we're only going to offer Original sized downloads, not other sizes. So we're talking about a single price.

Don
Sounds good to me, just get it done please. (know it's not something you can just snap your fingers and do, but please get it off the back burner)

James.

[Bodley]

Volume pricing is an extra layer of complexity which I'm not willing to add.

Fixed price, just like prints, no matter the quantity.

DonYeah, it's an extra layer I really don't want to think about either.

DD option would be nice though.

Greg

[CelsoDiniz]

Hi, I have just updated the blog http://amateurphotomoney.blogspot.com/

You'll find all the links and numbers on the blog, and I'm still on the track to buy my new camera with the money I make from my Amateur Photos sold on-line ;-)

I had earnings of more than $50 USD after 116 days and 128 uploads !!! Now working with 5 online stock photo web sites, and still hoping that SmugMug will offer the DD option for us pretty soon.

Tks !
Celso.

[winnjewett]

Hey, I was wondering if there is any sort of progress report on the digital download front. Is there any chance that this will be available for the Baja 500 race in June? That would be FANTASTIC!

Thanks,
Winn

[onethumb]

Hey, I was wondering if there is any sort of progress report on the digital download front. Is there any chance that this will be available for the Baja 500 race in June? That would be FANTASTIC!

Thanks,
Winn

There's still lots of thought going on about it, but I highly doubt anything useable would be ready by the end of June. It's gonna be a longer timeframe than that.

Don

[winnjewett]

There's still lots of thought going on about it, but I highly doubt anything useable would be ready by the end of June. It's gonna be a longer timeframe than that.

Don That's what I figured, but it was worth a shot in the dark to not have to worry about it.

-Winn

[Chase]

I have a pro smugmug account and mostly do event photography (school plays, games ect). I would like to lend my support to the other folks who want a digital download system for smugmug. Ive been nothing but impressed with your service (except outtages always come at the worst times :wxwax). People want these photographs to share with friends by email and to set as desktop backgrounds, and it seems like a good 1/3 of my customers are only interested in digital downloads, not to mention all the people who have been turned away because they are not interested in a piece of paper.

[Aaron Wilson]

If i was a customer I would want to purchase the file.. the reason why is once I have that file I now own the right to print as many photos as I want from that file... As the photographer here on this site, I would never want a person to get my file. If smugmug was to offer the file or a print it should be set in the custom settings and defualt to image vs. file. For people that want the files and are paying for them; I wait till I get there money and send them a cd or dvd with the files.. why don't you try that? or use rapid share.. you can store your files there password protect them let them pay you and then give then the password to unloack them.
I have a pro smugmug account and mostly do event photography (school plays, games ect). I would like to lend my support to the other folks who want a digital download system for smugmug. Ive been nothing but impressed with your service (except outtages always come at the worst times :wxwax). People want these photographs to share with friends by email and to set as desktop backgrounds, and it seems like a good 1/3 of my customers are only interested in digital downloads, not to mention all the people who have been turned away because they are not interested in a piece of paper.

[winnjewett]

...or use rapid share.. you can store your files there password protect them let them pay you and then give then the password to unloack them.
this system wouldn't work very well for the event photographer with a couple hundred to a couple thousand photos from one event. pw protecting the entire, or portions of the entire gallery would mean giving away way too many photos. The alternative is to password protect each individual photo, which is way too labor intensive to do by hand, which is why we need the help of smugmug.

-winn

[Chase]

Well said.

I dont have the time. :dunno

[JamesJWeg]

this system wouldn't work very well for the event photographer with a couple hundred to a couple thousand photos from one event. pw protecting the entire, or portions of the entire gallery would mean giving away way too many photos. The alternative is to password protect each individual photo, which is way too labor intensive to do by hand, which is why we need the help of smugmug.

-winn Well said, I have found that even sorting by person and pwding them is a pain.

James.

[presscamera]

FYI, should we do this, we're only going to offer Original sized downloads, not other sizes. So we're talking about a single price.

Don

That sounds fine by me I just want to upload pics to a gallery and allow people to order the original files from there after having paid a fee set by me which smigmug would get their commission on.

[CelsoDiniz]

That sounds fine by me I just want to upload pics to a gallery and allow people to order the original files from there after having paid a fee set by me which smigmug would get their commission on.
Yes, let's go for it...

[mercphoto]

If i was a customer I would want to purchase the file.. the reason why is once I have that file I now own the right to print as many photos as I want from that file... As the photographer here on this site, I would never want a person to get my file. If smugmug was to offer the file or a print it should be set in the custom settings and defualt to image vs. file. For people that want the files and are paying for them; I wait till I get there money and send them a cd or dvd with the files.. why don't you try that? or use rapid share.. you can store your files there password protect them let them pay you and then give then the password to unloack them.

First of all, if Smug was to offer this, it would be through the standard shopping cart. As such, I have the right to set a price for the download, including a price of $0, which means the person cannot buy the digital file.

Next, I am conflicted at times myself on this. As a current race photographer I'd like to sell prints, and if they want more than one print, I'd like more than one order. But when I was racing myself, I wanted digital files. I never bought a print, but I did buy files.

Now, I'm starting to offer digital files. I have to admit, its what the racers want. I just sold a CD, and starting to slowly advertise the offering in my "bio" section of my website.

Its a shame I can't offer this (yet) directly through my Smugmug shopping cart. Would be much easier on me. But unti that happens, I'll do it through separate means.

[presscamera]

For those who are interested in a Digital Download solution have a look at
http://www.photostockplus.com.
Has anyone used this service? or does anyone have any comments?

$99 a year gets you 500MB of space with the ability to set prices for Downloads. After the image is sold it is accessable to the customer from a holding page for 48 hours.

[mercphoto]

Another suggestion pop'd into my head last night. When Smugmug implements digital downloads from the shopping cart, could that option be put under the "standard prints" pull-down? The rational being that is the easiest point for people to find that option. You add a print to your cart, it gets automatically added first as a 4x6. They scroll down their list of choices: 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 20x30, and voila, "digital file download".

[geraldfinnegan]

Another suggestion pop'd into my head last night. When Smugmug implements digital downloads from the shopping cart, could that option be put under the "standard prints" pull-down? The rational being that is the easiest point for people to find that option. You add a print to your cart, it gets automatically added first as a 4x6. They scroll down their list of choices: 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 20x30, and voila, "digital file download".
There's a service i'm checking out: Payloadz. They give you "ADD TO CART" buttons which you place on any page with photos you want to sell downoads of, from any site, (Smugmug being the one we're interested in). They interface with PayPal for the process of a purchase (though they are not part pf PayPal itself). When someone buys a download, they are sent to PayPal for the payment. Once received, Payloadz then immediately downloads the file, a copy of which you have previously stored on their server. This all happens when the customer clciks "ADD TO CART".
I'll let you know if it works in a week or so. I have to set it up first. One question, for a "large" file, as in that size on Smugmug, or perhaps one that is screen-size, what is a reasonable price to ask? Can't be a lot. Volume would bring in any significant money, but what's a ball park price for a download.
jerry
www.finnegan.smugmug.com

[mercphoto]

One question, for a "large" file, as in that size on Smugmug, or perhaps one that is screen-size, what is a reasonable price to ask? Can't be a lot. Volume would bring in any significant money, but what's a ball park price for a download.

Depends on the type of photo and the customer. I'm selling race photos. I remember when I was racing myself that my pain limit was $10 per image, or $100 per CD. And that's what I'm pricing. That's a "original" image file (with added copyright text on the image).

Now, if I was selling fine art, or selling commissioned photos for an advertising campaign, I'd want more. I have no idea how much though...

[Aaron Wilson]

If I were to ever think about it in any way of saling my files... mercphoto (member.php?u=534) has the best way of doint it. That way on the drop down menu like my current photos I can chose to or not too have it as an option. As I currently only offer some of the print sizes and choose not to offer all.:uhoh

[CelsoDiniz]

So... is SmugMug looking into offering the digital downloads any time soon or not ?

I was trying to use DotPhoto but they only allow digital downloads through public search or public galleries, meaning you can not point someone to your own website and let them buy your downloads...

I really hope I will not find another service that offers the digital downloads plus the other services that I have with SmugMug. I do like SmugMug a lot, but you guys are forcing us all to look for other solutions... why do that ?

Find a way to sell digital downloads and bring more customers, rather than loosing part of your current ones. Please, let us know at least a timeframe we could expect to have this feature enabled, or let us know at once if we won't have it at all, or won't have it for the next 12, 24, 36 months, whatever.

Thanks for your attention.
Regards,
Celso.

[XO-Studios]

There's a service i'm checking out: Payloadz. They give you "ADD TO CART" buttons which you place on any page with photos you want to sell downoads of, from any site, (Smugmug being the one we're interested in). They interface with PayPal for the process of a purchase (though they are not part pf PayPal itself). When someone buys a download, they are sent to PayPal for the payment. Once received, Payloadz then immediately downloads the file, a copy of which you have previously stored on their server. This all happens when the customer clciks "ADD TO CART".
I checked out PayLoadz, but talk abouut spendy. The biggest catch being the storage fee. Currently on smugmug I have 2.9 Gb worth of files, and lets say 1/3 of them are worthy of sales. That is still 1 Gb, which on PayLoadz translates to either a lot of money, or the 15% commission setup (hmm which isn't that bad really)

How have your results been so far?

XO,

[XO-Studios]

There's still lots of thought going on about it, but I highly doubt anything useable would be ready by the end of June. It's gonna be a longer timeframe than that.

DonDon,

Speaking for myself (but likely some others as well) at this point in time, I love SM, it is great. However, and knowing this through other channels and customer feedback, the photography I do, many ppl simply like (and would buy) the file (digital download) before they would purchase prints. I call this phenomena McPhoto, i.e. I have money now, so I want my pictures now (instant gratification)

Either way, I feel I am missing out on potential revenue.

Could you or someone from sm give us a reasonable expectation/forecast if this is something that is due to appear within the next 4-8 weeks, or if this is 4-8 mnths out. All I am looking for is some indication, not a firm commitment. This would allow me to make a decision for myself if I need to do something to supplement (yes supplement not replace, I am a happy sm customer) sm and enable digital downloads for the time being until sm will allow this as well.

Inquiringly,


XO,

[James Broome]

Good thread!

With more and more customers becoming tech-savvy, I'm sure some of mine would be more interested in purchasing the high-res file than they would a print. Consider me one of those in favor of this idea.

[Jordan Motorsports]

In the few months that I've been a pro subscriber to Smugmug, my cumulative print sales have been about equal to the cost of the membership. However, my customers all come to the website, chew up the bandwidth, and email me a list of photos they want on CD or in an email. That total is in the thousands. I really don't have the time or energy to keep making and mailing CDs, emailing files, etc. I'll gladly give Smugmug a couple bucks from each file to handle digital downloads for me.

[JamesJWeg]

In the few months that I've been a pro subscriber to Smugmug, my cumulative print sales have been about equal to the cost of the membership. However, my customers all come to the website, chew up the bandwidth, and email me a list of photos they want on CD or in an email. That total is in the thousands. I really don't have the time or energy to keep making and mailing CDs, emailing files, etc. I'll gladly give Smugmug a couple bucks from each file to handle digital downloads for me.
Yes, for every frame I have sold on SM I have mailed about 25 on cd, way more sales of files than prints. Many racers want to edit as in add text etc to thier prints.

James.

[kvkphoto]

Yes, the digital files selling is a very attractive option. After all, it must be an option so if somebody doesn't want to sell the originals, they don't have to.

The shopping cart is the way to go.

One note: The image download link must be unique and provide a limited download ability. Each link should have something like GIUD and allow to download 3 times within 7 days, after that the link must be made unavailable. It must be clearly stated in the e-mail to buyer. Similair technique is used sometimes for digital software purchases.

It would be really cool to allow to order files on CD/DVD as well. Some of the quite big to download. Then the customer would probably back them up anyway.

However, there is one problem with digital downloads: rights management. It is a pain in a butt when it comes to selling images online (especially providing such a service). The Smugmug must be ready to get tonns of e-mails from photographers about copyright infrigments, etc etc... We are, as photographers, must be ready to track our images. We just must be VERY picky on what we sell on-line via Smugmug. Will Smugmug collect model releases for example? :):

[mercphoto]

However, there is one problem with digital downloads: rights management.
That is not a problem. The solution is simple. You do not allow a customer to purchase a digital file that you want to have rights managed. For any RM purchase he must negotiate with you, and you then send the file yourself. I would only offer images for digital download if I intended an RF (royalty free) model of usage. In reality, the only images I will offer for digital download are racing images, and those only have appeal to the racer himself.

[Angelo]

I fear anyone who is adverse to selling digital files will be left in the dust. Visit Gettyone.com or eyewire.com or any of hundreds of commercial photo sites to see digital files are all they deal with, rights managed or not.

You want to make a real living at this you'll want your images available to art directors and advertising agencies around the globe. They're not going to settle for anything BUT digital files.

[CelsoDiniz]

Anyway... Does anybody know a good service provider where you can organize your portfolio in the form of your own website and point customers to go there in order to download your photos at the prices you set up ?

[jackley]

Any new time estimates on this yet?

Sure would love to be able to offer a pay per download.


james

[DodgeV83]

Any new time estimates on this yet?

Sure would love to be able to offer a pay per download.


james
Why not just put something on your homepage that says to E-mail you to buy digital prints? Then have them pay with Paypal or something? Or you can give out a "free" digital file when someone orders a highly marked up 20x30 print?

Heres a new one! Highly markup the 4xD, 5xD, 8xD ...etc files, and give out a "free" digital file with the D print? Then you can tell people the D stands for Digital :D

[mercphoto]

Why not just put something on your homepage that says to E-mail you to buy digital prints? Then have them pay with Paypal or something?
Because that is inconsistent to the client. I want to provide ONE way to purchase product, not "this way for prints, this other way for files". And, I want Smugmug to handle all my order fulfillment for me.

[cjyphoto]

I would also would like this feature. I just finished an instant message chat with a couple who just purchased two 8X10's and a couple of 5x7's they also wanted the original file. I wound up selling the high res Jpeg to them for $20 but I have to hope they send the check. No big deal this time. Before signing up with Smugmug I narrowed it down to Smugmug and Printroom.com. Printroom does offer the option to sell digital files. They suggest that you price them at 2 to 4 times what you ask for an 8x10. I joined with Smugmug due to the storage space and what seems to be a bigger community. I figured Smugmug would offer this feature eventually. Here's to hoping it is sooner than later.:thumb

Oh BTW my name is Chris and I'm new here.:noob :D

[Andy]

Oh BTW my name is Chris and I'm new here.:noob :D

:wave welcome to dgrin and smugmug, chris!

thanks for your valuable input - we really appreciate it.

[mercphoto]

I wound up selling the high res Jpeg to them for $20 but I have to hope they send the check. No big deal this time.

Next time, send the JPG only after you have recv'd payment.

I'm going to request again as well a means of selling digital files from the Smugmug shopping cart.

[OregonPixels]

I would also would like this feature. <snip> Yes, count me in too !!. I sell photos of local runners in races, and my photos only have worth to a limited amount of people, for a limited amount of time, so parting with the original digital file is not an issue for me.
Where does SmugMug stand on this, currently ??
Thanks for an awesome site......................and this forum !!

Mick
New member

[Andy]

Yes, count me in too !!. I sell photos of local runners in races, and my photos only have worth to a limited amount of people, for a limited amount of time, so parting with the original digital file is not an issue for me.
Where does SmugMug stand on this, currently ??
Thanks for an awesome site......................and this forum !!

Mick
New member

oregon, i've come up with a workaround, which could be used until such time as smugmug implements this, if and when....

example here (http://www.moonriverphotography.com/gallery/52248/1/32115112/Medium), and here's (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=19079&highlight=paypal) the code....

it's not perfect, you'll actually be emailing the files to your buyers, or setting them up in a separate gallery with original access for them to download, but it will get the job done.

[mercphoto]

oregon, i've come up with a workaround, which could be used until such time as smugmug implements this, if and when....
Very clever to put that code in the caption. :)

That works very well for small number of files. However when I do a race there might be 1,000+ files. And people are wanting digital files from the races (I must admit, when I was racing karts, I only bought digital files, never a print).

The race weekend of October 1-2 I have sold so far $450 worth of digital files. All done outside of my Smugmug account. I now make more money from racing doing digital files than doing prints. If Smugmug wants a percentage of this business that is perfectly acceptable to me, as I would prefer to NOT do the work myself to fulfill orders. If I wanted to self-fulfill orders I'd be on Photo Reflect or do my own site altogether.

You said "if and when" Andy. I really don't think Smugmug actually wants to implement this. And I'm not sure why. But I will continue to make noise about it, as alternatives such as PhotoShelter are a bit too pricey at the moment.

[Andy]

You said "if and when" Andy. I really don't think Smugmug actually wants to implement this. And I'm not sure why. But I will continue to make noise about it, as alternatives such as PhotoShelter are a bit too pricey at the moment.

keep making noise, please - smugmug loves to hear from our customers. and bill, "stay tuned...."

thanks for taking the time to post this valuable feedback.

[mercphoto]

keep making noise
ok. :)

And I wish I could get the $100 per digital file that you do! :)

[Bodley]

keep making noise, please - smugmug loves to hear from our customers. and bill, "stay tuned...."
:drums :dj :tough more noise for saleable digital print files. I too have missed some sales due to not having digital print files available. However if I did have the option I'm not sure how I would price them for fear of losing my print sales.

Greg

[scrooks]

I brought this up looooong ago, but I'll put in my "noise" again. I'd love to sell downloadable files.

Other things requested looooong ago: I'd also love to have more control over watermarking. I'd also love to be able to give people some kind of discount/incentive coupons.

Hey, I'm patient. Some of my requests have been implemented, so it's not like I think I'm being ignored. Implementing new features takes time if they're to be done right. Now you SmugMug worker bees stop reading this and get back to work! :D

[OregonPixels]

oregon, i've come up with a workaround, which could be used until such time as smugmug implements this, if and when....

example here (http://www.moonriverphotography.com/gallery/52248/1/32115112/Medium), and here's (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=19079&highlight=paypal) the code....

it's not perfect, you'll actually be emailing the files to your buyers, or setting them up in a separate gallery with original access for them to download, but it will get the job done.
Thanks Andy - I'll check it out !! (next time, don't make me wait a whole 14 minutes to get a reply !!<g>)

[presscamera]

Hello I am a Smugmug member from Australia I am looking for an option to be able to be able to sell Digital Downloads of images.
Can anyone Suggest anything??

Kerry Berrington Can some one in the Smugmug Management please give a simple YES or NO as to whether ther are going to implement a facility for selling Digital Files. this has bee asked for for quite a long time now.

I would like to know before my next renewal is due so I can Plan for the future.

Has anyone seen http://www.photoshelter.com any comments?

Their storage is cheap $5.99pm for 10GB but you need your own merchant account. They are bringin in Pay Pal soon.

K.BERRINGTON

[Andy]

Can some one in the Smugmug Management please give a simple YES or NO as to whether ther are going to implement a facility for selling Digital Files. this has bee asked for for quite a long time now.

I would like to know before my next renewal is due so I can Plan for the future.

Has anyone seen http://www.photoshelter.com any comments?

Their storage is cheap $5.99pm for 10GB but you need your own merchant account. They are bringin in Pay Pal soon.

K.BERRINGTON

Hi presscamera, Thanks again for posting this great thread. I know we're not moving on this as fast as you'd like to see, but if you read onethumb's responses in this thread, you can see that he and all of us are quite keen on doing this. I'm afraid that there's no date I can promise for this, only that it's something we'd we would like to add to the service. I wish I had a better answer for you, and I want to thank you for being a customer, and for your patience with us on this, too.

By the way, I intended to take only a quick look at your website, and I was really impressed with your travel stock stuff- and ended up spending a half hour enjoying your images - great stuff!

[mercphoto]

Hi presscamera, Thanks again for posting this great thread. I know we're not moving on this as fast as you'd like to see, but if you read onethumb's responses in this thread, you can see that he and all of us are quite keen on doing this. I'm afraid that there's no date I can promise for this,
I think what presscamera was wanting to know was, is it going to be in time for their next renewal (which was a date not mentioned by presscamera). Assuming its year's end, will it be ready by December 31? As was mentioned, presscamera is trying to plan for the future. No doesn't have to mean "forever".

[Andy]

I think what presscamera was wanting to know was, is it going to be in time for their next renewal (which was a date not mentioned by presscamera). Assuming its year's end, will it be ready by December 31? As was mentioned, presscamera is trying to plan for the future. No doesn't have to mean "forever".


Hello Bill, thanks for posting. We don't comment on delivery dates for features we're contemplating and/or working on. The last thing we want to do is tell you it's going to be ready for a certain date and then miss it. I'll reiterate: it is something that we want. Onethumb, Baldy have posted this a number of times.

I wish I had a better answer for you, thanks again.

Andy

[mercphoto]

We don't comment on delivery dates for features we're contemplating and/or working on. The last thing we want to do is tell you it's going to be ready for a certain date and then miss it.
Ok, that's an explanation I can live with.

[ginger_55]

WOW

And I desperately need hard drive space, never dreamed........

[jackley]

Adding noise......

blah blah blah, +1 on this feature.

[Bodley]

Any new info on the ability to sell digital downloads?

[Andy]

Any new info on the ability to sell digital downloads?

Hi Bodley - thanks for asking! It's something that we'd very much like to do - and we're continuing to have discussions about - but there's not any new news on if/when etc.

We do know you guys want it - along with a few other features that get mentioned - custom watermarks, backprinting etc. A few mods to the cart.

Keep shouting at us - we love hearing it and hang in there please.

Wish I had a better answer for you.

[jrollins]

Howdy! I've been under a rock and missed this thread until now, so here comes my noise...

I'm just getting started and I would LOVE DD as well. Backprinting would be awesome as well.

...........NOISE................

[pat.kane]

jrollins, I'm not happy with you.

I clicked on the thread and noticed the first date was Jan 5th, so I kept on reading. I really got excited when I saw Baldy's and onethumb's posts (#16 and 17), thinking this was finally going to happen.

THEN I realized that this thread was a year old!

THANKS for getting me all excited for nothing :cry

Since I'm typing, here's another vote for digital downloads

:):

[caseserve]

Would making it an option in the shopping cart be acceptable?

Like in the dropdowns for prints, there was a dropdown for Digital File or Digital Image or something?

And then at the end, on the order complete page, they'd have the option of downloading their image, and we could include a link in the order confirmation email as well?

Would your customers understand that "add to cart" also adds digital downloads?

Thanks,

Don

Yes, I would like this! :thumb But the default when adding images should be NO DIGITAL DOWNLOAD and only when explicitly (sp?) specified.

[swcolleen]

Just thought I would add in that I support the idea of digital downloads as an option. I honestly don't know how much I would get to use it but I could forsee it being helpful in some future events I want to shoot and offer to people for purchase:)

Thanks!

[Raymondh]

I could sure use this feature right about now! Any news? Is there any other site that anyone knows about that offers the option to sell digital downloads?

[mercphoto]

I could sure use this feature right about now! Any news? Is there any other site that anyone knows about that offers the option to sell digital downloads?
Another bump for ya. I just sold a digital file today. On my own. Through email. Rather than through my photography e-commerce site. Bummer. :(

[Andy]

Thanks guys! We know you want it :deal

[SamirD]

Another vote right here. :thumb

[jamescalder]

i haven't done my broken record impersonation on here yet, so...

please consider this post another vote in support of certain-to-be-beautifully-implemented digital downloads on smugmug!
:encore

j

[mercphoto]

i haven't done my broken record impersonation on here yet, so...

please consider this post another vote in support of certain-to-be-beautifully-implemented digital downloads on smugmug!

Bump again. C'mon guys...

[rainforest1155]

please consider this post another vote in support of certain-to-be-beautifully-implemented digital downloads on smugmug!
:encore

j
I wonder why I haven't participated in this thread already - this gets my vote, too! Especially since I've got a pro account myself for some time now.

Thanks,
Sebastian

[technocraft]

We don't have this feature yet?!?!

Like others, I've been offering digital downloads outside of smugmug. Customers send a paypal payment with the url of the image. For lowres (smugmug large), I simply unwatermark the image and let them download it. For highres (smugmug original), I copy the image to a private, password protected gallery where originals are available, then email the gallery url and password to the customer. It's not hard, but it's a pain in the butt compared to how people buy prints.

But I strongly disagree with the base-price for dd proposed earlier in this thread. $1-2.50?!? Are you serious? You already charge for bandwidth, which is what's being used here in the delivery of the product. The cost of processing, payment, etc is made in the 15% you take off the top of our prices, that's not enough? I would not find it unfair for their to be a minimum take for smugmug though, ($0.50 or 15% whichever is larger for example) but I don't see the need for a base price too.

Also, the Specialty Prints vs Standard Prints dropdowns has been a problem for me for a long time. People don't know to move outside that Standard Prints dropdown. Putting dd's there under another category is fine if it makes it easier for you guys to implement, but that's an issue outside of dd's alone.

And I would like to be able to price the dd's as per the sizes available on smumug (S,M,L,O) even though those aren't optimal. I'd like something in between L and O, like 1500px - XL?

[DodgeV83]

I don't think they completely understand how much their profit will increase (more sales = more profit for Smugmug) if they let us do these transactions through Smugmug...

[Canon10D]

upgrade my account to pro once this feature is implemented.

While I may not have the 'inventory' at the moment, this sure would spurr me on to get more shots and be more creative doing it.

I know you have to be working on it... c'mon... think of what you can do to make me spend more money, take more pictures, and get new photo toys? Sounds win - win to me. :wink

Hows that for noise? :deal

[jagra]

A DD feature would be extremely valuable to my Business. My gf is a Graphic Designer and wants me to offer my images to her company through DD to make the transactions more seamless and instant.

I have a couple questions... Would you (smugmug) run into liability problems if an image was dl'ed and used in an ad that didn't have a release? And I know the copyright laws are very different in Canada, let alone all the other countries that might use this service. With an extremely confused take on Photography Copyright law, are there any glaring problems that might prevent you from offering this service?

I am a new signee and so far I really like smugmug. I was running gallery2 on my website before and really appreciate the hands off approach you offer, allowing me to concentrate on photography. I am still in the grace period and think I might explore different options if this won't be implemented soon.

Too bad because I really like the attitude and community behind everything here.

[savannahga]

Looks like this may be a dead issue, this thread was started over a year ago & still no DD capability!? :scratch

[Bodley]

Looks like this may be a dead issue, this thread was started over a year ago & still no DD capability!? :scratch

Don't think it's a dead issue - it's coming - my guess is probably later than sooner.

Also don't think the official Smugmuggers (the ones on the inside) are going to post if or when it's expected.

Andy quote from another post: "A search on Dgrin would show that we've talked about these features many times. Yes, we know that you want these features. Yes, we'd like to have them. Digital downloads, custom watermarks, packages are all on our radar. We never say when a new feature will be available."

[Andy]

Looks like this may be a dead issue, this thread was started over a year ago & still no DD capability!? :scratch

Thanks for letting us know how important this is to you - and it is to us, too!

[bham]

A DD feature would be extremely valuable to my Business. My gf is a Graphic Designer and wants me to offer my images to her company through DD to make the transactions more seamless and instant.

I have a couple questions... Would you (smugmug) run into liability problems if an image was dl'ed and used in an ad that didn't have a release? And I know the copyright laws are very different in Canada, let alone all the other countries that might use this service. With an extremely confused take on Photography Copyright law, are there any glaring problems that might prevent you from offering this service?

I am a new signee and so far I really like smugmug. I was running gallery2 on my website before and really appreciate the hands off approach you offer, allowing me to concentrate on photography. I am still in the grace period and think I might explore different options if this won't be implemented soon.

Too bad because I really like the attitude and community behind everything here.

A couple of dgrinners here had come up with certain ways to sell digital downloads using smugmug as the host. If I remember correctly they basically had a public gallery that had all the images that were for sale. These images had right click protection on them, and I think watermark as well. Then the customer would pay the site owner via paypal for the image or images. Then the owner could upload the image (or copy) to another private password protected gallery that didn't have protection or watermark and give the purchaser a direct link to it. Sound like a lot, but requires some work on your part, but definitely a doable work around. If you wanted additional protection that only the user purchasing the image could use it you may want to add something in the exif data of the image before you upload putting in your copyright and then you have licensed the image to _____ for ______ purpose. That way if it ends up somewhere else and they used the file the exif should still retain that info.

If you are dealing with mainly one client then this would be a very easy thing (at least to me it seems easy enough).

[DodgeV83]

A couple of dgrinners here had come up with certain ways to sell digital downloads using smugmug as the host. If I remember correctly they basically had a public gallery that had all the images that were for sale. These images had right click protection on them, and I think watermark as well. Then the customer would pay the site owner via paypal for the image or images. Then the owner could upload the image (or copy) to another private password protected gallery that didn't have protection or watermark and give the purchaser a direct link to it. Sound like a lot, but requires some work on your part, but definitely a doable work around. If you wanted additional protection that only the user purchasing the image could use it you may want to add something in the exif data of the image before you upload putting in your copyright and then you have licensed the image to _____ for ______ purpose. That way if it ends up somewhere else and they used the file the exif should still retain that info.

If you are dealing with mainly one client then this would be a very easy thing (at least to me it seems easy enough).

Sounds easier to just E-mail the file.

[BBones]

In my case, I have simply "unlocked" the gallery. There have been extremely rare instances where the buyer shared out the link and I noticed the hit counter go through the roof, but that was just a matter of locking it back up again. In the instance where I am wary of a user I give them a 24 hour window OR I mark the gallery and temporarily "Not Public" and then unlock it.

[DodgeV83]

In my case, I have simply "unlocked" the gallery. There have been extremely rare instances where the buyer shared out the link and I noticed the hit counter go through the roof, but that was just a matter of locking it back up again. In the instance where I am wary of a user I give them a 24 hour window OR I mark the gallery and temporarily "Not Public" and then unlock it.

Unlocking the gallery for even 5 minutes = 1 user downloading the originals for every picture in the gallery and giving them out for free. I wouldn't take the risk.

[bham]

Unlocking the gallery for even 5 minutes = 1 user downloading the originals for every picture in the gallery and giving them out for free. I wouldn't take the risk.

Well if the gallery is private and you need a direct link then only those you send the link to could even see the gallery. Thus only someone who paid you got the link. Not likely they will then give it away.

[DodgeV83]

Well if the gallery is private and you need a direct link then only those you send the link to could even see the gallery. Thus only someone who paid you got the link. Not likely they will then give it away.
You say not likely, I say very likely.

Lets say your on the team and you've got the link to a gallery with 100+ pictures. Why would you ever buy more than 1 picture? You know that once you have access you can download them all for free. If I knew that my friend bought a picture and had the link, why would I ask him for it? You can't expect people to do the "right thing"...these are the same people downloading 10,000 mp3's and full length movies for free! I've heard of people saying "No I don't want a print just send me the file......why are you charging for that? Its digital it should be free!"

When they steal mp3s and movies they at least KNOW they are breaking the law...Many people equate digital pictures with "free". The first complaint I had about my site was "What? Why can't I right click and save the pictures?" :rolleyes

[bham]

I think you are misunderstanding what I am saying. I am talking more of from the original question on this thread where a work is created for a specific customer in mind. A image or design, not a picture of multiple people. But in your case I wouldn't sell a digital download with more than 2 people in it for the same price because of that.

Also in your case DodgeV83, you are assuming the gallery with no protection had all the images in it. I am talking one purchase, one gallery, one image.

But I do see you have valid points that my solution doesn't work for all cases. I wasn't proposing it to work for all cases just to the specific case (for jarga) and from how I understood his situation.

If you state your situation clearly then maybe some people could help. But yes if you share the file at any time, then people can share via many means. Even selling a print then someone could scan it and share it for free. Due to this fact you may see many photographers increase their upfront / sitting / shooting fees because of the loss of potential sales from the images on the back end.

[presscamera]

Hello I am a Smugmug member from Australia I am looking for an option to be able to be able to sell Digital Downloads of images.
Can anyone Suggest anything??

Kerry Berrington

I have been absent from this forum for some time. I notice that my original suggestion from Downunder in Australia one and a half years ago has generated a lot of interest but still no action. Maybe by the time that I am in the retirement home and drawing my pension you guys might get your act together. C,mon you guys put a man on the moon!!! this should be a walk in the park.

Kerry Berrington Perth Australia

[spider-t]

Hi Smugmug,

Here's a little more competitive research for you.

I was offered a free year at printroom and have been trying them for some of my event sales. It's not as attractive or customizable as smugmug (at ALL), but the buying is easy, and they put my name on the back of the prints I sell.

(Smugmug also has better service, faster printing, and more consistent colors.)

Printroom offers digital downloads in their list of products and their take seems to be based on the size of your file and the price you are charging.

Out of curiosity (and reading this thread) I went in to my Printroom.com (http://www.printroom.com/ghome.asp?domain_name=trishtunney) pricing page and changed my prices to see what my take was:

price - profit
2.37 - 0 ("minimum price for a file this size")
10. - 6.47
50. - 40.01
75. - 61.01
100. - 82.01

I'll leave the math to you digit heads. My files were 6 megpixel.

cheers,
Trish

[cloudmine]

I am also very interested in the availability of digital downloads for purchase. Most of my inquiries have been regarding the use of my digital images, rather than the sale of individual prints.

I just upgraded to a power account a couple of weeks ago (after having a standard account for over 2 years), but I would seriously consider upgrading to a pro account, if digital downloads were available.

I know there are lots of things to consider when making this move, but I just wanted to put one more opinion out there on this subject.

[mercphoto]

I am also very interested in the availability of digital downloads for purchase.
In two months at Exposure Manager I have sold 5 CD-ROMs (which are self-fulfilled) of race photos. The site also offers individual files for purchase and download but only sold one that way. I've also sold two magazine cover prints (again, self fulfilled).

When the option is in the shopping cart, the option sells. When its not in the shopping cart, when you make the customer do something different to purchase something (such as email me), it doesn't sell.

[Andy]

In two months at Exposure Manager I have sold 5 CD-ROMs (which are self-fulfilled) of race photos. The site also offers individual files for purchase and download but only sold one that way. I've also sold two magazine cover prints (again, self fulfilled).

When the option is in the shopping cart, the option sells. When its not in the shopping cart, when you make the customer do something different to purchase something (such as email me), it doesn't sell.

Thanks presscamera, trish, cloud, Bill, and all the others who've recently commented...

Man I want this so BAAAAAAAAAD! I have been doing everthing I can to keep this front-and-center with Onethumb and JT.

I know you ALL ARE TIRED of hearing me say "hang in there.." but,

"hang in there.." WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

[jagra]

Thanks presscamera, trish, cloud, Bill, and all the others who've recently commented...

Man I want this so BAAAAAAAAAD! I have been doing everthing I can to keep this front-and-center with Onethumb and JT.

I know you ALL ARE TIRED of hearing me say "hang in there.." but,

"hang in there.." WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT.



I'll take that as a positive affirmation. Thanks Andy, I am very happy with the service I have received here to date.

[LeDude]

I weigh 220 lbs. and I'm throwing all that weight behind the DD idea. :D

The presence of others selling DD helps create a sense of value to the consumer public... digital is so often equated with 'free' or extremely cheap... DD for $ helps debunk this fallacy.

And I love smugmug, but, Andy you shouldn't have to fight so hard to keep this at the fore of smugmug's efforts. This is the digital age folks, and if smugmug is going to be a leader it needs this kind of flexibility in sales methods. I'm finding it hard to make an argument why; it seems so obvious and essential.


You see man made the cars
To take us over the world
Man made the train
To carry the heavy load
Man made the electro lights
To take us out of the dark
Man made the bullet for the war
Like Noah made the ark
This is a man's man's, man's world
But it would be nothing
Nothing! without a [smugmug for digital downloads]

-Rich (with a little help from J.Brown)

[Baldy]

I have a couple questions... Would you (smugmug) run into liability problems if an image was dl'ed and used in an ad that didn't have a release? And I know the copyright laws are very different in Canada, let alone all the other countries that might use this service. With an extremely confused take on Photography Copyright law, are there any glaring problems that might prevent you from offering this service?I don't think so. I think we'd make it clear that the customer is buying from the photographer who owns all the rights to the photo, and we are just the merchant who does fulfillment.

In the case of Getty Images, you're buying from them and so they have to make sure they have model releases, etc., but in our case that burden falls on you.

Having said that, I'm assuming y'all would like us to have the customer check a box that says they agree to certain usage conditions? Would it be like the one you see at iStockphoto?

[JimM]

I am going to rile up some feathers here, but I am not sure DD is such a good thing. I started giving digital files to friends, of their kids and stuff..... the next time I would go to their house, my pictures would be displayed everywhere! Sounds good, right? Not really. They would print them at home on their "photo" printer. They looked really bad. I don't want my work printed poorly. I don't want their friends to come over and say, who took those, and they proudly say Jim. Anyone see where I am coming from?

My official policy now, is if you want my images, you have to purchase them from SM. If you are a friend and I would have given you the digital file, I just don't mark them up on SM (except the penny so I can see if they ordered them).

Thoughts?

[bigwebguy]

I am going to rile up some feathers here, but I am not sure DD is such a good thing. I started giving digital files to friends, of their kids and stuff..... the next time I would go to their house, my pictures would be displayed everywhere! Sounds good, right? Not really. They would print them at home on their "photo" printer. They looked really bad. I don't want my work printed poorly. I don't want their friends to come over and say, who took those, and they proudly say Jim. Anyone see where I am coming from?

My official policy now, is if you want my images, you have to purchase them from SM. If you are a friend and I would have given you the digital file, I just don't mark them up on SM (except the penny so I can see if they ordered them).

Thoughts?
I'm sure if/when DD come to fruition, you will have the ability to enable/disable them for your photos. I wouldnt worry yourself too much.

[JimM]

I'm sure if/when DD come to fruition, you will have the ability to enable/disable them for your photos. I wouldnt worry yourself too much.

I assumed as much, so I am not worried. Just thought I would share that tidbit with the group. Have also sold CD's of my images, more for commercial shoots though.

[mercphoto]

I am going to rile up some feathers here, but I am not sure DD is such a good thing. I started giving digital files to friends, of their kids and stuff..... the next time I would go to their house, my pictures would be displayed everywhere! Sounds good, right? Not really. They would print them at home on their "photo" printer. They looked really bad. I don't want my work printed poorly. I don't want their friends to come over and say, who took those, and they proudly say Jim. Anyone see where I am coming from?
Yes. And selling digital files is not for everyone or every market. For me its been a plus -- I've sold 5 CD-ROMs of racing events the last two months. And when I was a racer myself several years ago I would only buy photos on CD, I would not buy prints. One thing I am considering doing is throwing in 1 correctly printed 4x6 print with the CD-ROM to show what the image SHOULD look like. Granted this is hard/expensive to do for people who download only one or two digital files rather than buy the entire CD.

A local wedding photographer I know, if he sells a CD-ROM of the "negatives" he prices it high enough that he can also toss in a 4x6 of each print. A little value-add, a little extra profit, plus the customer gets an example of what the print is supposed to look like.

Your point certainly is a valid concern.

[JimM]

A local wedding photographer I know, if he sells a CD-ROM of the "negatives" he prices it high enough that he can also toss in a 4x6 of each print. A little value-add, a little extra profit, plus the customer gets an example of what the print is supposed to look like.

This is an interesting approach. Good idea.

[Cindy]

I don't weigh much but adding it on anyhow.
Glad to see you also want this Andy... keep keeping it in front of them.
Bill mentioned selling CD's and I think this is a fabulous idea.
We can allready order backup DVD's... how about adding Digital file Sales to a CD or DVD??? Per image/event or gallery? I offered pre-pay digital download &/or digital files on CD sales to some recent customers. All choose to have me burn the images to CD verses selling them the ability to pre-pay and download. Of course those pre-paying wouldn't recieve instant gratification either way so I'm not sure how the 2 would rate side by side when available for instant sale.

[SamirD]

.....the next time I would go to their house, my pictures would be displayed everywhere! Sounds good, right? Not really.I've run across this problem as well, not necessarily for print sales, but in lost web site referrals. It is a concern to say the least, especially if you give them a high-res file.

I think the only way to police this aspect would be to have a license agreement attached to each DD that specifies what it can be used for. Any other use would be breach of that contract.

[Baldy]

I have no idea how big the digital download market is but the fact that youz just won't let this thread die is pretty encouraging.

I know it has become a frequent request/demand of brides to get all the wedding pics on CD. Doesn't sound like digital downloads will solve that problem. Sounds like we'd have to find a way to make backup CDs available to be priced by pros and sold to consumers to solve that one.

[CSwinton]

I know it has become a frequent request/demand of brides to get all the wedding pics on CD. Doesn't sound like digital downloads will solve that problem. Sounds like we'd have to find a way to make backup CDs available to be priced by pros and sold to consumers to solve that one.

That sounds like a great idea - making a CD/DVD available for a certain gallery at a user-defined price would be a great option!

[JimM]

I know it has become a frequent request/demand of brides to get all the wedding pics on CD. Doesn't sound like digital downloads will solve that problem. Sounds like we'd have to find a way to make backup CDs available to be priced by pros and sold to consumers to solve that one.

Okay, count me in on this one, as I have sold entire CD's before and am very willing to do it with event photos. Great suggestion Baldy!

[peestandingup]

I have no idea how big the digital download market is but the fact that youz just won't let this thread die is pretty encouraging.

I know it has become a frequent request/demand of brides to get all the wedding pics on CD. Doesn't sound like digital downloads will solve that problem. Sounds like we'd have to find a way to make backup CDs available to be priced by pros and sold to consumers to solve that one. Great idea! I negotiated with my own wedding photographer that I must receive all of the copyright-free originals on CD/DVD for one flat fee before we even started. Allot of people just need a photographer there to shoot the stuff & then the customers wanna take care of everything else like prints & junk. I suppose you can always just mail them a disc the old fashioned way, but this is still cool & could be very useful.

The make your own CD/DVD idea would be great for event photographers who shoot lots of stuff.

[Bodley]

Lets not short change the event shooter, :D I still want the pick and pay option. Some from different galleries on my site. Each of my galleries contain up to 30 different individuals (baseball games).

[C_lawgik]

I would really appreciate this option also. it would help me out sooo much.

[jagra]

I am considering taking a photography position with a football team. One of the functions would be to upload the images into separate folders for every game. Then allow each player to purchase prints or (hopefully) buy the digital files. I know that theft might cut against my bottom line, but I still want to be able to offer it as an option.

Has there been any more definitive progress made on this often requested feature? I found even more ways then before where this would be appreciated.






Josh

[SpeedyLizard]

:agree

Just let me throw out there that I too would like a digital sale option...

my digital sales FAR outweight my print sales.

I REALLY, REALLY like smugmug :clap

but unfortunately I may need to look at a competitor in order to get this option...:cry

[jchin]

I too would like to be able to sell the digital originals and SmugMug makes a little money in the process.

However, for my family members, I would like to still have the option to let them download it as they can right now (free); it beats having to send them a DVD of photos via snail mail. Thanks.

[georgivs]

I'm a pro user from Australia and I'd like to see the same thing, ie the ability to sell images in the digital domain.

The concept of non-exclusive royalty-free licensing is already established at such user-supported online image libraries as www.shutterpoint.com (http://www.shutterpoint.com)

If the option existed at smugmug I'd close my shutterpoint account in the blink of an eye. Currently the lack of this facility is the only serious failing I can see with smugmug.

George Cruickshank
http://georgivs.smugmug.com


Hello I am a Smugmug member from Australia I am looking for an option to be able to be able to sell Digital Downloads of images.
Can anyone Suggest anything??

Kerry Berrington

[pecheney]

We are DYING for this with our event photography company. TO sell a digi download i have to go into the gallery, unlock it, TEACH the client how to save photo in original, and then lock galleyr again hoping client is honest about what they took! We get published every single month in one magazine here and it is an ordeal and a half to deal with digi downloads. I would LOVEto have a pro feature, where I can click a button, check a box, etc and it creates a page where the client can download the image(s) I let them after paying. EVEN better woudl be an upsale opportunity where I could offer each customer who buys a print to buy the digital download for the same cost. I gte asked about 7-15 times a week for this. It's crazy, but I also have 105,000 images on my smugmug site! Anybody know whta we can do to sell digi downloads? :):


I'll make a caveat to my response to the a