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Name
Ben Sheldon
Edit My Images
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Hi there. I'm new to the forum and would like to ask about selling my photos online. I've been into photography for a number of years as a hobby but, just lately, I've been asked by a few people whether or not I intend to sell any of my photos. This is new to me, I have had a few sales on dreamstime but it's impossible to make any decent money unless you sell thousands of photos! I have been looking into selling online and using an online company to print and, maybe, ship the finished product to the buyer. I am looking for a quality and competitive UK company to use. I shall order a few for myself first to test the water and to see how they print.does anybody have any experience that they can share with me regarding this subject? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
Hi Ben, welcome to TP!

You really need to decide what your pricing strategy is. You can get good prints from DSCL for a few quid, or you could go fine art where the sky's the limit.
Once you've got an idea of prices, it's a case of test prints and your preference.

It's a difficult one to gauge as everyone's tastes are different when it comes to print. I like heavyweight cotton papers because it's as much about the feel as it is about the image reproduction. This sort of thing from a printer can be a tenner or more a print (depending on size). Some people want high volume and will get 50p prints from DSCL which they'll sell for a fiver. Both give acceptable results for the amount of money invested. But you kinda need to know where you're going to sit on that scale. High volume, low price (thus low outlay/quality) or low volume, high price, high quality/outlay? Or are you thinking of a different model?

I've mentioned DSCL a couple of times for no other reason than they are the people I have used in the past. Their standard prints are a country mile better than Photobox or Boots, and they also offer a fine art printing service (which I've never used and appears to be really expensive). You can at least get "one of each" from them to see the difference between "standard" prints and "fine art". That should be enough to get you going.
 
Thanks for your reply.
I am looking at a low volume but the best possible quality at a competitive price. I'd maybe look at different types of prints, ie card mounted, canvas and standard, not sure yet, I need to look into different materials, sizes and costs. I understand that it's an extremely competitive market as everybody wants to sell their work, however, it would be nice if I could just sell a few every now and then on the side.
 
My experience suggests that I need to be better at marketing and promotion - mostly online - than photography. And I'm not :)

The area I live in isn't the sort of place where I'd find buyers for fine art limited edition prints, so I have to go online. And it's such a huge effort to keep on top of the internet side of things. In short - the effort outweighs the benefit for me. I also print my own, so I have control over the quality of the print, and can print on a range of media (cards, canvas, matt, lustre prints). It's not cost effective, but it gives me an enormous sense of satisfaction to take an image from capture to print. Also, I don't need to back-and-forth with a print company trying to get things right. It's also a bit of a USP to be able to talk about the paper I use and why I use it.

Good luck in your endeavours!
 
My observation would agree with harlequin. Selling prints is more about marketing than photography. Or it could be that you love printing - that could work too. I think it depends on what you like to photograph (you haven't said) and what your other skills are. I should say that i have never sold a print in my life, but I have sold lots of photos.
 
As others have mentioned before even starting to sell your prints there are a few things to think about:

Marketing - it's not just a case of setting up a website, you need to be sure it reaches your audience.

Business strategy - high end/low volume or low cost/high volume... these aren't necessarily exclusive to each other but having some idea will help you decide how much you want to spend on prints etc.

Your target market - this will play a bit part on the above, in some markets photography has a price limited above which people won't buy so you need to figure out what your main customer base is going to be and get some idea of what their price expectations are

There are lots of people doing this already so it's going to involve a fair bit of work be successful, good luck

Simon
 
Thanks for all of the info. I actually work in litho print, so know a bit about printing, just not the different processes involved with photo printing. This is not some business venture that I'm setting out on, just a little idea to have a go at between my shifts! I suppose I'd like to have a go at it for the satisfaction, rather than make big money! I have so many pictures, from many different places. I'll try to upload a few soon.
 
A warning has been given for this post
yes there is
look in tutorials
 
Last edited:
It would appear that we have a clown amongst us! Do you not have anything better to do with your life?
 
Right, the
oNT.gif
is here!

yes there is
look in tutorials
This is not really the way to treat a new member that's asking for help now? is it?
It would have been the easiest thing to post a link to the tutorials don't you think ?
or at least copy and paste the relevant sections !

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...o-and-insert-an-image-from-your-tp-gallery.8/

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/tutorials/inserting-images-from-flickr-updated-22-08-15.7/


Is there an optimal size I need to upload on this site?
Images up loaded to your gallery must not exceed 1024px on the longest side, nor 350Kb
or you will get an error message.

If attaching a file direct from your PC / device, into a thread.
this must not exceed 1024px on the longest side or 500Kb
otherwise it will fail to up load.

Failing that, if up loading from flickr etc, the 1024px still applies, but the file ( kb) size doesn't.
But please be aware there are people still on slow
internet connections.
They soon "click away" if a page takes too long to load.
So I would suggest that the file size also stays below 500kb.
 
Right, the
View attachment 128630
is here!


This is not really the way to treat a new member that's asking for help now? is it?
It would have been the easiest thing to post a link to the tutorials don't you think ?
or at least copy and paste the relevant sections !

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...o-and-insert-an-image-from-your-tp-gallery.8/

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/tutorials/inserting-images-from-flickr-updated-22-08-15.7/



Images up loaded to your gallery must not exceed 1024px on the longest side, nor 350Kb
or you will get an error message.

If attaching a file direct from your PC / device, into a thread.
this must not exceed 1024px on the longest side or 500Kb
otherwise it will fail to up load.

Failing that, if up loading from flickr etc, the 1024px still applies, but the file ( kb) size doesn't.
But please be aware there are people still on slow
internet connections.
They soon "click away" if a page takes too long to load.
So I would suggest that the file size also stays below 500kb.

That's great, thanks for the info.
 
Right, the
View attachment 128630
is here!


This is not really the way to treat a new member that's asking for help now? is it?
It would have been the easiest thing to post a link to the tutorials don't you think ?
or at least copy and paste the relevant sections !

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/t...o-and-insert-an-image-from-your-tp-gallery.8/

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/tutorials/inserting-images-from-flickr-updated-22-08-15.7/



Images up loaded to your gallery must not exceed 1024px on the longest side, nor 350Kb
or you will get an error message.

If attaching a file direct from your PC / device, into a thread.
this must not exceed 1024px on the longest side or 500Kb
otherwise it will fail to up load.

Failing that, if up loading from flickr etc, the 1024px still applies, but the file ( kb) size doesn't.
But please be aware there are people still on slow
internet connections.
They soon "click away" if a page takes too long to load.
So I would suggest that the file size also stays below 500kb.

Hi Chris

When I see new folk asking this question I look for the links but they don't come up quickly(?) therefore as possibly a most common question maybe the two links tutorials should be "stickied" to the top of the tutorials page......... Just a thought......:exit::)
 
Hi Chris

When I see new folk asking this question I look for the links but they don't come up quickly(?) therefore as possibly a most common question maybe the two links tutorials should be "stickied" to the top of the tutorials page......... Just a thought......:exit::)
You have a point, but unfortunately its not possible to "Sticky" tutorials, with in that section..
 
Agreed with most of the answers above. Selling prints is not an easy source of income, especially if you're planning to be completely dependent on it. You would have to market your photography website in a way that it gets targeted clients, which in your case is people looking to buy prints. Marketing your portfolio website wouldn't be easy in the beginning since optimization needs time. If this is something you're planning to take up, it'll have to be a long term plan and continuous work. Start with building your website and add a store column for selling digital and physical prints. Pixpa and Zenfolio are good to start with. Include appropriate alt tags in all your images, and try to write articles related to your keywords. Get links from your websites of your friends and other photographers, do cross promotions and be active on social media platforms.
 
Right, the
View attachment 128630

If attaching a file direct from your PC / device, into a thread.
this must not exceed 1024px on the longest side or 500Kb
otherwise it will fail to up load.

How do you upload an image directly from your PC/device onto a thread?

the only option I can find is to go through the god awful gallery system.

Am I missing something?
 
How do you upload an image directly from your PC/device onto a thread?

the only option I can find is to go through the god awful gallery system.

Am I missing something?
Use the 'upload a file' option below right of the editing window.
 
:oops: :$ Bloody hell, I've never noticed that.
Your'd be amazed how many members don't know its there ...
I take it you're sorted now?
 
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