# Where do you host your photos for clients????



## KBM1016 (Jun 8, 2011)

I am at my wits end, the company I am currently using is awful!  I wanted to get some suggestions on a new site where I can host photos for a shoot and have clients order straight from the site.

What do you all suggest?


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## wilsoncs3980 (Jun 8, 2011)

I'm not a pro but a lot of pros in my local camera club use SmugMug Pro.  

Photo Sharing. Your Photos Look Better Here.


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## Big Mike (Jun 8, 2011)

I don't like the idea of sending clients away from my site, so I bought a utility that resides right on my site.  It's called Photocart and I know many other photographers who also use it.  

On the plus side, it's a one time purchase...no monthly or annual fees....no commissions etc.  

On the negative side, you have to process and fill the orders yourself (or pay an assistant to do it etc.).  This is good in that you can see your prints before you send them out, but it can be a lot of work if you are busy.  There are many sites / services that can take the orders, make the prints and ship directly to the clients (for a price, of course), but that process takes you out of the loop, so you really have to trust that they are giving your clients a good product.


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## Mike_E (Jun 8, 2011)

Zenfolio - Professional photo hosting for photographers and enthusiasts.

Works pretty well, is easy and you can use MPIX.

Plus, no offense to anyone but I could never see trying to send someone who I wanted to spend hundreds of dollars on prints to a place called smug mug.  I get the humor but...




btw you can link a domain name to it easily enough.


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## tirediron (Jun 8, 2011)

What Mike said; my own 'site!


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## CCericola (Jun 8, 2011)

I use Millers labs. Its $25 a month and they take up to 10% of the sales. But it is worry free for me and perfect for the volume of my portrait and event photography. All the Millers fees are built into my pricing so my profit margin is consistent.


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## KmH (Jun 8, 2011)

No where.

I can't sell if the customer isn't right there with me.

Putting photos online for clients means leaving money on the table.

Photographers that graduate from online to in-person proofing realize average sales increases of up to 4x.


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## Ross Images (Jun 8, 2011)

A shoot makes less for me than the extra prints I sell afterwards. If I meet with the client to pick prints and use an hd projector to show images in real size, I can normally sell at least a few framed A3 prints if not an A2 or some times A1.


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## KBM1016 (Jun 8, 2011)

Thanks for all the suggestions.  My problem is I do sports photography as well so I can't really sit down with all my clients.  I do have stations set up at events that I have staff look after to try and push products.


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## Jenny27 (Jul 1, 2011)

Have you tried fotomoto.com? They are free. I started using them not too long ago. 
You can just host your images on a free blog and then embed Fotomoto's code for "share" and "buy" options.
The service is pretty good too


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## Forkie (Mar 30, 2015)

I use Zenfolio.  I've branded it to look the same as my main website and just added a link to it as a menu option on my website.  You can set it up so that's just a browsing gallery or a shop.


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## tirediron (Mar 30, 2015)

Zombie thread revived by a spammer!


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## Forkie (Mar 30, 2015)

Bugger.  

I fall for this all too often these days.  

A few sober weekends might be in order, I reckon.


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## Vtec44 (Mar 30, 2015)

I sell both digital files and print products (albums, canvas prints, etc).  Pixieset.com is really easy to use and has a free 3GB plan.  I use them for digital download clients.


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## waday (Mar 30, 2015)

Forkie said:


> Bugger.
> 
> I fall for this all too often these days.
> 
> A few sober weekends might be in order, I reckon.



Don't worry. You're not the only one.. see below.  



Vtec44 said:


> I sell both digital files and print products (albums, canvas prints, etc).  Pixieset.com is really easy to use and has a free 3GB plan.  I use them for digital download clients.


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## Vtec44 (Mar 30, 2015)

It comes up in my active threads list hahaha


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## ryanestes (Apr 1, 2015)

Sooo many possibilities out there. Yes, sites like Smugmug and Pictage can work, though I've never been a big fan of those. Zenfolio isn't bad, but they recently stopped offering a no-commission option on their shopping cart, so (if memory serves) regardless of whether or not you're doing self-fulfillment, they'll still take a cut of the sale.

I prefer solutions that let me take care of everything, soup to nuts. I currently use RedCart, though it is a flash-based system and I would prefer it not be. PixieSet and Shootproof are also popular systems that lots of people like. PixieSet is intriguing to me and I'm considering trying it out.

What you choose depends largely on how professional you want to look. I want a boutique experience for my clients from start to finish.


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## MOREGONE (Apr 15, 2015)

Since the thread was revived, someone else may find the info beneficial.

I use Shootproof. Great system with a beautiful presentation and integration with many great print labs to ship to client or you can self fulfill.  You can "build" mobile apps for your clients, you block or enable downloads, they can play the images in a slideshow and you can upgrade to include music. It is just an awesome system.

Pixieset looks really good and mostly the same as Shootproof and cheaper, but the one thing I like about Shootproof that Pixieset currently hasn't caught up to, is a Lightroom publish plugin. If/when Pixieset has that option I will probably take my business over there.


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