MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => Off Topic => Topic started by: admart01 on May 06, 2006, 06:28
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This isn't stock but it's an avenue to make money from your photos so I hope some find this useful. For those of you who have both stock shots and more artisitic shots in your portfolio...
I've used American Frame for years (mats, frames, etc.) and really like their products and prices (no - I'm not on commission ;D ). I got an email from them announcing that artists could upload photos so folks could purchase artwork along with frames. Seems they'll have some free number (trial is 35) portfolios and, if you want to store more, a fee-based plan. I've copied the window from their website. I've uploaded my 35 (simple enough) and have begun adding options for buyers.
The options process is a nose-bleed and I've provided some ideas that would make this simpler -- they promised to add some features that will make this better so I'm waiting a bit before filling out my offerings.
Don't know what the payback will be but I know these folks are a class-act. They're at www.americanframe.com. If nothing else, you'll find a very reasonable way to frame stuff.
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Seems like an interesting concept. What type of prices are you submitting for your images?
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and what % of sale price do you get?
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According to the website, you receive 100% of the price you set on the image. They then tack on a charge for framing, manual labor, etc.
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So they just make money from teh frame.
Interesting.
Admart001 - let us know if you get any sales and on what type of photo. it will be intersting to see what sells.
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likewise, i would be interested in hearing if you get any sales there.
I guess for american frame it is a way for them to sell more frames.
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I wiill let you know -- the sales option hasn't started yet -- still having aritst upload. I set the price and I get 100% (I'm mostly in the 4 -5 range) and depending on the type of paper you choose they seem to mark up ~ 100% to 150% for the finished photo price -- frames, mats, etc are extra. One interesting option is that you can have the shot printed on canvas or dry-mounted. They have sent me a sample of the paper. I'm waiting to hear that they've improved the selection process -- very icky.
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What do you mean by "icky"?
I wiill let you know -- the sales option hasn't started yet -- still having aritst upload. I set the price and I get 100% (I'm mostly in the 4 -5 range) and depending on the type of paper you choose they seem to mark up ~ 100% to 150% for the finished photo price -- frames, mats, etc are extra. One interesting option is that you can have the shot printed on canvas or dry-mounted. They have sent me a sample of the paper. I'm waiting to hear that they've improved the selection process -- very icky.
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What do you mean by "icky"?
The process to add "products" is very detailed, giving the artist a lot of control over the look of the finished product. With all that control comes a cost of time.
For instance, you have a choice of 4 photographic papers, dry mount, 4 canvas options. Each one, if you'd like your artwork displayed on it, is a product that has to be selected and added (two screens each).
For every product you also have the choice of size to the 1/16 of an inch. The upload proportions are displayed along with the high, very good, average, and poor (ie. not printable) ranges. You must select a length/width size for every entry. For example you could select an 8/10 on high quality paper, a 4/5 on high quality paper, an 8/10 on average quality paper, a 4x5 on average quality paper, etc. etc. No info is saved after you say add so the back arrow does you no good. You move a sliding scale that keeps the proportions but is very sensitive.
Bottom line - to add 8 products takes a good 10 - 15 minutes with a lot of clicks. I'm still awaiting the copy/paste feature that would reduce the work some. I've added at least 4 products for each of my 35 shots just to have something to offer so I can see if anything sells. So far they have not turned on the option for their customers.
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Yeah--it's icky, all right. I posted six images, one product per image. I have very little confidence in it.
What bothers me most, and may drive me to remove my images, is that the preview image is quite large and NOT watermarked. Anyone can download it. I don't really feel like giving away my images.
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Yeah--it's icky, all right. I posted six images, one product per image. I have very little confidence in it.
What bothers me most, and may drive me to remove my images, is that the preview image is quite large and NOT watermarked. Anyone can download it. I don't really feel like giving away my images.
If you've added products then you know I'm not exagerating :o
Didn't notice the no-watermark. I'm going to email them and ask -- that does make me feel uncomfortable. T
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I put up an image with them and it is ready to price. However, I have never done this before and have no idea how to price it online. How much should I put as "profit" to get a consistent(with others) and fair price for a 6mp image?
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No one? It would be beneficial to help me because if I don't know I will be more likely to price too low, which will undercut others' business, so I don't know why this is such a big secret that no one wants to share with me?
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Have you tried going to the site as if you were a buyer and seeing what prices are like?
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I didn't know it was open to buyers yet, last time I looked they were still getting ready.
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I'm not sure what price to pick -- trying out the 1 - 5 dollar range with 1 on shots I've never sold in print or in stock and 5 for some I've sold/auctined off so I know at least some folks liked them :)
I'm hoping we'll be able to share what's working what the site is open to the public. T
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I thought some might be interested in an update -- especially on the watermark issue. I've just received this update and throught I'd shrare. T
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We wanted to bring you up to speed and clarify some things as we launch. We expect to send emails like this periodically, and you are always welcome to use the contact form at the lower right of any page, or email me directly at [email protected]. Please begin with “Art Gallery” in the subject.
So, here are some things to note in this first installment:
We will be working on actively marketing this site and will update you from time to time with new features and functions that will help you promote your art and yourself as well. We have some exciting things in the works.
Many of you have asked about watermarking. As you can now see, there are three sizes of images used in the customer-facing interface:
#1 - A small thumbnail is used when browsing by category, searching or reviewing by artist. This thumbnail has no watermark.
#2 - On an artwork detail page there is a larger image. This image features a watermark consisting of our logo, and two spirals, along with some hash lines. This watermark both lightens and darkens over an image. In most cases it is barely visible, but we hope you agree it would be very difficult to obliterate if someone were to right-click and save your image.
#3 - When clicking on a thumbnail when browsing or viewing the detail, users can see a large zoom of the image. This also features the unique watermark.
By the way, there is no real way to stop people from taking an image off a web site if that is what they want to do, so the watermarking is the only tool we use to protect your images in the two large sizes. However, site visitors can only grab it at the size it is shown. No one can ever access the high resolution images you have uploaded. Also note that the images you continue to see in "My Gallery" do not have watermarks, but no one else has access to those images.
On the artist main page we've randomly picked one of your items as a representation of your work, and added a reflection to the thumbnail image to help subtly convey that this isn't the only artwork you have. Soon, we will allow you to designate a piece of artwork as the most reflective of your work. When you make a choice that artwork will show as long as there is an item actively for sale made form that item.
We are also working to add copy and edit functions to allow you to more easily create versions of your artwork for sale.
Many of you have also asked about a suggested selling price. We are also working on some average reporting by size, printing material and category.
We are working on ways to creatively show your art in a more meaningful scale to each other, versus relying simply on the size noted next to each work.
Some of you have wondered why you have to create items at all, "why not just let the customers create and size themselves?" you have noted. Good question. Well, we've done some research and the one thing we found was that while people say they want lots of choices and want something unique, they don't want the choices to be too hard, and they want to select from a manageable number of really nice things. The fact is, many people don't really understand digital resolution, image quality and size, nor do they understand the different papers available. We hope you'd agree that when you browse our gallery, there's a lot of beautiful stuff (including yours) that benefits from being framed and matted well. People are more engaged when it's easy to browse, and easy to buy.