Hi everybody,
Now it's my turn to share something, not just silently read
I tried to setup my site on Photoshelter (PS) with sales possibilities as a first priority. It was rather expensive - 29$/month - but I decided to try it for a while. So, site is working for two month. It contains my selected galleries of RF images, you may check it at
http://www.SergeyOrlovPhoto.com. So, here are some positives and negatives I have so far.
Negatives:
- (Very important). The structure of PS allows for you to use your own domain, but only at the home page and some other high-level pages. Every photo, every internal page has it's own, Photoshelter-related address, like SergeyOrlovPhoto.photoshelter.com. So, all the efforts I spent for SEO, it seems that I promote PS domain, but not my own! There is an explanation for that from the PS Team, but it gives me nothing when I compare it with another photo-hosting sites like Zenfolio with own domain direct links to everything except for shopping cart.
- (Roadblock for me, but it doesn't directly related to PS). I live in Russia, and PayPal doesn't allow us to receive money in any kind. Period. Another payment option - merchant account - requires some monthly paiment, which is not really an option. PS doesn't allow and have no plans to implement another payment providers like MoneyBookers, for example. (By the way, MB rebranded to Skrill, do you know?).
- Well, cost. The most expensive in the category.
Positives:
- Simple, straightforward process of setting up everything. I finished the site during less than one week.
- Really nice looking initial templates.
- Great responsible support.
Well, maybe my opinion about PS is little biased because of mentioned negatives, but the overall conclusion I have so far that PS is the most advertised and expensive photohosting... which hardly help me to sell images direct. I will look forward for another solutions. Hope this post will help to someone else.
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