Self-fulfillment vs. using websites that offer fulfillment

[Mare333]

Hello, Marianne here with a question. My question is to those of you who use websites providers that offer fulfillment through an integrated lab - do you upload HIGH resolution images RIGHT AWAY or is there a way to still SOMEHOW upload LOW resolution images FIRST even though fulfilling through a provider? I am torn between picking a website that offers fulfillment and fulfilling myself. My main problem with using the website that offers fulfillment through an integrated lab (ex. WHCC) is that this way I can NOT upload LOW resolution images FIRST since the client will be ordering DIRECTLY from the lab so whatever image I uploaded THAT'S the image that will be sent to the lab for printing. Ideally I would prefer to upload low resolution and/or watermarked ones FIRST and let the client make the selections from these low resolution ones. Then I would make high resolution images available to them. So is there a way to upload LOW resolution images FIRST while using the website provider that offers fulfillment or will I have to upload HIGH resolution images RIGHT AWAY in that case? Hope you can clarify this issue for me, thank you very much,
Marianne

[Manfred M]

Marianne - the photographers that I know who use an eCommerce website use a slightly more complicated approach.

They offer access to low resolution images in private area of their website where the clients can review reasonable quality images that are too small for print (i.e. password protected so only the clients or people the clients want to share with). The clients can then select and order these images, but there is a manual intervention by the photographer who only forwards the high quality images for printing directly to the printer. The images are then sent to the photographer by the lab who then does a quality review before sending the prints to the clients.

This approach has two advantages. It protects both the photographer's IP and reputation. I would never want to have a lab send prints directly to a client without inspecting them to ensure they meet my quality standards.

[Donald]

If you are posting images that you have made (not for a particular client) and offering them for sale via a website provider, then you will have to upload a file that will print to the largest size that you are offering for sale. So, for example, if you offer a 14" x 11" for sale, the file will have to be able to print to that size.

What you need to make sure is that the website provider does have a blocking device in place so that if anyone tries to download the image from the site, they get a notice saying that such action is forbidden.

[Mare333]

Marianne - the photographers that I know who use an eCommerce website use a slightly more complicated approach.

They offer access to low resolution images in private area of their website where the clients can review reasonable quality images that are too small for print (i.e. password protected so only the clients or people the clients want to share with). The clients can then select and order these images, but there is a manual intervention by the photographer who only forwards the high quality images for printing directly to the printer. The images are then sent to the photographer by the lab who then does a quality review before sending the prints to the clients.

This approach has two advantages. It protects both the photographer's IP and reputation. I would never want to have a lab send prints directly to a client without inspecting them to ensure they meet my quality standards.

Thank you very much for your reply. I too feel apprehensive about sending the images directly from the lab and to the client, even though a lot of photographers do that.

[Mare333]

If you are posting images that you have made (not for a particular client) and offering them for sale via a website provider, then you will have to upload a file that will print to the largest size that you are offering for sale. So, for example, if you offer a 14" x 11" for sale, the file will have to be able to print to that size.

What you need to make sure is that the website provider does have a blocking device in place so that if anyone tries to download the image from the site, they get a notice saying that such action is forbidden.

Thank you very much for your insight, I really appreciate it.

[Manfred M]

Thank you very much for your reply. I too feel apprehensive about sending the images directly from the lab and to the client, even though a lot of photographers do that.

I think that it depends on how you are trying to position yourself in the marketplace.

If you are trying to position yourself as a higher end, premium service provider, then you should not leave anything to chance and should be in charge of the process from end-to-end, including all of the prep work to produce a high quality print. This should also be reflected in your pricing structure.

On the other hand, if you want to be a commodity supplier where the lowest price is of primary importance, then anything you can do to reduce your workload would be fine. You will join all the others chasing that particular market.