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11-09-2015, 11:36 AM   #1
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Selling photos online

Hey everyone,

I am just wondering what sites you use to sell your photos online and if they actually work? Or if anyone has any other ideas on how to get your work noticed more in the public eye.

Thanks,
B

11-09-2015, 12:17 PM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by sunshineweaver Quote
Hey everyone,

I am just wondering what sites you use to sell your photos online and if they actually work? Or if anyone has any other ideas on how to get your work noticed more in the public eye.

Thanks,
B
I'd love to hear answers to this from different views (ie, using a service like fine art america, vs working locally to garner attention and sales and building up that way)

Right now I am entering juried art shows. No one has bought any work, but I have received second place and honorable mentions and a little bit of money that covered some of the expense. I don't want to work with the public doing portraits or weddings (I worked in retail and food service for many years, I am not in the mood to go back to dealing with the public in that sense) Not sure I want to do editorial work. So I have already really narrowed myself down on getting my name out there!

I do know someone who use fine art america and does sell occasionally from there. He does a lot of pillows, bags and cell phone cases as sales.

I also know another person who does a daily blog and then sells through her own site, prints them herself, etc, and enters shows. She sells mostly note cards, and coasters of her work (not that she was trying to, she just said it ended up that way)

Another photographer I know has said he had the best success on etsy.

I'd be interested in seeing what others do.
11-09-2015, 12:58 PM   #3
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I use to use Smugmug when I was shooting weddings. Yes it did work, but the clients had to know where to go. if you didn't tell them then no it would not work.
11-09-2015, 01:02 PM - 1 Like   #4
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I use Zenfolio and sell mostly event photos (bike, ski, or running races) with them.
What is really nice is I can sell the prints and never have to touch them. Once the sale is made the prints get sent directly to the buyer. Very convenient for me and the volume would be too high after a big race for me to fulfill orders myself.
I sell a little bit of fine art/landscape there too but only one every now and then. Those I get printed elsewhere (I have a lab I like to use) have them sent to me for inspection and signing, and then I re-ship to the customer. Those do well on margin but have a small volume. The event photos have a smaller margin but much bigger volume.

11-09-2015, 01:09 PM - 1 Like   #5
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I am a landscape photographer and tend to sell quite well on Uncommon designs by 350k+ independent artists | Redbubble. I generally sell large canvas prints and quite frequently post cards and calendars. I have focused on selling to a specific market (2 specific touristic spots and Melbourne city graffiti also). I would sell in the range of 5-10 prints per year, which I am quite happy with considering it is purely a hobby. Otherwise on my personal website through zenfolio you can opt to by my photos but for some reason the market doesn't arrive there. I have tried to constantly update and use frequent blogging to increase Google analytics, but have had no success. Same photo, same service, different results, go figure. Maybe people trust more on these community type websites like redbubble. Feel free to compare both for your interest

MATT BISHOP PHOTOGRAPHY

Matt Bishop | Redbubble
11-09-2015, 01:42 PM - 2 Likes   #6
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There are a number of good selling sites, but it should be kept in mind that just posting images on them rarely achieves much in the way of sales. There is little or no promotion done by the sites, so you have to do the marketing yourself. That can be as simple as making sure your SEO (title, description, keywords) are good or with social media, business cards, blog posts and so on.

I sell on:
Fine Art America and do OK there but not great. John Trax: Artist Website
My own Zenfolio site: Zigzag Mountain Art Not many sales there but it needs more promotion and work.
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/zigzagmtart Regular sales, but you have to print and ship yourself rather than POD as at Fine Art America
Red Bubble. No sales there yet but I mostly started the site there to lock up the name
Amazon Hand Made: http://www.amazon.com/Zigzag-Mountain-Art-Crown-Sunset/dp/B017LJ8W8E Just started there, no sales yet. Only one image up in fact

But the key to any of the sites is relentless promotion. I read one pundit state that to sell on line you need to spend 25% on art and 75% on promotion. I don't do enough but do as much as I can.

I don't bother with contests and such, waste of time IMHO. If you want to sell there are local art shows or bazaars all over the place. Get a booth together, a business license and start going to shows. Pass out cards that point back to your website or selling site. Collect email addresses and start communicating with potential buyers.

This is hard work, no matter how good your work is you are competing with literally millions of other artists.
11-09-2015, 05:17 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by jatrax Quote
I sell on:
Fine Art America and do OK there but not great. John Trax: Artist Website
My own Zenfolio site: Zigzag Mountain Art Not many sales there but it needs more promotion and work.
Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/zigzagmtart Regular sales, but you have to print and ship yourself rather than POD as at Fine Art America
Red Bubble. No sales there yet but I mostly started the site there to lock up the name
Amazon Hand Made: http://www.amazon.com/Zigzag-Mountain-Art-Crown-Sunset/dp/B017LJ8W8E Just started there, no sales yet. Only one image up in fact
I looked at your Zenfolio site and must say I like your photography bunches.

11-09-2015, 11:01 PM - 1 Like   #8
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Most pros that I know that aren't working for Magnum or have stock images on Corbis or Getty have told me that they've given up trying to sell online because piracy is too easy and serious buyers often don't use the internet to buy photographic prints. One photographer said he has been extremely successful once he started flooding the internet with his high, medium, and low res images for free.

His images generate interest and credibility, and then serious clients will hire him to shoot their specific projects.
11-10-2015, 03:28 AM   #9
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I've exhibited at local shows and have sold the odd print. Far more successful was a article i wrote for a photography magazine - eight pages, nine photos, 1500 words and I was paid $600, which basically worked out at about $60 per hour. I was very happy with it and will be writing another article December/January. No guarantee it will be published but the editor has given me the go ahead on it so it's promising.

Hal55
11-10-2015, 09:40 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by Alex645 Quote
Most pros that I know that aren't working for Magnum or have stock images on Corbis or Getty have told me that they've given up trying to sell online because piracy is too easy and serious buyers often don't use the internet to buy photographic prints. One photographer said he has been extremely successful once he started flooding the internet with his high, medium, and low res images for free.

His images generate interest and credibility, and then serious clients will hire him to shoot their specific projects.
That's the angle I try to take. I can sell event photos and the occasional landscape but just getting it out there seems to generate jobs for me.
Without my stuff being out there these people wouldn't know me or my work.
11-10-2015, 10:11 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by Alex645 Quote
Most pros that I know that aren't working for Magnum or have stock images on Corbis or Getty have told me that they've given up trying to sell online because piracy is too easy and serious buyers often don't use the internet to buy photographic prints. One photographer said he has been extremely successful once he started flooding the internet with his high, medium, and low res images for free.

His images generate interest and credibility, and then serious clients will hire him to shoot their specific projects.
Selling prints over the Internet is hard to do. It's very competitive.

I tried to sell my prints on the Internet 15 years ago when there was only a fraction of the competition there is now, and I failed miserably. I had my own website (PhotoWallpaper.com) from around 2000 to 2010. I sold my landscape and wildlife prints here. PhotoWallpaper.com had a fair amount of traffic, but almost no sales. I finally shut down the website and sold the domain when the wife convinced me that it was a "money pit".

I also exhibit and sell photos at select art shows in my region.

My sense is that most buyers of moderately-priced, high-quality, fine-art prints prefer to actually see (and sometimes even touch) the prints in person - to purchasing an unseen print over the Internet. They are not only buying the image, but also and just as importantly the substrate that it is printed on. The quality of the print itself is critcal to the sale. Buyers also seem to be interested in how archival the print is.

If a photographer can somehow get his/her actual prints out there for the public to see in person (e.g. brick & mortar galleries), then Internet sales my eventually come as more and more buyers have already seen in person the quality of the prints.

Here's a link to a terrific article on this subject.

Last edited by Fenwoodian; 11-10-2015 at 10:40 AM.
11-10-2015, 11:00 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Fenwoodian Quote
My sense is that most buyers of moderately-priced, high-quality, fine-art prints prefer to actually see (and sometimes even touch) the prints in person - to purchasing an unseen print over the Internet. They are not only buying the image, but also and just as importantly the substrate that it is printed on. The quality of the print itself is critcal to the sale. Buyers also seem to be interested in how archival the print is. If a photographer can somehow get his/her actual prints out there for the public to see in person (e.g. brick & mortar galleries), then Internet sales my eventually come as more and more buyers have already seen in person the quality of the prints.
+1 on this. The goal is to get art collectors familiar with your work. It can be done online, I know several people who make a living doing this, but it is easier IMHO to exhibit at shows but have a good web site available so people can purchase later. If you have an FAA site then it makes sense to pass out info at shows that have that website on it. Not everyone buys art immediately they want to go and think about it. So show the quality in person but have a web portal available for later sales.

I tell people at shows that if they want a signed print, made by me, they have to buy at a show or on Etsy. If they want lots of matting and framing options then they are best buying at FAA but the print will not be signed.
11-11-2015, 12:50 AM   #13
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Some years ago we had a large format printer and tried to do the canvas/fine art printing thing. We failed miserably, China killed us,. people can buy a large canvas print retail for less than it cost us to buy the raw materials. There was no way sales justified having a $10,000 44" printer.

Hal55
11-11-2015, 07:13 AM   #14
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I came back to add that I realized our state has an online registry for free for artists and they are opening a 'market' online soon. Maybe hunt around and see if your state has some type of artist group or program. I am going to join when I get a website together

There is one show I always enter, they call it a 'juried' show, but really it is just 2 people who need to narrow down for the space, for a local hospital. It is free to enter, no prizes or awards, but your artwork gets to hang on a wall that is visited by people every day. You are limited to it having to be something uplifiting, (it's a center for cancer patients) but getting together with other artist and approaching a hospital or doctors office is a great place to have people see your work. At the last show they sold 18 pieces of art (out of like 60 I think) They take a large amount of commission as a donation to the center. I have noticed a lot of hospitals and doctors centers are asking or looking for local artwork in this way.
11-11-2015, 01:06 PM - 1 Like   #15
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A lot of good info here. I think the biggest problem with online sales is you have zillions of people also trying to sell their wares, and most of them shouldn't be calling themselves "professional" photographers.

I have an account on Fine Art America and have only sold one print in 2 years, (or is it 3?) Red bubble but never did anything with it. ON FAA I've seen people showing off hundreds of shots that are out of focus, over or under exposed, edited beyond recognition, noisy as hell, just plain bad composition, and tons that can only be called mediocre snapshots.

The very few actually good photographers have trouble getting their work seen among all of what I can only call pure crap. Most serious buyers probably get tired of searching through it all before they find anything worth having, and many are also looking for something specific, not just a cool photo they like.

As a side note, FAA also has some excellent artists too, some of them can paint like you wouldn't believe. But there again they also have a bunch who shouldn't be trying to sell their stuff, it's just not good enough.

So the biggest problem, other than the necessity of constant promotion, which I suck at, is getting people into your gallery. Unless they are already looking for you, forget it. Too many to browse through, and the majority are hardly worth looking at. There are quite a few good photographers, and judging by comments in the discussion boards, they all see the same problem. It's almost impossible to find your one excellent picture of a landscape, flower, sunset or whatever, for the zillion others that can barely be called mediocre.

One common tactic is to specialize. You'll find tons of landscapes, flowers and sunsets, I put up a few but concentrated on my bird shots. Others focus on a certain location. People searching google for their city might stumble on their FAA link. Find something unusual, maybe 238 million people haven't already posted 86 pictures each.

Whatever you do, be your own worst critic, hold out for quality. Don't overdo the processing. If you see any little flaw, don't even think about selling it. Pay no attention to what your friends and family tell you, I've seen my friends and family tell me they loved pictures I know are crap. Oh that's great!!! And I know it's underexposed, bad focus, basically a boring snapshot. Look for someone who has no mercy and when they like it, then maybe it's worth trying to sell it. but if you ask anyone else, you want an honest opinion, and your family and friends don't want to hurt your feelings so they won't tell you when it really sucks. I tell myself when it really sucks, you won't see it here, much less up for sale online or anywhere else. You have to learn to be that honest and harsh with yourself about your own work.

I've always been that way, I've been playing guitar since age 5, onstage since age 10, and I learned a long time ago very few people will tell me what it actually sounded like. I get offstage and 20 people can't wait to tell me how great the band sounded. I know I had a horrible night, guitar dropped out of tune constantly due to temperature changes, I flubbed leads a half dozen times, missed a chord or two...so I learned to be my own worst critic many years ago. I see my photography the same way. If it's not GOOD, you'll never see it. If it's not excellent, it will never be up for sale. Either have that same outlook yourself, or find someone who does. You only want your best out there with your name on it, whether online or brick and mortar. And remember this. Do everything as if you have to sign it. That's why my name is on every shot I post here on PF, I have to sign it. So you won't see crap...I don't want my name on crap.

Try it if you want, but online is extremely competitive, promotion is required, and you're one name in litterally several million trying to sell. If you want perspective, how many recording artists can you think of in whatever type of music you listen to? I'm willing to bet you'll have a very hard time listing 30. I listen to rock and roll, and as a musician, I might be able to list 30 without racking my brain to come up with names. Maybe... There are literally millions of photographers out there for you to compete with.

Good luck...
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