timsdd aka Tim's Digital Darkroom

Photrade Tips – BE SURE to CHECK and SET YOUR PRICING (Carefully)!!!!

OK, first off in defense of the site http://www.photrade.com/, setting the prices for my photographs is the sole responsibility of none other than my own. However that being said, they have a pricing structure in place that is kind of annoying and or confusing (at times).

From the site,

Photrade lets you sell your photos for any price. Set standard prices below for your entire portfolio. You can change prices for individual photos or sets of photos under Manage Photos. Set a percent markup that will be applied to all products. You can also change the prices for any individual item using the input boxes below.

Ok, let’s take this one at a time.

1) change prices for individual photos: A big pro for PHO is that they have a million print sizes to choose from (as well as an equally impressive list of other merchandise). BUT, in my book that is also a con because who amongst us knows the differences between any of these (specifically what to charge for them based on the differences between each size and finish…even though they have a suggested price listed):

Photo Prints: 4 x 5 Glossy
Photo Prints: 4 x 5 Lustre
Photo Prints: 4 x 5 Matte
Photo Prints: 4 x 6 Glossy
Photo Prints: 4 x 6 Lustre
Photo Prints: 4 x 6 Matte
Photo Prints: 4 x 8 Glossy
Photo Prints: 4 x 8 Lustre
Photo Prints: 4 x 8 Matte
Photo Prints: 4 x D Glossy
Photo Prints: 4 x D Lustre
Photo Prints: 4 x D Matte

• I never knew there were so many variations with a print 4″ tall! So to change them individually could take forever (since there are just as many choices for a 8″, 10″, 12″ prints), and where do you differentiate between 4×5 or a 4×6; should that be a 25 cent increment or 50 cent? AND, I have no idea what a “D” size is!
• My point is, if you set them individually it would be easy to loose track of what is priced for each incremental size. You might wind up pricing a much larger print size too low or too high in relation to all the other print sizes available.
• Not to mention I think Photrade needs to add a link to the lesser known sizes/finishes (which explains the differences between them) AND none more important than the terms associated with Digital Licenses! I mean, I have no idea what these mean:
  • Digital Licenses: Extended: Electronic Items for Resale (unlimited)
  • Digital Licenses: Extended: Items for Resale (limited run)
  • Digital Licenses: Extended: Multi-Seat License: unlimited users
  • Digital Licenses: Extended: Unlimited Reproduction / Print Runs
  • Digital Licenses: Standard: Commercial License
  • Digital Licenses: Standard: Personal License

2) Set a percent markup that will be applied to all products.

• I’ve tried using this option since (at the time) I did not want to take the 100+ items you can sell, and figure out what would be  good price for everything. Like I said, it would be hard to keep track of everything all the way throughout the entire list, very time consuming (though in hindsight worth the time).
• THE BIG PROBLEM with this option though is that the smaller print sizes obviously cost less and so a 100-300% profit for a Photo Prints: 4 x 5 Glossy , COST: $0.15; Photrade suggested price: $0.19, is mere pennies. BUT for a much larger print, it might be as high as $44! Obviously for most prints, you want something between the two.
• AND for Digital Licenses, the fee (cost) is just a small processing fee of 10 cents. Well guess what, a 200% markup is very small! I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to sell a Digital License: Extended: Unlimited Reproduction / Print Runs for $0.14!!
• So basically using the % markup can be extremely too little a profit margin or too much depending on the product involved.

3) You can also change the prices for any individual item using the input boxes

• This is probably the best option, you could use this to adjust any problems associated with #2. You could try applying a certain % markup which will be good for maybe half of the items listed but then have to adjust the other half by hand.

I’ve tried to do a combination of #1 & #2 between using a flat % and individual pricing. BUT I still need to go back and see how everything adds up in terms of making sure I am not charging someone $5 for a 4×6 and $11 for a 20×30 poster print (or visa versa).

Suggestions for Photrade:

• Another option Photrade might consider is letting the user select which print sizes they would like to make available to sell, much like Smugmug does. This way the photographer can limit the sheer number of print options, easier to price and easier for the buyer in some respects.
  • Case in point, are most buyers likely to buy an 8×10 or a 8×11,8×12,8×13,8×14…
    • However, that can also be a double-edged sword though since a lot of naive file sizes uploaded might have to be cropped a significant amount if a 8×10 size is chosen.
• Alternatively I think the suggested prices should be a little more photographer friendly (not so low). I mean it’s great to sell your work but not for less than a nickel profit!

My experience was just that, I was please to have sold 2 items thus far but the first here, a 4×6 print netted me all of $0.04 because I didn’t have the prices set (to my liking)

Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom

The 2nd, a more impressive 16×20 but it only got me $4, again b/c I feel the suggested pricing is far too low for some items.

Then again, you don’t want them too high either, in which case you may never sell anything (another double-edged sword!)

Sell photos on photrade | By timsdigitaldarkroom

I think if you take the time to look at the prices and make sure they reflect what you feel is fair for your creation, Photrade can take you a long way.