Storefront suggestions Pros/Cons

[Ryan L]

I am looking into getting an online storefront and have limited it down to Zenfolio 100.00, Smugmug 100.00, or Shutterbug 150.00. Anyone have any pros/cons to these? The only thing I see about shutterbug that I like is the ability to password protect galleries for people. The capacity they limit is realatively small. Does anyone have any other suggestions to look into?

 

[tirediron]

Why not simply register a domain, get some space and build your own 'site?

 

[Ryan L]

Why not simply register a domain, get some space and build your own 'site?

I do have my own site but dont want the hassle of building my own. With a storefront I can integrate it into my site, accept payment with out a 3rd party, wont have to pay for more storage hosting, send directly to a lab, and the list goes on. I wiah photograghy was my career then I could spend all day building a site. Unfortunately I have to pay my bills so my real job must come first so theres 50% of my time, then the kids and sports which is 40% only leaves 10% lol. Just a time thing really.

 

[Chris Stegner]

I disagree with the creating your own site comment (respectfully so). The knowledge and coding behind the sites you listed are awesome. Unless you are VERY well versed in web development, you will never match the capabilities of those sites.

The route I go, although I don't sell a ton, is that I have a WordPess blog that I set up on GoDaddy. There I will post a short story on the shoot that I'm posting about, then I'll use one of the better shots from the shoot on the blog. I then have a link to the entire gallery on Zenfolio. I love Zenfolio. And yes you can password protect galleries there as well. Not sure about the others you mentioned, but with Zenfolio, you can have a variety of pricing structures. For my family stuff I make it so family can by stuff and only mark it up enough to cover the Zenfolio fee. The other stuff I have a totally different pricing structure on.

Feel free to browse my site, then jump over to one of the galleries. Just to get the "feel" of what I'm doing.

Lastly, if you decide to go to Zenfolio, please let me know I referred you. I get like $5 off. And, no, I do not work for them. And, no, I wouldn't send you in that direction if I didn't like it myself... I mean what the heck, it's only $5!

Good luck and let us know what direction you took, but beware of trying all this on your own!

 

[tirediron]

I do have my own site but dont want the hassle of building my own. With a storefront I can integrate it into my site, accept payment with out a 3rd party, wont have to pay for more storage hosting, send directly to a lab, and the list goes on. I wiah photograghy was my career then I could spend all day building a site. Unfortunately I have to pay my bills so my real job must come first so theres 50% of my time, then the kids and sports which is 40% only leaves 10% lol. Just a time thing really.

Gotcha...

 

[Ryan L]

thanks chris I think I am leaning towards Zen anyways. I havent seen anything Smugmug has over Zen for the 50 bucks more a month. Now that I know Zen has password protection I am really leaning that way.

 

[myfotoguy]

I suggest Zenfolio. I have been with them a long time and their service is top notch, and they continue to add great functionality. I could go into may reasons why I chose them, but I already wrote about it if you are interested...
Myfotoguy: Sharing Your Images in an Online Gallery

Smug Mug users are pretty satisfied too. I belive both have trial periods.

 

[Ryan L]

Well I think Zenfolio it is unless someone has some groundbreaking news that I should use one of the other services.