Terry Cribbs , Jun 09, 2004; 03:19 p.m.
We are a professional photo studio that does about 35
weddings a year. Because of client demand we have begun the
process of putting wedding proofs on line for out of town family to
view and ostensibly purchase.
We looked into services such as Pictage, etc, but were not
pleased with the lack of creative control over images (ie, they
require UNTOUCHED jpegs, allowing no cropping, curves,
retouching, etc.) and the cost outlay. We know many photogs
who have stopped doing Pictage because they weren't seeing
enough sales to justify the expense. So we thought, if we might
not make much money from it, we might as well do it ourselves.
We have an established site, an in house programmer, and
would like to use paypal since they don't charge any fees.
However, we have upwards of 500 imags per wedding, and pay
pal requires you to add html button tags to EVERY ITEM you wish
to sell. WAAAAY too time consuming to be worth it.
I know there ar many many plug ins and alterations for the
paypal checkout system, ie through dreamweaver etc, and
wanted to know if anyone out there has used them or modified
them to their satisfaction. We'd be willing to pay a reasonable
amount for a good solution. Any suggestions?
Bruce Rubenstein , Jun 09, 2004; 03:38 p.m.
Breeze Browser can make web pages with a shoppping cart with a link to Paypal.
Rich Dutchman , Jun 09, 2004; 04:29 p.m.
I have a really great system for online sales, but it requires a small amount of understanding coding. I have combined a Photoshop web gallery with shopping cart service from www.mals-e.com. The basic mals-e cart is free, and very customizable. At the end, the buyer can choose to pay via credit, debit or with a check. If they choose credit or debit, a Paypal window opens for their information. The entire system is free, except for Paypal's charge.
If you're interested, e-mail me and I'll send you the files I use with a small list of instructions I created. Don't have time right now to list everything here.
... Timber ... , Jun 09, 2004; 05:09 p.m.
35 weddings a year is not unmanagable. By using a slower method of ordering, this
forces family members to "batch order". By using an easy "buy one at a time" you may be
mailing out more frequently, even to the same person.
I would simply take checks. You just don't have the volume to make such a sophisticated
system necessary. I give my jobs a number, and they order for that customer order #:
very simple. Some people don't have a purchase order, but if they have the customer
number, and the picture number, we can do business unless I require they use a purchase
order.
William Casey McAllister , Jun 09, 2004; 08:46 p.m.
Did you look at printroom.com or photoreflect.com ?
Steve Tout - Seattle, Wa 
, Jun 09, 2004; 11:40 p.m.
Miva Merchant is a very robust shopping cart solution, which requires little or no programming experience to maintain. It even has a PayPal module, so upon final checkout, the user goes to PayPal to submit payment, and then is redirected to your site at order completion.
<shameless plug>
I have designed and implemented several such sites, most notably my wife's jewelry website. http://www.camilee.com I can provide web hosting, Miva merchant hosting, set-up and configuration, and integration with PayPal for you. In fact, another frequent Pro photog contributor here on PN has inquired about me doing this same exact thing for him. Rates are very reasonable. Depending on the level of customization you require, you could up up and running in just a few days, for anywhere from $500 - $1000 (which inlcudes 1 whole year of hosting.)</shameless plug>
With that being said, as an amateur photography enthusiast, and professional Web developer by trade, I have a lot of experience and insight to help you accomplish your goals. If you have any questions, or would like a more detailed quotation, shoot me an email at steve@stevetout.com
Miva Merchant is highly customizable, and very robust. Combined with PayPal payment gateway, is a very powerful and simple solution.
Hope that helps!
Chris Ladoulis , Jun 10, 2004; 09:32 a.m.
You can write a script with many of the web gallery / image database programs that will support the Paypal shopping cart. Basically you'd load the template HTML text and replace the image name as a variable on each page created. I've seen this done with AlbumCreator and heard others have done it with iMatch and iView. This could be a solution if you don't want to use a 3rd party solution like Pictage or Printroom.
Tim McPain , Jun 11, 2004; 12:45 p.m.
I use DreamWeaver (web design program) and FireWorks (graphic program). They work together to make online web album with a few steps. On my web page, I ask them to email me with the file name.
Most clients already know me, because we've met at the wedding.
So, process is personal. We email back and forth and they get the pictures. But I only do about 25 weddings a year.
