Gulp! First item listed. Thoughts please

Shop Talk
22

HI Margaret

I was actually just thinking about that and posting out in postal tubes.

Cheers
John

23

I really just want to say’wow’, but follsy will tell me I have to add more characters in order to submit a comment! But definitely ‘wow’ - lovely images. Oh, and re. Postage - don’t use Royal Mail - £5 to send a bag by Royal Mail, £2.70 with Hermes - and I’ve not had any problems… Yet…touchwood!

1 Like
24

They are all totally awesome but my very favourite is the top one, stunning!

1 Like
25

Thank you Helen very kind of you to say such a nice thing.

Can I ask how Hermes works? do they pick up from my home?

Cheers
John

26

21 days is quite a long time to wait for the item to be posted out. If I was buying that may put me off unless you explain why it takes so long.
Love the photograph though…it’s stunning.

Kim
x

1 Like
27

Thanks Kim :slight_smile:

I didn’t notice the 21 days. I’ll look now and adjust it.

Cheers
John

28

I think they collect, but they have lots of outlets in various places. My local drop off is the local dry cleaners. Which is much better than the post office because it’s open until 19.00, which is really handy for me since I work full time as well and struggle to get to a post office. If you go to their website they have a postcode search and will be able to tell you the nearest outlet or how much to collect from your home.

29

John, have just liked you on Facebook - stunning pic, the colours are just wonderful.
Good luck with your shop
Theresa

1 Like
30

Thank you Theresa :slight_smile:

31

Hi John @NorthernWild

I can’t really think of any other advice as you have received lots of fantastic help and guidance already.
I love your first listing. Its such a beautiful view.
All the best with your shop :slight_smile:

Karen

1 Like
32

Thanks Karen. Its a start and hopefully a lot more to come after the helpful advice from here :smile:
Cheers
John

33

Great photo , John.

I sell wall-art on my website, but generally landscapes are not what I do unless they have London architecture in them as the main feature, but you obviously have the skills to get great landscape pictures.

Some don’t appreciate you need to have a really stout backing board to prevent the print or mounted print being damaged.

I never ever send glazed frames in the post, due to a bad experience receiving some frames. I had two new 60cm x 80 cm frames delivered to me last year for a client, via a really big frame supplier, and both arrived smashed to pieces. They had no idea how to pack them !

My A3 prints are a bit less in price than yours, but if you use special finishes, then that has to be reflected in the price. I print up to A2 size, or 420 x 420mm square size, but have to outsource larger than that.

Always useful to include info on avoiding direct sunlight on the print, etc.

1 Like
34

Hi Ronald

Thanks for the advice, I would not feel happy sending out my mounted prints without it being properly protected between two sheets of card. I am in the process of exploring other options for packaging.

I don’t send glazed, framed prints either as I feel choosing frames is a personal choice as everyone’s home decor is different. Also the cost and possibility of damage is very high.

Yes the larger size that I do at the moment is A3 but am looking at large format and canvas options.

Cheers
John

35

I’d be inclined to include the keyword “Yorkshire” in the item title - most people know that Yorkshire is a beautiful county even if they haven’t heard of the precise location of your gorgeous photos.

Yes I know, I am a biased Yorkshire lass!

potters off to mind her own business

Julie

4 Likes
36

Congrats! Your pictures are wonderful! mx

1 Like
37

John, the postage costs are based on dimensions, as well as weight. If your package is within the “Large Letter” sizing and under a certain weight, it can go as “Large Letter” for 93p first class - but if you want it to be “Signed For” delivery (with insurance), it’s an extra £1.10. So you could post in a stiff-backed envelope and put the print in a card sleeve, or between two sheets of stiff card - but only if you’re prepared to risk the print getting bent in the post (has happened to me when buying prints!). If that happens, you’ll need to re-send the print, or refund the customer’s payment, if they prefer that (including the postage) and then make a claim from the post office.
It is difficult to work out the best way to post items that can be bent, or squashed, or smashed… Even the best efforts can fail, as postal workers and couriers are rather famous for their lack of care when processing parcels!

Regarding metric sizing, it might be helpful to say so, if your print will fit a commonly available mount and / or frame size (eg. A4, Ikea “Ribba” frame etc), as this can encourage people to buy an unframed item, knowing they can easily mount and frame it themselves. Given the high cost of having mounts cut and frames custom made, it’s probably worth giving all the information you can, that will help encourage sales!

By the way, that image is really beautiful. I’m sure you will make sales, with a bit of patience and careful listing. The Folksy Blog has quite a lot of help for new sellers, including listing tips: http://blog.folksy.com/

Good luck!

1 Like
38

Oh, just a thought… I was browsing your shop (lovely!) and noticed you have no watermarks on the images you post there. I’d recommend watermarking them - for two reasons; one is that not everyone is honest and breaches of copyright are becoming more and more common; the other is that it’s easy to Pin your photos to Pinterest and a watermark makes sure it is clear who made the original image.

Oh, also I’d suggest you reduce the image quality for your shop images, to the minimum you can use, without it compromising what the customer sees. That would deter people who want to copy your images for nefarious purposes!

Lizzie

1 Like
39

Hi Lizzie

Many thanks for that. my larger mounted print is 20" x 16", I sandwich between larger sheets of card to protect the corners (I suspect that size will take it into a medium size category, I will need to check that) i then wrap in strong brown paper but not got a few postage bags to try out. I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending them out any other way as I want them to turn up perfect if possible.

Thanks for the kind words regarding my image, I have now uploaded a few more to my store . have a look :slight_smile:

Cheers
John

1 Like
40

Very good point Lizzie. I have already reduced them to 72dpi and only 642 pixels wide (is that size worth stealing?)

I have thought long and hard about adding a watermark but decided not to as I dont want the viewer to be distracted from the final image. I do however have copyright info embedded within the exif of the image so that I can easily and quickly prove ownership if needed.

does this sound ok?

Cheers
John

1 Like
41

In the end, it is up to you how you handle the possiblity of copying / stealing of your images. I know that reducing image density/size makes it hard to get a crisp image if you expand the photo, so someone would find it hard to print a good copy of your image. That would at least deter most people, I’d think.
And as the actual item for sale is your (high-res, beautifully printed) copy of the image, then there’s little point in copying it and pretending they took the photo / are selling the image themselves… At least, I would think so.
You can only try…

1 Like