Integrate Zenfolio / Smugmug to your own site

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WhiteLight

Senior Member
This is something i am interested in..
i have been building (yes, i know, for like forever) my website but am not actually able to get a proper e-commerce plugin.
all the plugins out there actually ask you to build a separate page with all the items you want to sell, so if i probably think all my pics are awesome and want someone to buy them all, i would have to upload all the pics again to that page & stuff.
something easier would be to have a 'buy' link below every image in the gallery instead of having to the same redundantly.

Would zenfolio or smugmug help with this?
or is there a way i can integrate just the 'buy' page through these sites & not actually have my entire site on there?
so that it still has my formatting & everything much like the rest of the site without people actually realizing that it's actually a different service.
i do think those sites are great but i am someone who likes to personalize things a lot, so having one totally on there doesn't fit my needs..

forgive me if i made no sense
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
WhiteLight said:
This is something i am interested in..
i have been building (yes, i know, for like forever) my website but am not actually able to get a proper e-commerce plugin.
all the plugins out there actually ask you to build a separate page with all the items you want to sell, so if i probably think all my pics are awesome and want someone to buy them all, i would have to upload all the pics again to that page & stuff.
something easier would be to have a 'buy' link below every image in the gallery instead of having to the same redundantly.

Would zenfolio or smugmug help with this?
or is there a way i can integrate just the 'buy' page through these sites & not actually have my entire site on there?
so that it still has my formatting & everything much like the rest of the site without people actually realizing that it's actually a different service.
i do think those sites are great but i am someone who likes to personalize things a lot, so having one totally on there doesn't fit my needs..

forgive me if i made no sense
Click to expand...

Do you want the photos on your site or on Zenfolio? If you have the galleries on Zenfolio then you could use something like an iframe to handle the heavy lifting.
[h=2][/h][h=2][/h]
 
ohkphoto

ohkphoto

Snow White
Do you have a Paypal account? If not, you may want to check into their merchant account. I think it's pretty easy to sign up for one and I know they deal with international currencies.

Also, Fine Art America is a free site for selling photos.

Zenfolio is a good site, very classy layout with lots of options. You could load all your photos in different portfolios on Zenfolio and it's a very easy site to shop. But you will still need a paypal account. Photoshelter is similar Zenfolio and they have another pay option (Strife).

If you went with one of these, you wouldn't need to build a different site.

I hope this makes sense. I don't see any other way around the e-commerce thing except paypal (Google may have different options)
 
W

WhiteLight

Senior Member
Thanks, but i guess i worded it all wrong :p
i want to make my own website.. i think that would be more satisfying somehow... i like doing all that stuff too
i assumed it should be possible or they had an option where we could integrate either one of these sites as a tool or internal link or something..
 
ohkphoto

ohkphoto

Snow White
WhiteLight said:
Thanks, but i guess i worded it all wrong :p
i want to make my own website.. i think that would be more satisfying somehow... i like doing all that stuff too
i assumed it should be possible or they had an option where we could integrate either one of these sites as a tool or internal link or something..
Click to expand...

In that case, I can see only 2 options, and somebody else out there may know more.

If you get an account with Photoshelter, you still need some kind of merchant account, and you would still have to upload the same photos to your site and to your photoshelter site. You can then embed a code for each photo on your site so that when someone clicks on the photo, the buy option in Photoshelter comes up . . . so they're buying through your site but linking to Photoshelter's shopping cart.

The other option is to get a plug-in like Cashie Commerce if you use Wordpress. Then everything can be done on your site.

Most of the sites like Zenfolio and Smugmug, want you to buy through their sites . . . I don't think they want to be "integrated" into anybody's site.

I hope someone with more expertise in e-commerce chimes in here and helps you.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
There is the paypal option. It is all on your site with a buy button that will open up paypal. Looks pretty clunky though and then you would need to print and deliver the photo.

I worked for a web design firm for a while and am pretty good at webdesign but I could never find a good design that worked for everything I wanted for less money than Zenfolio costs me. If you do go totally on your own you will need to get a SSL Certificate for you site. They cost from $149US and up to $500US Depending on which one you will need. Not sure about in India.
 
W

WhiteLight

Senior Member
ohkphoto said:
In that case, I can see only 2 options, and somebody else out there may know more.

If you get an account with Photoshelter, you still need some kind of merchant account, and you would still have to upload the same photos to your site and to your photoshelter site. You can then embed a code for each photo on your site so that when someone clicks on the photo, the buy option in Photoshelter comes up . . . so they're buying through your site but linking to Photoshelter's shopping cart.

The other option is to get a plug-in like Cashie Commerce if you use Wordpress. Then everything can be done on your site.

Most of the sites like Zenfolio and Smugmug, want you to buy through their sites . . . I don't think they want to be "integrated" into anybody's site.

I hope someone with more expertise in e-commerce chimes in here and helps you.
Click to expand...


Thanks Helene!
Cashie Commerce & Photoshelter options look good.
Had not heard of Cashie commerce & didn't know that Photoshelter offered integration services.. will check them out now

Tracsoft - Don Kuykendall said:
There is the paypal option. It is all on your site with a buy button that will open up paypal. Looks pretty clunky though and then you would need to print and deliver the photo.

I worked for a web design firm for a while and am pretty good at webdesign but I could never find a good design that worked for everything I wanted for less money than Zenfolio costs me. If you do go totally on your own you will need to get a SSL Certificate for you site. They cost from $149US and up to $500US Depending on which one you will need. Not sure about in India.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of paypal type plugins... but the problem is that they don't seem to work with preset galleries.
they need you to build a separate page & showcase all your 'items' in a 'buy' page... something i would like to avoid if i can
 
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riverside

Senior Member
Here's a decent shopping cart with its own secure servers that partners with PayPal for $8/mo and PayPal business account for $5/mo plus 2.9%+.30 per transaction. That's $18/mo (771 Rupee) operating overhead before transaction fees. Transactions take place on your website without the customer being transferred to PayPal.

Though I haven't used it in such a manner, you should be able to apply the simple cart code and inventory any item as a "for Sale" item on any webpage. With PayPal no merchant account is required.

Be cautious about using hosts who "do everything". I've looked at quite a few and if you generate any volume their fee structures can be appalling. Most have limitations on everything designed to step one up into the next package. Separate host, shopping cart and merchant financial services will most often present a superior financial package versus the "all in one" solutions. More work, but money is money.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
riverside said:
Do you sell any volume of merchandise from it?
Click to expand...

I just set it up recently and have only done one little wedding. The parents are good friends and the daughter gave them three days notice to set up the wedding. But it was easy to set up for them to order from. I am only doing this for fun more than anything else but it is nice since I can have different price list for everything you want. Also the site can sell, order, print and deliver it that is what you want.
 
wud

wud

Senior Member
I got wordpress.com and I'm looking for the same (or, dont mind it being on another website), but this feature doesn't work on .com

It seems you can get a plugin for wordpress.org but I havent fully read up on it, as it doesnt work on .com

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S

Skytalker

Senior Member
I am with Zenfolio, I have a bussiness account, but there are other Zen choices with integrated e-commerce.
Site design is some clicks away, no need for programming knowledge whatsoever, the blog is integrated, custom pages can be set up. Printing is possible in USA and Europe plus self-fulfilling products. Support is fast, proactive and useful.
I had Smugmug before and they were not as good as Zen. For the money you pay you get a good service package.
 
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