Another ongoing one and we need to really talk about this one . . . plus do some research.

One question is what value is SmugMug if we are not going to use their printing services. But maybe we want to use their services for that audience.

OK. Here are the givens:

• Use ECWID
• Use Square
• Separate accounts
• Same price structure

We talked the other day about getting 20 images picked out for our gallery. I will suggest that this might be the maximum and might be too much to start, but if in different categories, might be okay. Here is the issue. If you have a small number to choose from, it is easier to make a choice. At some point, having too many becomes daunting and makes it hard for many people to make a choice resulting in fewer sales. Perhaps we offer up to 20 to begin and rotate our offerings each month (or quarter). As prolific as each of us are, that might be an issue, but we can play it by ear. We can start with a low number and gradually increase that, watching the effect on sales. I do believe having several categories and thus shrinking the visual choices on one screen can be a good way to go too.

Here is my suggestion for standard verbage in the lower part of the products.

Description of image - make it personal as you have been doing. There is no limit on your description here. Details may really have a very good effect.

Then:

SIZES: The standard size for our photos is 13 x 19”. We also offer most photographs printed as an 8 x 10”. Other sizes may be available as needed. You may special order these sizes but must contact us first to ensure we can print in that size. Special orders may incur an additional but very reasonable charge.

FRAMES: Each photograph comes in a nice black gallery style frame with glass front. The frame has hanger openings in the back to be hung either vertically or horizontally as needed. At times, we may offer premium and other frames when we find them at reasonable prices. You may choose a photo; order it without the standard frame; and choose a frame from our shop of the suitable size to add to your order. Be aware that we do not always have premium frames available.
Except for Special Offerings with custom frames and/or mats, you may order most photographs without a frame.

CROPPING: Your photograph may be very slightly different from what is pictured on the website depending upon the size you order. The perspective of the photograph changes depending on the size ratios. For example, an 8 x 10’ photograph has a wider perspective than a 13 x 19”. The 13 x 19” will be slightly more narrow than an 8 x 10”. The differences will be very slight and you probably wouldn’t notice them if we didn’t point this out. But we want you to know all the details.

COPYRIGHT: All images and text on this website are copyrighted by Kristi Thomas and Michael Mathews, respectively. See our Copyright Statement for more information. (Under About Us on the menu above).

You can see an example of how this would look at lakeothepines.photos/michael-s-gallery/m...50/category=19115640

Let me know what you think and if there is anything you want to change, add, etc (what would etc be in this case? I don't know). I am in a goofy mood.

Looks great to me. I wouldn't change a thing. Now tell me, on the the email that you sent with the s/s to import, do I do that now into ECWID? I will have to go read again and then I'm sure I will understand.

I am not sure about the import feature yet. I haven't tried it. If it works correctly and have forgivable input then it will be good. Let me test it in a minute and we'll see.

Well, I worked out this really cool table for shipping. It handled S&H when you bought a single product or when you bought mulitples. If you bought one item it was the standard price $21.95. If you bought more than one, it added $5 for each additional photo. Worked great. But it all falls apart when they buy a print(s) with no frame. A single unframed print is charged the same S&H as is one with a frame. Costs are dramatically different. Crapazoid.

Got to think about this one. In a regular eCommerce system, this is a no brainer, but ECWID is not that sophisticated yet.

There are a couple of options and neither is very good:

• Separate products into Photos With Frames & Photos Without Frames - really not good
• Add the difference in the Options section that reduces the price for the product without the frame - not elegant and will cause questions at checkout, but doable

Let me play.

OK. S&H is fixed. Not elegant but it works. I just added it to OPTIONS - Unframed. Now reads - Unframed (includes a reduction for S&H costs. In checkout, the S&H cost will show the full amount but this gives you a rebate for it).

I also logged into your ECWID account and added that to all of your products. Also set up you shipping options including Local Pickup which has to be there or no way to allow them to pay without shipping charges. Let's discuss it. Our accounts should match now with the same settings and features. I also set all your products to Shipping - Global so you don't have to worry about that.

Do you want to accept checks and money orders? I have that as a yes in mine, but I would rather match what you do. If you do, we need to have a mailing address for you. I actually can ask for a street address here, I believe. If so we could just use that address. It would be not as sure to use my address at the RV park for that goes to the shop. Unless they followed instructions and sent it to the business name, it could be an issue. Might be returned if addressed to you and there will be some who can't follow instructions.

OK. I have 20 products right now but that is cheating for I am counting some duplicates that are offered as 1). photograph, 2). PB&J Art and 3). Limited Edition. However, I could be ready to go live whenever you are ready. Still no rush though. This is going to be so much fun.

Going outside and enjoy it for a bit. Have been working on this for several hours.

One other fun thing about getting the store live is that it is something we can check off our list - as we have discussed. Checking things off is good. We've had a long list of projects and keep adding but haven't been able to check many off yet. Here's one that we should be able to do before too much longer.

It's the little things sometimes . . .

Go to the LOPP site and look at the tab that shows where you are - It says "Lake O' the Pines . . . ". I just added a favicon to it. Look. It is so cool.

MAJOR difference, as we knew there would be with frames or no frames on images. Below is a sample:

It is not hard to do this. I just took a photo that I was using for a product on ECWID and gave it a width of 1900px and allowed the height to automatically adjust to size. In order for it to be the proper ratio for a 13 x 19" layout, the height should be 1300px. This is based on a landscape view. Then create a new image that is 1910px by 1310px. Give it a black background. Then copy your photo that you just modified and paste it on top of the black rectangle. If you center it in both directions, you will have a 5px border around the photo. Save that and export it as a 72 dpi jpg. Then upload it in ECWID to replace the matching photo there. Repeat for all . . . If you don't have time to do this - just let me know. I can do all yours pretty fast. I am going to do mine tomorrow. This may not be necessary before we go live, but I will probably have it done first anyway.