I am currently doing self fulfillment, what are the main advantages of handing this off to SmugMug?

Question

I currently do self fulfillment of my print sales, what are the main advantages of handing this part of my business off to SmugMug? The main reason I've been doing it this way is so I know exactly what my customer is getting and I can proof all the steps of the workflow.

Answer 1

Advantages of Smugmug fulfillment:

1. Customer can place an order 24 hrs a day via the web with a wide variety of sizes, prints and finish choices.
2. Orders are shipped directly to the customer so you don't have to deal with shipping, mailing or delivery.
3. Credit card payment through Smugmug.
4. Smugmug help desk available to help your customers with any order issues.
5. 100% satisfaction guarantee on all prints. If they got damaged or didn't come out right for pretty much any reason, Smugmug will attempt to fix the issue (or work with you to fix the issue) and reprint the affected images. Try to find that deal with any regular retail printer.
6. Presumably this allows you to spend more time on photography, marketing and other things that make your business successful and less time filling orders.
7. With proof-delay, you can still preview and check all orders before they are printed. It's important to check crops and make sure any extra post processing work has done before releasing the order for print.

Disadvantages of Smugmug fulfillment:

1. You can only take orders for things that can be specified on the Smugmug web site. For example, if you want to offer a framed print and Smugmug doesn't offer that specific product, you can't offer it through Smugmug fulfillment.

2. You give up some of the personal contact that you would have with your customer in talking about their order.

3. Pricing flexibility is not infinite like it can be when you're pricing things manually and dealing with the customer directly (heck you can even make things up while talking with the customer). While Smugmug's coupon and packages are pretty flexible, you can't do everything with them.

4. The customer has to figure out how the Smugmug print ordering process works. While the Smugmug system works fine, for someone who isn't that web-saavy (say an elderly person) or someone who doesn't want to use a credit card online (yes those people still exist), they might prefer ordering in person or over the phone.

5. Unless your self-fulfillment print costs are higher than what Smugmug charges you for prints, you are paying Smugmug 15% for the fulfillment services they are offering and thus your profits might be lower on any given order (assuming it was priced similarly both ways). Many pros believe you can more than make up for that by spending your time on higher value aspects of your business, but that certainly depends upon your given situation.

Answer 2

Great answer by @jfriend00, plus: - shipping cost only happens once- from the LAB to the client - with smugmug you can set up your own branding. The product gets to your client with your own sticker on the box and a thank you print 100% customized by you. I use the print to thank them and remind them to like us on Facebook and recommend our shop. During the Holliday season I also add a coupon code for repeat orders - since smugmug enables you to make your own promotions. - you never have to go to the post office again to send prints. Frankly, that's been totally amazing :p