photo by Jennifer J Taylor via iStock
Drop Shipping your printed photos is becoming easier and easier to do. If you aren’t already drop shipping your printed photos, then this article is a pretty good argument for why you should be.
There are a ton of different websites which offer drop shipping for photographers, like print studios. If you aren’t familiar with drop shipping, I’ll explain it quickly. Dropshipping simply allows you to send products directly from a company to your customers so that way you don’t have to store any of the products at your business or in your studio.
Obviously, drop shipping for photography businesses saves you a ton of time since you aren’t actually handling any of your clients’ physical products. But, drop shipping your printed photos also means that you don’t get to see those products before you send them out, which is a huge deal for some photographers.
I’m going to walk you through all of the pros and cons of drop shipping your printed photos here.
Pro: You Can Purchase Products As You Need Them
photo by fizkes via iStock
The biggest pro to drop shipping your printed photos is that you can purchase products as you need them, which keeps more cash in your bank account and it also keeps your closets free of tons of boxes.
If you don’t use a drop shipping method, then your studio could quickly fill up with products that you need to store. Since rent on studios can be expensive, this is basically the last thing most photographers want to do.
Also, drop shipping your printed photos means that you don’t actually have to pay anyone for a product that a client will need in the future. You can get the payment from your client upfront and then pay the printing studio. It makes your bookkeeping way easier.
Pro: It Offers Complete Flexibility
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Since you don’t need to purchase any products ahead of time, drop shipping allows you to negotiate what kinds of products you want to offer to your clients and what price you want to pay for those products.
ArtBeat Studios, one of our favorite fine art printing companies around, offers you the chance to drop ship your photos to your clients and they offer a wide array of types of photo prints, from canvases to metal prints to acrylic prints. This allows you to figure out exactly what types of prints your clients are really looking for.
Pro: It Offers a Higher Profit Margin
photo by PeopleImages via iStock
One of the most important photography business tips is to keep your profit margin high. This is especially true during a year like this. Dropshipping your printed photos allows you to do so because you no longer need to worry about your packaging, shipping and branding. All you really have to worry about is your website and marketing, which are costs associated with running a photography business at all.
Pro: It Can Bring You Passive Income
So long as your photography website is up and running, drop shipping your printed photos is a great way to bring in passive income.
As soon as you are done doing a photoshoot for a client, you can direct them to your ecommerce store where they can pick out the exact types of prints they want.
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Con: Shipping Can Be Slow
photo by ChrisSteer via iStock
Dropshipping your printed photos can be slow if you use a company that works with overseas factories. And, unfortunately, a lot of companies do this in order to keep their prices as low as possible.
However, if you do opt to work with ArtBeat Studios, you can rest assured that your shipping speed will not be affected by international shipping, since most of their products ship in just under a week.
Con: Packaging Can Be Boring
photo by Drazen Zigic via iStock
A big part of the reason why some photographers choose to ship products out themselves is that they can use the shipping box as a part of their marketing ploy.
For instance, you can put your own branding on the outside of the box and you can make it more fun for your clients to open their photos. If you choose to dropship, though, your photos are likely going to come in a plain, unlabelled box.
If your photography is good enough, then you will likely still wow your clients anyways, but it is something to think about.
Con: No Quality Control On Your End
photo by Kiwis via iStock
One of the biggest cons of drop shipping your printed photos is that you don’t get to see them before your client does. If you are working with a new printing company, this will likely make you really nervous. What if the quality of the photo isn’t good enough? That’s naturally going to reflect really poorly on your end.
Of course, you can fix this problem by choosing to work with a printing company that is well-established, like ArtBeat Studios. They are an officially registered trusted art seller and have been in business for years, so you know they are doing quality control for you.