Looking to Sell Your Pictures Online?Find Out How If Those "Professional" Photography Gallery Services Are Worth It. Warning: Read this before you waste your money...

"The guy who hates overpriced "Professional" Photo sites tells you the real truth about those Pro Photo Galleries, and lets you know if it is really worth the money for all the features and security they promise..."

Dear fellow Photographer,

I want to let you know the truth before we begin:

I hate paying for things that I used to get for free. I'm sure you don't like paying for things either. I used to only use the free Photography Gallery Services, you know like Picasa, Kodak, Snapfish, Shutterfly, etc. All free, and at the time, I thought they were good enough. I wasn't very serious about my photography, and you could imagine why I simply refused to pay for any of those "premium" photography sites. I just didn't think they were worth it (and honestly I was a bit stubborn too).

But let’s start with why I'm writing this letter...

It must have been about six months ago. I was reading one of the few photography blogs that are actually worth the time, and they recommended a website called SmugMug.com, one of those premium photography sites that charge a yearly fee. I couldn't even believe that they didn't even have a free option...

Now, I rarely read blogs, but this particular one is actually one of the very few blogs that I trust when it comes to photography, which is the only reason I decided to check out SmugMug.com and click that link. So here I am...

"But why do I hate those "premium"Photography Gallery sites so much..."

Well, I'll tell you why. I have been a photographer for close to ten years, and recently I began getting more and more clients who wanted to order prints from the events I shot, or who even wanted to purchase digital downloads to use the pictures on their website or for marketing materials. I also needed a better tool to sell wedding photographs, and to create online galleries. Most importantly, I really needed to meet their demands if I wanted to make money selling my photographs. Personally, I wanted to stop running to the post office to manually fulfill their orders by hand every time I wanted to sell a photo or create a photo gallery for an event. Plus, I wanted a website that looked really professional, and which was totally customizable.

But, I have never been a one of those people who always bought the most expensive things. I always looked for the bargain, and I thought the free sites were good enough. Suddenly, I realized that I didn't have a website that looked professional. When I went to SmugMug their sales page was pretty convincing... and I'm sure lots of new photographers see "professional website in minutes", and think "Wow! That seems perfect, I'll get it".

"Unfortunately, everyone makes money but the photographer..."

The problem is, many of these "Professional Photo Portfolio" or "Sell Your Digital Photos Easily" services are often only really making money for themselves by selling the service, while only making peanuts for the photographer who set up the site.

So, you can imagine my doubts when I read the recommendation of Smugmug Power and Professional Accounts, which were "supposedly" fully customizable. It was only because I really trusted this photographer that I even checked out SmugMug in the first place.

When I reached the SmugMug website, and activated my Free Trial, I was immediately surprised by what it could create right out of the...