Photo Cart - The Photographer's Shopping Cart

My website template included a gallery with shopping cart, but it just wasn't cutting it for me with what I needed to do. I purchased Photo Cart from Tim at PicturesPro a few months ago to help me with my online sales. Since I work a full time job and only shoot on the weekends I needed an online shopping cart that would be easy for both myself and clients to access with me limited to do in-person sales. I wasn't thrilled with the site demo they offer on their site, but because of rave reviews from other photographers, I decided to give it a chance.

Photo Cart has a lot of options which can be slightly overwhelming when you first start working in it. Here's a list of a few options that I've implemented on my Photo Cart site:

• Create numerous pricing groups - a la carte and collections as well as various price options for different groups (seniors vs families vs weddings).
  
• Upgrades on items - for example there is a flat fee for 8x10s but if the want to upgraded to linen texture it shows the additional dollar amount.
• Set print credits for certain clients.
  
• Early bird discounts for those that order within a certain time frame.
• Previews are available in B&W, Sepia and Selenium within the program, no more converting images in PhotoShop to upload!
• Watermarking
• Customize the look of your proofing area.
• Public and private galleries, private require a password.
  
• Set expiration dates for your galleries.
  
• A great bonus for me being — in Ohio, each county is a different sales tax, I've uploaded the tax rates for each county and when the client inserts their zip code it calculates the tax based on their home zip!!
• When my clients are finished shopping it redirects them to PayPal - but it is also set-up for other payment options as well. There are a ton more features that I'm not mentioning too!

The best part about Photo Cart that unlike other online shopping carts, it's a one time fee. No monthly fees cutting into your profits! You set Photo Cart up on the back of your website too. Photo Cart is $279 and an additional $30 if you'd like Tim to install it. I attempted to install it myself, but I was having a hard time with it, so I emailed Tim and went with the install option, he had me up and running in a few days.

After researching a few of the online proofing options out there, I felt that Photo Cart was the most cost effective option for what I needed. There is an online support forum and community so when I'm unsure of something, I access it for more info or to ask a question. If you're looking for a better shopping cart for your online sales I highly suggest checking this one out!