MassiveNiche

Paying for Online Photo Hosting Services when they’re Free

photo-hosting

Everyone knows that you can upload and share your photos at an ever-growing list of free photo hosting providers without having to whip out your credit card.

Paid photo hosts have traditionally survived by offering larger storage, bigger bandwidth and better user features. But now that we’re in the era of unlimited storage and bandwidth, are they offering much else?

Here are some details from SmugMug:

Great things SmugMug offers that free sites don’t:

* No ads or promotions surrounding your photos.
* Unlimited storage and traffic.
* Ability to retrieve your photos anytime.
* No requirement for your visitors to register.
* No threat of losing your photos if you don’t buy prints.
* No reducing resolution of your photos like at free sites.
* No “free for a few photos, expensive for more” plans like Picasaweb’s.
* Ability to view big, clear photos.
* Gorgeous themes to personalize your galleries.
* Full-screen slideshows.
* Real, knowledgeable & friendly humans to answer your emails quickly.
* More safety for your photos. Pay sites rarely close; many free sites—even from Yahoo, HP, Canon and Microsoft—have closed.

Standard: $39.95/year
Power: $59.95/year
Pro: $149.95/year

What’s Your Opinion on the Package?

Try asking a few different people this question and you’re likely to get varied replies.

Internet industry practitioners and people who expect things to be free (yes, they do offer a Free Trial), are likely to view the SmugMug offering to be expensive.

On the other hand, photographers who want piece of mind that their site is in the hands of a specialist photography website company may find this offer to be a bargain, considering that the cost of the best package is only under US$15 per month.

The real question is – who’s the target market?