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#1 2020-03-10 05:37:30
- Kubicixfactor
- Member
- From: Shropshire, UK
- Registered: 2015-08-19
- Posts: 74
Anyone considered a paywall?
This is something I've been wondering about for quite a while, and I've seen the posts in the past about watermarking images, disabling right click etc, but it's becoming easier and easier for people to use a mobile device to take a shot of an image.
I do quite a bit of event photography (although less than I used to due to commercial work) and income is generated solely through image sales. Generally it works out ok but for the past couple of years I've watched a lot of activity from customers browsing the images but not making a purchase, and dwindling sales. I know this is pretty typical behaviour, not everyone buys but of course people are have a good look at images and enjoying them without actually paying anything at all for my time to take them. I know some photographers, particularly equestrian which is an area I used to cover quite a lot, who've either turned completely away from online galleries and now print on site only, and one company who've put a paywall in front of the gallery so people pay a nominal amount to get access and view the photos. They offer incentives, e.g. free downloads or print vouchers as part of the paywall price.
I realise it's an emotive area and I fully understand that it's likely to annoy some customers because they fully expect to be able to browse images at no cost to them and don't understand (or don't care) that someone has spent the best part of their day taking photos. I wouldn't do this across the board, only for specific events which generate low sales but lots of browsing. The alternative of course is to drop those events but I'm persistent when it comes to squeezing a profit before giving up, although there is a limit 
Has anyone had a similar experience and given any thought about how to implement something that sits alongside or integrates into Backlight? My initial research is leading me to look at using a Wordpress gallery with a paywall plugin but I haven't got to the point of testing that yet.
Very interested in any views on this.
Steve
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