Frequently Asked Questions

In the simplest of terms: Photoreflect uses online and software technology to allow you to publish, manage and sell your photography online.

The Photoreflect software, both Mac/PC, (downloaded during sign-up) catalogs your portfolio(s), photography and orders so that with a click of a button everything you configure on your desktop "speaks" to your storefront. Photoreflect does not upload your hi-res photos, rather, the software creates web-ready versions, behind the scenes, so that your online website/storefront is optimized and very fast to use.

When your online customers purchase a photography item, you proof, edit and approve the order and then the software, collects the original hi-res images from your computer and sends the order to the lab for fulfillment.

Within the Photoreflect software you choose how to present yourself online as well as what photography products you want to sell and for how much (all of which are settings you determine). In addition to that, the Photoreflect software tells us and the credit card companies who to charge for what and where to ship the final product all while deducting all fulfillment fees. We pay you the profits of these transactions every two weeks.

Mac users: OS X

PC users: Windows XP Service Pack 2 or newer

There are over 30 different storefront templates with each one having several color variations. With over 150 choices you will be able to find the style that best showcases and sells your photography. You can always choose a different style at anytime.

If you are someone looking for an end-to-end online solution that allows you to publish and price your photography for profit, then you are in the right place.

When you sign up for Photoreflect you will first receive an email to verify your email address. We will use this email address to tell you when someone has placed an order so that you can submit it for fulfillment. In addition, we use email exclusively to communicate with you when it becomes necessary. After you have verified your email address you will receive a second email that will remind you of the login, password and storefront information you created during registration.

At this point there are wizards designed to walk you through the setup requirements like choosing and pricing a selection of online products and your subscription preferences. The last step of the setup wizard directs you to download the necessary software.

if your address and customer base resides within North America or the Caribbean, Photoreflect will function without any issue and you can configure your site to price your photography and accept payment in U.S. Dollars or Canadian Dollars. Depending on the country you live in, you may receive payment via direct deposit or check.

There are three fees that are associated with your Photoreflect account. The first of which is your subscription to Photoreflect, which is $9 a month. You will not be charged for your first month using our service. Upon sign up, we will request you provide us with a credit card number so that your storefront and set up is not cancelled after your initial trial period. You can change this card information at any time.

Beyond the subscription cost, there are two transaction fees that occur whenever a purchase is made on your storefront. We recommend that you include these fees in your photography prices to ensure that you are profitable and that these fees do not affect you in any way. The first transaction fee is an e-commerce transaction charge. We charge this fee so we can manage your shopping functions. This fee begins at 15% of your sales volume (excluding shipping, sales tax and service fees). When your annual sales volume reaches $20,000, this percentage will decrease.

The second transaction fee is 3% which is actually a charge from credit card companies in order to provide credit card processing services to you. As with the e-commerce fee, we encourage you to price your photography prints and products in a way that considers this amount so that your online sales are profitable.

If you own DARKROOM software you are able to publish to your Photoreflect storefront in the "pro services" tab. If you are publishing using DARKROOM you are required to set up all of your packages and pricing within DARKROOM.

Regardless of your choice of publishing software, if you are currently paying a subscription fee to use Photoreflect, you will be required to continue doing so even with DARKROOM.

Go to the "Manager" tab in the software (which is also found online by logging in to Photoreflect.com) under the “HOME” tab at the top of the screen you will see a “When do I get paid?” button. This section will provide all of your payment information. Every two weeks your online orders are assessed and every two weeks you are paid for the orders during that span of time. Until you are up and running, however, there are two small stipulations.

1. Your very first direct deposit payment may take between 10 and 20 days. This timeframe allows us to verify and ensure consistent payment from that point forward. 

   
   
2. If your two-week net income is less than $25 at the time of calculation, the amount will rollover to subsequent pay periods until you reach $25. Your Photoreflect online dashboard keeps track of this for your review at any time.

Yes. Information can be found by going to the "Manager" tab and clicking the "Storefront" link. Scroll down to the area "Add Photoreflect to your Website" or the Storefront Option "Use custom home link." Please note, when transferring your home page URL, it will take approximately 24 hours for that attribute to take effect. Other features, such as embedding Photoreflect tools on or into your current website will require intermediate-level understanding of HTML.

Go to the "Manager" tab in the software or login to Photoreflect.com. Click "Account" and scroll down until you see a link that says: "Click here to cancel your storefront." A prompt will guide you the rest of the way.

Email us at: support@Photoreflect.com

Please provide your name, business name, your Photoreflect storefront web address, your questions and we will get back to you immediately.

Every print and product sold on Photoreflect is hand-color corrected to ensure perfection on the medium it is printed on, be it a small or large print, gallery canvas or coffee mug.

• We use Kodak Professional Endura Papers and print directly on and physically stretch canvas (we do not "melt" a print-product on to the canvas).
  
  
• Our prints are guaranteed to last 100 years. We will replace any print that fails to last (due to quality).
  
  
• If we did something wrong, even if it is minor, we will replace that item.
  

Our machines are operational between 8:30 and 5:30pm Central time (U.S.). During the holiday season we extend weekday and weekend business hours to accommodate the influx of orders. When you submit an order to the lab through Photoreflect the item will be fulfilled within 72 business hours (usually much sooner). The item(s) are then drop-shipped to your online customers directly.

Photo gifts, greeting cards, and prints are shipped separately to (a) ensure timely delivery and (b) protect the items from unusual packaging.

All of your online customer's orders are charged by credit card and by Photoreflect. We cannot personalize this charge item on their credit card statement. If you are contacted by a customer about a charge from Photoreflect you should simply ask if they made a purchase of your photography. If, after this conversation, you suspect their credit card was used fraudulently you should advise them to call their credit card company immediately.

If your online customer has made a purchase and contacted you before you sent the order to the lab you are able to easily cancel the order within the software (simply follow the prompts within the "Orders" tab). If you have already sent the order to the lab there is a very short window of time after that transaction in which the lab has put the order in the production queue. You are able to contact us (during normal U.S. business hours) to cancel the order. We will make every effort to be accommodating but if the item(s) has been in the production queue for longer than 8 hours it will be very difficult to intercept the order.

Please know, your customer will not be able to cancel an order by contacting us. All order queries must be made by you; either by your supplying your username and Photoreflect URL over the phone or by email to support@expressdigital.com from the email address on record for your Photoreflect account.

If your customer would like to return their order it is up to you on how you would like to handle the issue, as every photographer should have their own policy regarding this matter. You are paid for the purchase made by the online customer minus the wholesale cost of fulfillment and a maximum of 18% in fees. It is up to you to reimburse the client the revenue paid to you (minus the fees), the entire amount, or not at all.

You are able to issue 100% refunds to your customers from your account manager (by signing in online or clicking the Manager tab in the software). To do this you will click the “orders” tab in the manager, and seek out the specific order number. If the order can be found and it has been within 90 days of the purchase date, there is a “refund order” button available on the order review page. When clicked, our systems will apply a credit to the credit card used for the original purchase. You, the photographer, are responsible for the wholesale cost of fulfillment and the 18% of fees if you issue a 100% credit card refund regardless of the reason behind the client refund.

Why 90 days? The major credit card companies have policies that limit the period of time after the date of a transaction during which a refund can be processed through automated systems. We must comply with those policies. If you need to issue a refund for an order over 90 days old, please do so using your own business systems and policies by, for example, issuing the customer a refund check or offering them a credit that can be applied to future purchases from you.

Why do we keep the transaction and fulfillment cost? There are a number of reasons we cannot refund purchases without ramification. For one, our part of the transaction agreement was completed (your images were displayed, the credit card transaction was completed, and the product was delivered) as detailed in our User Agreement with you. Secondly, the 3% transactional charge, print materials, ink, and the shipping charge are not amounts we keep, rather, third parties collect them for services rendered regardless if the item was refunded or returned.

The “refund order” button available upon selecting a specific order in the Photoreflect manager will only produce 100% refunds to the credit card that was used for the original purchase. There is no tool available for you to only, partially, apply a refund amount. The reason for this is specifically because you either have been or will be paid for this transaction. All photographers should have their own policy regarding their return and refund policy as Photoreflect has not designed one for you. If you would like to refund a customer for a specific item they have purchased, you are able to reimburse the client as you see fit and as appropriate for your business. We cannot do this on your behalf.

If you fulfilled the item yourself, there is little we can do in this matter. If the Photoreflect Pro Lab was incorrect or sent something that was damaged during shipping, you should contact us and we will rectify the issue to your satisfaction.

Your customer will not be able to report an incident to Photoreflect by contacting us directly -- as their changes could impact your revenue (therefore, we will ask them to call you to report the issue). You will need to have your username and URL available to report an issue by phone or you will need to email support@expressdigital.com from the email address we have on record for your account.