Why We Do Not Use 3rd Party Print Fulfillment Services

by Steve Reiss (Dalmdad Landscape Photography - www.dalmdad.com and https://www.facebook.com/Dalmdad.)

With the advent of digital photography and the ability to have any photo file printed at any location and then drop-shipped (i.e., the printer, not the photographer, sends the print to the purchaser) by a 3rd party print fulfillment service, the amount and variety of printed photography available on the internet has increased dramatically.  Whether the quality of the photographic art available on the internet has improved is an entirely different question, which we will not try to answer here.  However, as now anyone can sell any photo with little financial outlay or risk, finding the high quality art is probably more difficult.

Today's photographers keep prices low by use of 3rd party photo print fulfillment services.  These services remove the photographer from the process of providing their customers with their purchase. Indeed, one fulfillment service brags of providing the photographer with a "hand's off experience"   The customer picks their choice from a page on the fulfillment service’s site and pays the fulfillment service (not the photographer).  The service then prints the image from a digital image file previously uploaded by the photographer, mats and frames the picture (if those options are offered and selected) and then drop-ships the completed print directly to the purchaser.  The photographer than receives the profit amount added to the service’s standard prices.

For two reasons, we will not operate this way:

1) We want you to have a relationship with us and not some third party print house.  We have toiled many hours driving, capturing and post-processing images to create our product offerings.  Who knows more about our prints than us?  No one.  Therefore, we want to directly communicate with you about what your needs may be, questions you may have, or whether you love or hate our work.

2) We want you to know that our eyes are the last ones to see the final print before yours.  Remember, in fulfillment situations, the product is directly sent to the customer by the service and image quality is based on the opinion of some unaccountable stranger with no emotional connection to the print or you.  We, on the other hand, review every aspect of the final product before signing the mat and shipping the print.  It is for this reason our products are guaranteed for life as long as not put in an inappropriate location (e.g., in direct sunlight).

So, remember, with Dalmdad Landscape Photography, you are purchasing the print directly from the photographer and are guaranteed to receive exactly what you expect to!