Mpixpro Account

[jstevensphoto]

Has anyone used this mail order lab. It sounds too good to be true. First, it's free. They claim I can create "accounts" for clients who can then order their prints and pay Mpix for them without me getting into the transaction at all. If this is really true, it would solve a lot of problems. I currently use photobiz.com for my hosting site, but I really don't think I'm getting my $25/month's worth and I still have to get the prints done and mail them. Any ideas.

[wondershots]

I use MPIXPro for products all the time. Great quality. However, I've not heard of the deal you're talking about. Maybe I'm not paying close enough attention. I simply use them for manual fulfillment.

Now I do have an Zenfolio Pro account and they use MPIX for fulfillment. $100/year, I set pricing, coupons, etc. and they handle the rest. I believe that they also now have a Premium account that connects to MPIXPro.

[dalebenfield]

Yes, it's true. If you're a member of MpixPro, you can upload client files into the ROES and then "send to mpix" or "send to zenfolio" and it will automatically create an acct for your client. They will be able to order directly from Mpix (at mpix prices).
I love it because I know they're going to get great quality (as opposed to taking them to a discount printer).

[Daniel W.]

I haven't used the client-end stuff (actually meeting face-to-face is a great sales booster when possible) but I have used MpixPro, and the older/younger siblings Mpix and Miller's Lab in the past.

It all looks the same to me after a while. A few months back out of curiosity, I sent off some IT-8 charts to Millers, MPixPro and Mpix, they were all pretty close to eachother. The Pro and Miller's results were within tolerable differences of someone doing their own inkjet work from home (∆E of around 1.9 with the human visual discerning point around 2.3 barring any color deficiency), while the Mpix setup, which I didn't turn color correction off, had a"blacker" black (higher DMax) but the highlight info (DMin) was just about on par with the other two samples.

This was a pretty unscientific test (well as far as science goes), I didn't really compare it to a calibrated IT-8 chart, nor did I take samples from different times of day or from different machines but to me where the difference is in the packaging / delivery to the customer. With Millers, I find the setup a bit complicated for ordering. MpixPro's packaging is great, something I'd have to order as an extra with Mpix. Print on happy shooters, print on.

[jstevensphoto]

Thanks everyone. This helps a lot. I think I'm going to like this arrangement. I am a little hesitant to sell CDs, knowing they will probably head to WalMart or WallGreens and I never know how the prints look. Everything I have ordered from MpixPro looks pretty good. Thanks again everyone.

[csa]

My sister-in-law bought some prints through a photographer she used this way. (yeah, I know, she didn't use me, said it was because of timing, out-of-town, etc)