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Would you order passport photos online ?

By Abhik Prasad on 34 Comments / 4915 views

One of the advantages of running an online advertising agency is that when an idea strikes, you can actually implement it pretty easily.

At Experia Media, we are gradually moving to a direction where we incubate products / service related projects inhouse, apart from doing selected client projects. 

The focus is to build stuff which solves a problem faced by folks in India.

Our first project was Finqa – where we are solving the problem of ‘Where should I invest my money safely’ through a guidance based platform.

Presenting our second project – GetPhotos.in

What is GetPhotos ?

GetPhotos is an online service which allows you to order passport photographs online. You just need to send us a photograph of yourself (Taken from your phone or camera against a blank white wall), select the package that you need and we will print and send them to you.

Yep, a pretty simple proposition

Why Getphotos – What are the problems it solves for you ?

1.) Running out of photographs: Do you run out of photographs just when you need them for that application form ? With our package of 50 photographs, it will be a while before you run out of them.

2.) Convenience: No need to tackle traffic, drive to a market and hunt for parking just to get passport photographs

3.) Convenience Again: If you need passport photos for your kids or elderly parents, you don’t need to take them out to a studio.

4.) Saving Time: Saves you a couple of hours if you don’t have to do the above.

5.) Quality: We touch up your photographs so that it has a clean white background and clear skin tones. We also use a Continuous Ink System Epson Photo printer and print on 180gsm photo paper

6.) Cheaper: Most studios charge anywhere between Rs 80-100 for 8 regular sized photographs. If you want different sizes, you need to pay extra. Our value pack costs Rs 250 for 50 photographs across different sizes.

While we were brainstorming this idea, half the team thought this will not work, while the other half thought it’s a promising idea. Ultimately, we decided the only way to find out if it will work is to build it.

So yes, please take a look at GetPhotos.in and let us know what you think- Bouquets and brickbats are welcome 🙂

DEALS: We are also experimenting with a deals section whereby, if clients select to opt for a deal, we send them a gift card. The idea is to offer attractive offers from various consumer companies of significant value so that the passport photos are ultimately free for our clients.

It’s can be a win-win deal for everyone – The advertising company gets a qualified lead while the customer gets the photos for free (offset by the value of the deal). If you are an entrepreneur in the consumer space and would like to offer a deal, please send us an email to info@getphotos.in

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34 Comments

  1. abhik,

    i think i was telling my husband what i admire about you most – is that you identify a gap; and you FILL IT immediately.

    awesome idea. IT WILL WORK especially in large cities. 

  2. Hey, Thanks Asha.

    It was good fun when we got the first order…got the entire team excited 🙂

    Let’s see how it goes…

  3. How are you managing the delivery logistics?

    I saw this – Delivery in 5-7 business days on your site.

    Usually people remember to take photos hours or maximum a day before the event – so same day delivery would make this an unbeatable value proposition

  4. Karthik,

    Yep, I know same day delivery would be great we still arent sure how to solve it yet 🙁

    Initially, we thought of offering a ‘marketplace’ model where we tie up with studios across the country and have them deliver it…We spoke to a couple of them and they did find the idea interesting but our pricing model didn’t gel well with them since they are used to much higher margins.

    + we would have no control over quality.

    So we decided to start printing in-house and deliver via courier, hence the 5-7 business day lead time.

    This is not for someone who needs a passport photo today…but more for someone who knows they will eventually need it sometime in the future so might as well get a bunch made and kept handy at home / office.

  5. Just a thought – did you approach any of these On Demand delivery guys ? Grofers is a company which i can think of – they got some big bucks funding recently. 

    If you cut down the delivery time to same day – it will be an awesome awesome value proposition. 

  6. Not really, because the problem of getting the prints to them would still remain.

    We can probably solve it for a single city to start with but might not be feasible for other cities.

  7. My understanding of on demand logistics is that they would collect from you. So don’t think that’s an issue. 

    Issue might be pricing – but it’s worth a try in the city where you printing now

  8. Yep, we will definitely try this atleast for the NCR region…and if not same day delivery, then next day at the latest 🙂

    Thanks for the feedback Karthik 🙂

  9. Dear Abhik
    Nice idea. Simple idea. But will I fall for it? No. At least I won’t. Here is why:

    1. When I need, I need 2-3 photos at most at a time and In a year maybe 6 at most. Why won’t I get at 60 bucks (yes, that is what my down the corner guys charges)? Why do you want me to buy 50?! Often the requirement is a ‘recent’ passport photo. With 50 in my pocket, by the time I reach half way, it won’t be recent 🙂

    2. When I do need, I often don’t have days – I have hours in which I need the photos. This model will courier me at best – couple of days? Avf 5-6 days I guess.

    3. More and more the places where I may need photos are reducing – many sites let me upload an image, my bankers are equipped with cameras and don’t need physical photos. 

    4. I can’t take as good a photo of myself as the studio camera person can.

    Not trying to dissuade but putting a view point across. It is possibly a nice-to-have thing some times, not a killer service. 

  10. Hello Abhik,

    All the best for your start up. Being a founder of a start up, I usually have to sign a lot of documents and therefore run out of photographs. I will definitely use this service IF (if is in caps, just in case you missed it) I get my photos delivered at my office in a day or two; I don’t mind paying a premium for same day delivery as well. I understand that you have just started and it will take time to solve this logistics problem, but I am sure there will be thousands out there who won’t mind paying a premium for same day delivery.

    Well Wishes,

  11. Hi,

    Many printers in the 10,000rs mark can print photo. these are good enough for most work.

    1. Your idea have the possibility of the life of a camera. sales of camera has reduced or died due to camera in phones. only high end are doing quite well. The entry of low cost high end printers.

    2. The photocopy shop in my area already does this. Take your photo to him, soft copy or hard copy. he prints it on the photo paper and gives. 10 mins, no travel. Yes you need to click your own snap. 

    Your biggest competition is the Photocopy wala with a shop on the street corner. 

    But you can make him your same day printer and distributor for the area. They have equipment and reach. 🙂

  12. Hi Abhik,

    Personally, I love the idea. It is a REAL problem for me. I HATE having to drive to a tiny cheap road side booth, which NEVER has parking, always results in me stressing about car getting towed, and always makes me feel like I have overpaid for a bunch of stamp sized stickers. 
    If I don’t have to stress about time, then I would surely be using the service, as it will just be worth saving my energy and time on going to the booth (which is only 5 mins by car, but still inconvenient for me).

    Only suggestion, from what I understood from your website, you seem to give only white photos. Figure out a way to give any back ground, or maybe some photos in white, some in other back grounds (some people ask for red background, some blue…). I know its rare, But I have been asked to submit a red background photo for a club membership, so I know the annoyance of this.

    Really hope this succeeds, count on me using it when my batch of 50 odd run out. 

    Cheers

    Rohhan

  13. Congratulations!!! on the launch of GetPhotos.in!!

    You definitely cannot Stop with just printing Passport pictures as an experiment!

    Now, when you have invested in the Site design and the Printer with the Photo paper and the TEAM, you can look to explore many other options in similar domains like printing Greeting cards for EXPATS or people from other cities looking for something locally done too, maybe ad some Gifts and Souvenirs along with it to make people PRINT something and keep the Ink in the printer from drying up. Then you can maybe go for a Franchise Option for multi city stores once have the Standardization of process done since it could be redirected to the other city stores likewise from the site itself respectively for the orders.

    Putting down a few of my thoughts on what could be possible as per your Resources at hand and available Bandwidth to add later maybe.

    You can look to printing Wedding Cards (designer) or also Visiting cards (Multi Color) and similar in the print industry requirements more should be available just getting you started, It would however be a good idea if you can Put down Privacy policies and T&C on the website too since you are collecting and retaining Customer data in the form for the purpose!!!

    Have been doing this from a long time as a Canvasser for the print industry with designing the requirements too.

    Just that doing it online was not a viable option for me yet!!! The Photocopy wala also for other Digital printing or the occasional Photo Studio Lab does it for me nearby in Mumbai here though other studios also do a collective job of doing similar things from the same Lab to print in volume as a contract on their ends.

    You can also offer people once payments are confirmed the option to print remotely on their own maybe offer them some filter options for background color change (Red, Blue Green etc) etc too on the way there

    Mauke pe Chauka! is the Prime Important thing rest toh saal bhar chalana hi hai! Nahin ?!!!

    Christmas is coming in round the corner, Print the Holiday Pictures for those who are not locally present for their families.

    Always make people CHOOSE from Options, then they do not hesitate much, you have only Passport photos – OK, that’s SOME option only if the URGENT PP studio wala is 10 kms away or not urgent or smaller numbers are necessary too.

    Desk or small sized Book Calendars, Pocket Folding Calendars, Diaries, notepads, books are also an option seeing that New Year is just a few days away as well!!

    Use the 7 Sins from the Presentation by Alok from the OH (of course with copyrights etc in place) and make posters, prints with a twist Graphically, maybe as a First selling gimmick? If done in an aesthetically presentable manner should be a catch somewhere and pick up off the shelf too like the calendars or pocket VC holders etc and then you can offer a coupon for the customers to buy other wares on the store maybe some PP photo prints too.

    You can also offer prints for Rodinhoods with their Winning Tees for the Frames or Albums for keeps J

    It is definitely a nice experiment, you can also check with Himanshu Mody for some ideas since he is on the cloud and adobe, he also got his own HP remote printer too for something similar to solve personally as well some time back

    Abhik, week mein 2-3 Prints maar ke Ink ka cost bhi nahin niklega and it would get dry and wasted, better is just put the options your highlight would still be pp photos, I would also go ahead and suggest catch hold of the Studios and give them a Daily package for prints and delivery these could be the regular studios or the ones who do the portfolios and want the prints to be delivered to customers in your cities of availability too some people might want the PP to be sent to other cities or have them printed and delivered like the border areas I know for some bike riding and car riding enthusiasts, foodies travelling all around the nation and internationally too would love to get hold of them very dearly as memories make it emotional for people to catch !! Just Saying!

    Now when you have already jumped in make the right use of the Festive season then keep the pp prints stagnant throughout the year when it’s not a festival going.

    Selfies are a Craze as it is nowadays more the pictures clicked more the options to have them printed should be promoted I believe since phone lost, data, pics gone with it as well (if not on cloud stored) We used to have physical camera prints earlier and reminisce the memories from the old albums now a days that charm is lost maybe give it that retro feel again??

    Wedding season in full swing currently too Birthdays and other parties are on all year round as well and the most Dreaded missed Wedding anniversary or spouses B’Day make it a point for people to mark it on their calendar and have a picture with Flowers, Gifts, Chocolates, Cakes, Pastries etc delivered like a concierge to develop with your this simple initiative … Thinking aloud!!

    Myself being a Photography enthusiast, I can understand more in the same line you are going too, Reprints is a big market for that you just need the printer and the paper which you already have the need is already there, just need to channelize it, you can also connect with stock Photography portals likewise stockimagebank.com is one I know from Delhi by Sugandha Dubey (also an RH) who organize workshops where you can be an associate or partner likewise for others as well as available.

    One of the Photographers marketplace I can direct you to, would be flatpebble.com founded by Pranav and Venky

    It is an online marketplace that enables artists to showcase and sell original artwork and prints to a global audience.
    https://iwantimages.com is a growing stock photo marketplace that helps creative people buy and sell images.
    Would be more for sure too, if you look in that direction.

    And while you are at it, I know many are already doing it too, why not print custom designs or std quirky ones on Transfer paper and sell the Mugs, Tees, Frames, Collage posters, Laptop skins and other paraphernalia too which are related for some additional income and diversification?

    Unique Personalized Gifts, design the photos with design of your choice & print it on product that you select https://www.facebook.com/upgift Photo Collage called The Pixel Photo By Shrinivas Padmanaban

    Letsprintonline.com is an e-commerce Web Portal. A user can order a wide variety of products like Visiting Cards, Brochures, Letter Heads, New Year Dairies. Every order could be made online. No need of coming to office and getting the printing done. It’s that simple and the best part is it gets delivered to your door.

    RH Sourav Lodha of kuberbox.com sold his https://Printbooth.in to Simerjeet Singh (Founder) Anupreet Kaur (Co-Founder)

    RH Arnab Choudhuri Founder at GiftSocial an ecommerce store which helps users send and receive real gifts from social friends Launch announcement : GiftSocial Facebook App

    RH Divyanshu Asopa of 21fools also is into Greeting cards can explore options with him since it will be more or less a ‘Print on demand service’. Or something like this as an extension https://socialprintshop.com

    Anamika Joshi could also do some nailbiting in this regards

    Amit Bagade Founder at Nosense Inventions First product was a set of greeting cards with customization options.

    Exiting from the company, I founded in 2007 though the site now seems down https://www.pringoo.com , is available for sale too as a running business, you can check if it is still available to be bought too, used to cater to the same audience in Aloks post can connect to explore with aishwarjya borbora mentioned back in 2011 or similar, more in my comment there listed.

    For the refills you can connect with Pramod Chaturvedi – the “re-manufactured’ INK CARTRIDGE hero!! https://cartridgewale.com at Gurgaon, Haryana

    Go with the Flow, se if you get the bandwidth, increase the Same to accommodate it gets more money in too na ?

    You can solve many other smaller problems with the same initiative just go Niche again!!!

    Life isnt about finding yourself, its about Creating Yourself, and Leaving a Trail for those Following!

    Good Luck Friend!! Cheers!! More over a coffee anytime you are around! 😀

    #JustBeingMyself
    Your Friendly Neighborhood Troubleshooting Alien

    #WikiRH

  14. Hi Abhik

    Good Job, All the best and one thing i just wanted to know. you said that for 50 photos it will be 250/- which includes shipping or customer has to pay shipping extra ?   I tried a sample order number 40 and found that 150/- is the package amount that i have to pay through payumoney PG. so how you are working on courier. these days because of fuel surcharges courier is costing too much. 

    How you are working on commercials ?

    I wish you good luck

    Thanks & Regards

    Sai Pothuri

  15. Thanks Neeraj. 

    1.) This is true if you are applying for a sensitive document like a passport or a visa. However for more mundane stuff like applications, membership forms etc, stuff which is a year or two old also works 🙂

    2.) Yep, this is not a same day delivery service. The idea is to have a bunch handy before hand and use as and when required. Yep, we take max 5–6 days to deliver

    3.) Again true, but there are still quite a few places which require paper forms and photographs.

    4.) You just need to stand straight against a plain wall and ask your friend to take a straight shot of you. The rest we do. It’s not that complicated.

    Yes, it’s a nice thing to have and more for folks like me who hate going to a studio every single time and prefer having a bunch of photos around 🙂

  16. Thanks Vikrant. If you are based in Gurgaon or NCR region we can get it delivered in a day or two.

    We stil havent figured out same day delivery as yet compared to a studio but are working on it 🙂

  17. Abhik!

    Great Idea! I think It should work. But the best would be if you partner with a studio who can print your orders and dispatch them. I am not sure about the price, since in India you will get 25 Photo for just Rs 60 or may be 80 in some cases. Hence if you going online you need to be competitive.

    Additionally, you should include smaller packs as well, because at times you don’t need them. Like recently I had to submit my younger son’s photo with National Insurance, hence I was not looking for 25 or 30 pack something.

    Additionally, there is a typo – Cheaper: Just Rs 5 per photo from GePhotos on home page, please correct it. GetPhotos is spell wrong.

    Best of Luck with your Venture!

    Regards,

    Amit

  18. I am sure this will be a success

  19. Neil, We are proposing something very similar to what you guys are already doing 🙂

    Yep its an hassle to go regularly for prints hence the bulk buying feature.

  20. Anthony,

    Yep, there are a lot of printers which can print photos…the question is how many of us have photo printers with good quality photo paper at home.

    Secondly, creating the right size of passport photo can be a slight challenge for the average user.

    This is not meant as a replacement for the local photocopy wall…but for someone who doesn’t have easy access to one.

  21. Thanks Rohhan. 

    This is an interesting ask as I haven’t had any occasion to use colored background photos…but it should not be a problem to get it done.

    Do let us know when you need it at info@getphotos.in 🙂

  22. Darshan,

    You are the man 🙂

    Thanks a ton for your ideas year…currently we want focus on doing one thing very well before turning to other complimentary stuff…and it’s there in the plan, which is why we named it get photos.in instead of passport photos.in.

    Let’s see how it works out…Thanks again for your feedback and inputs 🙂

  23. Sai,

    there are different packages.

    250 is for 50 varied ones.

    150 is for 20 photographs

    For us, courier charges are not too much because we send them via an envelope which is very light (almost like a regular letter)

    Right now, its too early to comment on the commercials to see if it will be feasible or not.

    Saw your order in the system. Do upload your regular picture incase you need it.

  24. Hey Amit,

    Thanks for the feedback and spotting the typo.

    We will add functionality to order custom numbers in the future. 

    Cheers

    Abhik

  25. Thanks Raqhav 🙂

  26. Abhik, This is Amazing, especially for people who run out of photos, just before they application for their Visa. Collaboration with Travel Agents ?

  27. Abhik,
    I think you can reduce the delivery time. If you get an order, process it within 24 hours, and ship by Speed Post (the most extensive network), the total time can be contained within 2-3 working days 

    Ain’t so ? 

  28. I love this. I am FED UP of going to that dingy studio in the middle of the work day and then getting pics clicked. Question – lots of countries have rules of ‘no-smiling’ etc etc – how do you manage that?

  29. Thanks Alok. I got tired of doing that too and figured there might be other folks who might be willing to order in advance to save a trip to the market. All photos that come in are checked before being printed (e.g. is the person looking straight, not smiling and other guidelines like white background etc) Btw, we did a google search on your pics…you are smiling in 99% of the pics and hence we couldn’t pick any to print and send you a bunch.

  30. Thanks Puneet. That’s a great idea. Will try and explore some options . Let me know if you have any ideas about how we can do something with https://honeymoonswami.com 🙂

  31. Hi Abhik

    Good to c u up with your new venture. 

    Would it be possible for you to tie up with a courier & install photo printers in the courier’s offices in all metros? The printing order could be executed from your HO. All the courier would have to do is to print them & courier them. Even better tie with a photocopy shop who has access to courier services in the vicinity. You could print out there & get courier to collect & deliver. You would be able to deliver in shorter span of time & charge premium for tatkal delivery. No investment in printers as well

    Hopefully this might work

    Lalit

  32. hey abhik,

    how’s this shaping up??

  33. I like it.
    It is very convenient for me.

    For every occasion at my daughter school we have to provide some sort of snaps.. so it is making some of the task easy…

  34. hey how are things at GetPhotos, abhik?

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