A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Signing up is fairly easy and does not require rocket science. All you would need is your first name, last name, e-mail address and password. You have to be at least thirteen years of age and would also have to agree to the terms and conditions of the site which states guidelines of submission such as not containing anything that is obscene, graphic or pornographic in nature or content that is copyrighted. For complaints about uploaded photos, an email, fax and physical address are provided to send complaints to. The guidelines also state that inactive accounts will be deleted if inactive for more than one hundred and eighty days. Accounts could also be deleted if it is found to be used for fraudulent purposes.

-Uploading Pictures-

Uploading pictures is quite simple as well. Simply go to "My Shutterfly" and click on the "Add Pictures" shortcut. You will get the uploading screen where you could upload pictures saved in your hard drive, CD-Rom, floppy disk or flash drive.

-Community-

This gives you the opportunity to share your photos with anyone in the planet from friends and relatives to total strangers. All you have to do is create your own free site so you could share your life and cherished memories to the world. This feature gives you the chance to use professionally designed templates to enhance the viewing experience. Wouldn't it be nice for friends and relatives overseas to be able to see your albums even if they are thousands of miles away?

The site also has a gallery where you could view albums of other people. Many of the albums featured are done in a style which is similar to a scrapbook and usually have a theme. Usually people place pictures of the travels, wedding day and school years. The site also hosts some contests for members and the incentive is having their work featured on the site.

-Changing Account Information-

Changing account information is easy as well. All you have to do is My Shutterfly and click on My Account / Order menu.

-Ordering-

You could make an order of either prints or other items by going to the "Store" menu. You could pay after you go to the checkout by using your credit card. Currently they accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. You just have to fill in your card details and billing address.

-Items for Sale-

The main product of the site is mainly photo prints. However, the site also offers a lot of personalized items. You could also purchase gift certificates. Among the items they are offering are the following:-posters
-photo books
-cards
-calendars
-mugs
-notebooks
-notepads
-key chains
-playing cards
-coasters
-brag books
-puzzles
-desk organizers
-stickers
-mouse pads
-refrigerator magnets
-canvas prints
-keepsake boxes
-tote bags
-t-shirts
-everyday purses
-cosmetic bags
-pewter key rings
-sterling necklaces
-personalized books
-DVDs

-Pricing-

For other items you could refer to the site. The pricing of prints is as follows:

4x6 - $0.15
5x7 - $0.99
8x10 - $3.99
Wallet(4) - $1.79
11x14 - $7.99
16x20 - $17.99
20x30 - $22.99

-Promotions-

All over the site there are a lot of special offers going on such as discount offers and deals. You could save a lot of money by opting for these. The site usually runs promotions for the special occasions of the month such as Christmas, New Year and Valentines Day.The site currently has promotions for 25 free 4 x 6 prints for new customers. This is quite a generous offer as it lets customers experience their service on a trial basis. You could also subscribe to receive the news on the latest promotions via e-mail.

-Referral Program-

For each referral you make you could get up to $20 and 7% for repeat orders. This is quite generous when you think about it. Usually referral programs only pay initially and not for repeat orders.

-Support-

For questions and comments you could email support.

Asham Kaur, Affiliate ManagerEmail: akaur@shutterfly.com

-My experience-

The site is very user friendly and has a very nice interface. The site has many features that make storing your pictures organized, fast and easy. In fact you only have five main menus to choose from namely My Shutterfly, My Pictures, Share, Community and Store. This makes the navigation part easy even for those not well versed in using computers.

I personally like the idea of having this kind of storage medium because I have a lot of old family pictures which have been damaged by exposure to liquids, fire insects and small children. Having this kind of storage enables me to easily replace any damaged photos and to make multiple copies.I am personally not a sentimental person nor am I a photography enthusiast. However, my folks back at home like to look at pictures and remember things. They are quite sentimental and cherish memories. From time to time, they would be nice if they are reminded of their important moments as well as happy events in their lives.

A special project I am working on would be a photo album commemorating my parents and important events in their life. I plan to include important pictures such as their courtship days, their wedding day, a clan picture, some of our vacations and other things that would remind them of fun events. The templates in the site would make my job easier in as far as execution is concerned. I am currently finalizing my selection of pictures which I will place in the album. I plan to finish this in time for next year and give it to them either on one of their birthdays or for Christmas.So far what I am doing is storing pictures in there and I would use them one time to be able to give gifts to friends and relatives. It would be quite heartwarming for people to receive personalized presents of themselves. The idea of giving personalized mugs and mouse pads appeals to me.

I would recommend this site to everyone. After all it is a free site and you only pay when you purchase things. Furthermore, it will help you get your photographs properly sorted and backed up. The site also has some very good offers for gift items.