If you have an account with America Online (AOL) and have been using the site to host your photos, for personal use or for eBay or other auctions, you'd better start looking for another service. Hometown AOL, a service that hosted Web sites for AOL customers, closed down October 31. The AOL Pictures photo sharing site is going away December 31.
It's quite a change from the early days of the Web, when AOL was one of the most popular ways to get online, and when the company offered a variety of Web site utilities, file transfer programs for uploading photos and other files, and ways to create full-fledged Web sites.
AOL spokesperson Molly McMahon explained the shutdowns this way: "Our shift to a Web-based advertising-focused company has caused us to take a close look at the products we offer, and hosting these services is not in the best long-term interest of our business."
If you have used AOL to host your auction photos, you do have alternatives. AOL Pictures users have the opportunity to seamlessly transfer their photos to another service, American Greetings PhotoWorks. You can also download the photos to your computer or purchase an archive of your images on DVD.
For former Hometown AOL users, you need to find a photo host soon, since the busy holiday season is almost upon us. The good news is that you have plenty of options, and plenty of places to turn for tips and advice, since all auction sellers have the same need, and they tend to discuss the pros and cons of each service freely. The eBay Photos & HTML discussion board has several threads devoted to the changes at AOL.
One place you might start is my own series of articles on finding a photo host. In the first article, I pointed out that eBay's own Picture Services charges fifteen cents for each photo you put online after the first image, which is free. (They also offer other hosting options such as $9.99 per month for 50MB of storage space, however.) I suggested the following:
First, look to your own Internet Service Provider for photo hosting options. Chances are you get server space along with your Internet access account.
And if you already use an auction management service such as Auctiva, Marketworks, Vendio or InkFrog, you get lots of storage space with your account.
In the second column, I focused on a company called SmugMug, which offers a full range of features for auction sellers. Its standard service costs $39.95 per year. eBay photos are encouraged on another popular service, Photobucket; eBay tutorials are provided. For non-commercial use, Photobucket is free; for commercial use, the Pro service costs $39.95 per year.
Other popular hosts include Boomspeed, which gives you unlimited storage space for $6 per month, and the Seller Sourcebook, which starts at $8 per month.
In general, look for a photo host that gives you lots of storage space and room to grow. Multiply the number of photos you post each month by the typical image file size of 50K to calculate a minimum (250 photos times 50K equals 12.5MB, for instance). Make sure your photo host allows you to post eBay auction images online. If you don't have a graphics program on hand, look for a host that makes it easy for you to crop or resize images. And if you aren't familiar with File Transfer Protocol (FTP) programs, find a host that lets you email or gives you a Web-based file transfer method. And make sure the customer service staff is helpful and responsive and can be reached on evenings and weekends.
Finally, given the changes in the marketplace, you need to keep a backup of your image files. A little research done now will result in a smooth and hopefully successful holiday sales season this year.
