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Help!
First off, I'm no programmer - I just use FrontPage to design my websites and I fear jargon!!!
A site I run is a modest photo website (www.buxtonracepix.com) for an oval raceway where I'm an infield photographer. The pics on there are free to whoever wants them, but I've had the bright idea of producing a gallery of wallpapers (.jpg format) for use on mobile phones. I'd guess that, once completed, there might be around 1,000 such wallpapers available - we have a lot of drivers!
What I'd really like to do is charge a very modest fee (perhaps 20p - yes, I'm UK-based) for each download, but I have no idea how to introduce something like that. I've had a look at free e-commerce software on download.com, but the truth is I don't really know what it is I should be looking for.
Can anyone help? Obviously, with such small sums involved I don't want to have to pay for software - it could take years to recoup the outlay. I'd be really grateful!

Could someone please email me? The "Notify me by email..." checkbox below this typing field is inactive.

d_d_mayer@yahoo.co.uk

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I'm not sure what you could use, but I do have another thought to throw your way. If people use the pictures as wallpaper on their phone, it would be very easy to not pay for it. A simple combination of the Print Screen button and Paint is all it takes. So before I go looking for a way to charge people, I'd think about if it's worth it.

I've looked at the pcitures, and while they're pretty nice if I want a car for my phone's wallpaper I'll go get a free one. They're all over the place.

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it amazes me what people are willing to pay for to have on their phones.

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Hi Waffles
At the moment the pics are, like you say, all over the place, but those are the actual meeting pics, not the ones I'm doing as wallpapers - those will be sorted into formula/driver order. And you're right about the Alt+PrtScr function - there's nothing I can do about that, but I'll be relying on a certain number of people acknowledging the work that goes into the site and being willing to make a small financial contribution in return - I wouldn't dream of making purchase compulsory or the security of the images foolproof.
I'm in the fortunate position of being well-known and - I hesitate to say it - popular at the raceway, and the people there know how much effort I put in. Even if 50 people pay 20p each for wallpapers it covers the cost of fuel for the car and batteries for the camera (it eats them) when I cover a meeting.

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I know some people will pay. I just have a habit of looking at the negative side of things. Which is weird 'cuz I'm more of a posotive person.

As long as you're not looking to turn it into your main source of income then things should go pretty well.

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deano, have you considered setting up a "tip jar" sort of link? this would just let people download your wallpapers for free if they wanted, but also give them the option of leaving you a "tip" for providing them, with a message saying something like "if you enjoy these wallpapers, please consider leaving a tip."

i've seen this sort of thing on a couple websites and it sounded like a good fit to me after seeing your second post where you say you're not all that concerned with making it impossible for people to get the wallpapers without paying and that you expect that folks will be willing to give you money.

i ran a google search for paypal "tip jar" and it looks like there are some results that should help you get that set up on your site if sounds good to you.

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Thank you Misterhaan - that looks pretty much ideal. I'll give it a go!