Most photographers do not stop selling their work because of the photos. They stop at the payment setup, because it is the step that looks like someone else's job. Imagely already took most of that away: prices, cart and checkout all live on your own site, with no second plugin to buy.
The one piece that still sent you elsewhere was Stripe, and connecting it meant a trip to your account and a couple of long codes to copy back. Now you sign in once and you are done.
Stripe Payments: Set Up in One Click
Connecting Stripe to your galleries is about as simple as it gets. You pick Stripe, approve the connection, and land back in WordPress with your account linked and ready to take orders.
You can also see that it worked, which matters more than it sounds. The payments screen shows your connected account and the currency you will be paid in, so you are never left wondering whether your store can actually take money.
Setting Up Your Payments
With both your Imagely plugins updated to 4.5.0, go to Imagely → eCommerce → Payment Setup from your WordPress dashboard. Stripe sits at the top of the page, marked as recommended.
One decision before you click anything. Leave Test mode off to take real payments, or switch it on to connect a practice account instead. Whichever you pick locks when you connect, so choose it now: changing your mind later means disconnecting and starting over.
Then click Connect with Stripe, sign in on Stripe’s own pages, approve it, and you land back in WordPress with your account connected and your currency next to it. Check that currency before you move on, because not every payment method works with every currency.
One more stop before you take any money. Open Page Setup and let Imagely create the four pages a sale needs: your checkout, your thank-you page, a cancel page, and the page your clients download from. Each one is marked on screen, so you know you are finished when nothing is left flagged.
Practice a Sale Before You Take a Real One
Before you send real clients to your gallery, you can run a practice sale on yourself. Turn on Test mode, connect a Stripe test account instead of your real one, and buy something from your own gallery using Stripe’s practice card number. The order shows up under Imagely → eCommerce → Orders exactly as a real one would, so you get to walk through the whole thing the way your client will, and nothing is charged.
When you are ready to go live, disconnect the practice account and connect your real one. It takes about as long as it did the first time.
Refunds Without Leaving WordPress
When a client changes their mind, you no longer have to go and find the payment over in Stripe. Open the order under Imagely → eCommerce → Orders, choose Refund, and the money goes back to them. The order moves to Refunded right there in your list, and any digital download they bought stops working.
Two things worth knowing. A refund sends back the whole payment rather than part of it. And if a print has already gone off to the lab, refunding the money does not stop the print, so check where the order is with the lab before you refund it.
Get Started with Stripe Payments Today
Selling from your galleries comes with Imagely Pro and Ultra. If you are on either one, update both plugins to 4.5.0 and the new payments screen is waiting for you. And what you earn is yours: while your Pro license is active, Imagely takes no cut of your sales, so the only charges on a payment are Stripe’s own.
Already taking payments? Nothing changes unless you want it to. Your current setup carries on working, so do your PayPal, Braintree and check options, and the payments screen simply offers to reconnect you to Stripe the easier way whenever you feel like it. Do that and your clients pay by card right inside your gallery, instead of being sent off to a Stripe page and back again.
And if you are on the free plugin, take a look at Imagely → eCommerce. It shows you what Pro opens up: Stripe in one click, five more ways for your clients to pay, and a checkout that happens right inside your gallery.
Connect Stripe in One Click and Start Selling
Available now on Imagely Pro and above.
Ready to build out the selling side of your site? These guides cover pricing, proofing and getting paid for your work.
- Print Orders Now Ship to the EU and UK →
- How to Sell Photography Online →
- Selling Prints with Automated Fulfillment →
- Set Up a Client Proofing Gallery →
- 14 Best Places to Sell Photography Online →
Keep exploring guides, photography tips, and product updates on the Imagely blog.
