Photo sharing service MyQPU launches with paid broadcasting, contests

MyQPU (Quick Photo Upload), a new photo sharing service, is officially launching tomorrow with a $2.99 per month online album as well as with paid photo broadcasting and paid contests.

Jim Meeker, the president of the company, was nice enough to send me a copy of the press release that will be issued tomorrow. The company has been testing this unique service for several months.

For $2.99 per month, a MyQPU subscriber is able to post camera phone photos on the company's Web site and invite as many people as he/she wants to become part of the closed "viewer group," called a PIX (Private Image eXchange). People invited to join the group are able to view and post photos for free, after entering a user name and password.

Purchasing IFC

MyQPU offers two extra paid services: Transmitting photos to all PIX members and entering contests. For either feature, a subscriber needs to purchase IFCs: Image Forwarding Credits.

The cost of each IFC is about $.18, Jim says. The Web site says IFCs may be purchased in blocks of 15 to 200 and cost as little as $.15.

To find out the specifics of the pricing, you have to first sign up. I think that's a mistake.

Potential subscribers should know -- and probably want to know -- the cost of services before they begin the registration and enter personal information, such as their cellular phone number and cellular phone's e-mail address.

Additional paid services

A key advantage of the automatic broadcasting service is photos can be transmitted to handsets on any cellular operator's network.

Handsets don't have to be camera phones but they do have to be able to receive MMS, e-mail or WAP transmissions.

The cost of sending a photo is one IFC per image per person. Jim says that's less than the cost of what networks charge to send a photo.

Cost considerations

When transmitting photos from handset-to-handset via MMS, cellular operators typically charge every subscriber a fee for transmitting a photo plus the cost of airtime. In addition, cellular subscribers are charged per-minute airtime fees for receiving any data, such as photos.

There are exceptions, of course. Sprint PCS charges a flat monthly fee of $15 to send and receive an unlimited number of photos as well as browse the Web via a handset.

Also, for users whose handsets include e-mail programs, it's often possible to attach multiple photos to a list of multiple recipients and send all the photos for the price of a single message, unlike MMS.

So, the bottom line for using MyQPU is: A monthly $2.99 MyQPU fee for the person who initially creates the PIX, the IFC fee for broadcasting a photo and the cellular airtime fees.

Paying for contests

MyQPU also offers subscrbers the option to pay for entering contests. Prizes will include camera phones, electronic goods, music, cash, vacations and even a new car. The company's press release says, "MyQPU is offering a $10,000 cash Grand Prize for the image submitted that 'most represents what MyQPU is all about…Putting smiles on people faces!'”

The cost to enter each contest -- the number of IFCs required -- will be set by the company offering the prize. The better the prize, typically the more IFCs required. MyQPU's Web site says a contest to win a camera phone might require one IFC while a contest to win a car might require 20 IFCs.

IFCs for photo sharing

Here's what MyQPU says on its Web site about IFCs:

"The cost of Broadcasting Images to other members in your PIX is a cost shared by everyone registered to the PIX. On the basis the whole idea of this feature is to help you all share magic moments between each other's mobile-phone's, we thought the fairest way to facilitate this was to encourage the sharing of the cost of broadcasting the images.

"Therefore, each PIX has a Shared PIX IFC account. Whoever initially sets up the PIX will be required to purchase some Shared PIX IFC's on behalf of the PIX. We then recommend each subsequent member of the PIX takes turns in adding credits to the Shared PIX IFC account thereafter.

"Any member of the PIX can buy these credits at any time, and an e-mail will be sent out to all members of the PIX when the account gets to below 15 to remind you all that someone needs to top up the account."

More information

I asked Jim to provide more information about the concept, and here's his reply,

"Let's say the original subscriber signed up, bought 100 IFCs and divided them equally between his own private IFC account and the shared PIX account 50-50.

"He then has seven people in his PIX. Four of those want to be notified every time there is new image, via WAP push. Each time an image is sent in, the shared account is debited five IFCs.

"When the shared account gets down to a certain point, say five IFCs, we send out a reminder e-mail to the PIX group letting them know that if they want to continue to share images or enter contests, one of the PIX members needs to purchase more IFCs.

"That is basically what a 'shared PIX cost' is."

Will this concept succeed?

MyQPU is an interesting idea, but I have a few questions:

1. Is the pricing scheme too complicated?

2. Will people pay for broadcasting photos?

3. Will enough people pay to enter contests?

Comments

[Rogier]

Funny, we developed a similar platform, also going live on June 1st! Same concept, different communication and design. This website looks very complicated for an average mobile user. They should try to get an ad firm involved and let them write the copy and develop a more appealing design.

[Jim Meeker]

Hi Mike,

I appreciate your comments. With the limited amount of things to actually do with a camera phone, wouldn't you think that entering contests with cool images you took be enticing? Wouldn't you spend the (avg. cost) 18 cents an image to forward a really cool picture you just took to 5 of your friends, all over the country, on different networks, so they can share it immediately on their handsets? We think so.

[Michael]

Interesting idea. My guess is that they will have some success with the broadcasting model but increasingly the broadcasts will look more and more like ad banners. $.18/impression is pretty high for banner impressions.

Michael.