ScanMyPhotos.com

What ScanMyPhotos.com does

ScanMyPhotos.com is a privately held, direct-to-consumer mail-in media digitization service founded in 1990 in Irvine, California, originally as 30 Minute Photos Etc. and rebranded after pivoting from local retail photo processing to bulk photo scanning for a national and international audience. The company digitizes physical photographs, 35mm slides, film negatives (35mm, APS, and 120mm formats), VHS tapes, and 8mm/16mm movie film, processing all work at its single Irvine facility using Kodak Digital ICE technology, proprietary Fix & Restore enhancement, ReelMagic film restoration, and manual frame-by-frame retiming for motion media. Its product surface spans pay-per-photo entry tiers (from 20¢ per scan with a $25 minimum), prepaid bulk boxes (~1,800 photos per box), mid-volume Family Generation Collections (~10,800 photos), and a 100K enterprise package ($30,000) with dedicated concierge support, plus add-on services such as TIFF delivery, photo index books, express scanning, and a digital-only Photo Restoration Service.

The business model is straightforward one-time project revenue plus upsells. Customers order online, receive prepaid shipping boxes, mail in physical media, and receive digital downloads (with optional USB or DVD delivery) plus return of originals. Pricing is unit-based or usage-based with strong volume discounts, ranging from a $55 entry sampler to a $30,000 enterprise package, with e-gift cards from $25 to $1,000 enabling institutional and family gifting. The go-to-market is direct-to-consumer e-commerce supplemented by an affiliate program, organic social (Facebook, X, YouTube, Pinterest), a blog, an email newsletter, and substantial earned media coverage in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Today Show, CBS Evening News, Oprah Magazine, AARP, and 100+ other outlets.

ScanMyPhotos serves families and individuals preserving generational photo archives as their primary segment, with secondary segments in small and medium businesses, genealogists and family historians, and institutions (libraries, museums, historical societies, universities) procuring bulk digitization. The company claims to have preserved over one billion photos since 1990 and operates exclusively as a bootstrapped, founder-owned entity under co-founders Mitch Goldstone and Carl Berman, with no venture capital, private equity, or institutional investment on record.

Name

ScanMyPhotos.com

Legal name

ScanMyPhotos.com

Website

https://scanmyphotos.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ScanMyPhotos.com is a direct-to-consumer mail-in media digitization service, founded in 1990 in Irvine, California, that converts printed photos, slides, negatives, VHS tapes, and 8mm/16mm film to digital formats for families, SMBs, and institutions using prepaid shipping boxes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Photo Digitization Services

NAICS

Photofinishing Laboratories (except One-Hour) (812921), Photofinishing (81292)

SIC

Services-Photofinishing Laboratories (7384)

akta.pro primary industry

Document Scanning & Imaging (Paper-to-Digital Conversion) (BPAAAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Video & Home Movie Digitization & Conversion (HSAFAGAC), Film Scanning & Digitization (Telecine, Frame-by-Frame, Metadata Capture) (MPADAMAE)

Keywords

• Photo digitization services
• Slide scanning services
• Negative scanning services
• Film transfer services
• Photo restoration

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Photo Scanning Services: Core revenue stream from digitizing printed photographs. Includes prepaid boxes (bulk orders), individual pay-per-scan, and enterprise packages. Revenue is one-time per project with optional upsells for express delivery, enhanced resolution, and photo restoration.
2. Slide Scanning Services: Digitizing 35mm slides including individual slides, prepaid boxes, and carousel scanning. Uses Kodak Digital ICE technology. One-time fees with optional TIFF format upgrade, premium hand-scanning, and index books.
3. Negative Scanning Services: Converting film negatives (35mm, APS, 120mm) to digital format. Pricing varies by film type and resolution. Includes Digital ICE processing for color negatives.
4. Video/Film Transfer Services: Converting VHS tapes, 8mm/16mm film reels to DVD, USB, or digital upload formats. Includes prepaid boxes for bulk orders and individual tape services. Optional ReelMagic restoration.
5. Photo Restoration Services: Online restoration service for already-scanned photos. Customers upload digital files for enhancement and repair. Flat fee per image.
6. E-Gift Cards: Digital gift certificates sold in denominations from $25 to $1,000 with no expiration date. Valid for all services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ScanMyPhotos.com is a mail-in photo and media digitization service that converts physical photographs, 35mm slides, film negatives (35mm, APS, 120mm), VHS tapes, and 8mm/16mm home movie reels into digital formats. Customers order online, receive prepaid shipping boxes, mail originals to the company's Irvine, California facility, and receive JPG, TIFF, DVD, or MP4 digital outputs with original media returned. The service is offered in tiered packaging from single pay-per-photo orders up to enterprise-scale 100,000-photo digitization packages.

Product overview

ScanMyPhotos.com is a digitization services company offering a comprehensive portfolio of media conversion and preservation services. The core offering consists of photo scanning (prepaid boxes for bulk orders, pay-per-photo individual service, and the 250-photo sampler), slide scanning (prepaid boxes, pay-per-slide, and Kodak carousel trays), negative scanning (35mm, APS, and 120mm formats), and video/film transfer (VHS to DVD, 8mm and 16mm reel conversion). Higher-volume tiers include the Family Generation Collection (6 boxes, ~10,800 photos) and the 100K Photo Package for enterprise-scale digitization. Add-on services include photo restoration, TIFF file delivery, photo index books, express scanning, and concierge support. The company operates from Irvine, California and has preserved over one billion photos since 1990.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Photo Scanning Box (Prepaid) Prepaid bulk photo scanning service delivering approximately 1,800 photos at 300 or 600 DPI resolution with free shipping and digital download delivered via email. Targeted at families and individuals digitizing large printed photo collections.
• Individual Photo Scan Service (Pay-Per-Photo) Flexible per-photo scanning service starting at 20¢ per scan for 300 DPI or 50¢ per scan for 600 DPI, with a $25 minimum order, accepting photo sizes from 3x3" to 8x10". Targeted at customers with smaller or more controlled digitization needs.
• 250 Photo Scan Sampler Entry-level scanning bundle offering 250 photos scanned at 300 DPI for $55, with 1-year upload service and free return shipping of originals. Targeted at first-time customers testing the service.
• Family Generation Collection High-volume bulk scanning package of 6 prepaid boxes handling approximately 10,800 photos at a reduced per-photo cost of about 9 cents; available in 300 or 600 DPI. Targeted at families preserving multi-generational archives.
• 100K Photo Package Enterprise digitization service for 100,000 photos at $30,000, including 300 DPI scanning, courier pickup/return, expedited scanning, and 1-year image upload; add-ons include 600 DPI upgrade, TIFF files, and photo index books. Includes a dedicated Photo Concierge Archivist. Targeted at institutions, large families, and corporate archival projects.
• Slide Scanning Box (Prepaid) Prepaid bulk 35mm slide scanning service for up to 540 slides at 2,000 or 4,000 DPI using Kodak Digital ICE technology for dust and scratch reduction.
• Individual Slide Service (Pay-Per-Slide) Flexible per-slide scanning at 65¢ for 2,000 DPI or 85¢ for 4,000 DPI with a $20 minimum, using Digital ICE technology for dust/scratch reduction and image enhancement.
• Kodak Carousel Slide Scanning Flat-rate bulk scanning service for Kodak Carousel trays holding up to 140 standard 35mm mounted slides at $59.95 per carousel, scanned at 4,000 DPI.
• 35mm Negative Scanning Service 35mm film negative scanning at 2,000 DPI (47¢ per frame) or 4,000 DPI (89¢ per frame) using Digital ICE for color negatives, with a $20 minimum deposit.
• APS Negative Scanning Service APS (Advanced Photo System) cartridge film scanning at flat rates of $7.95 per roll for 2,000 DPI or $12.95 per roll for 4,000 DPI, regardless of exposure count.
• 120mm Negative Scanning Service Medium format 120mm negative scanning at 1,000 or 2,000 DPI, accepting formats 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7, 6x8, or 6x9, starting at $1.95 per frame.
• VHS to DVD Transfer Box Prepaid bulk VHS transfer service for up to 14 VHS, VHS-C, or Hi8 tapes at $29.29 per tape ($410 per box), including 80-year archival DVDs and free shipping.
• Individual VHS to DVD Service Per-tape VHS, VHS-C, MiniDV, and Hi8 to DVD conversion at $9.97 per tape (50% off), with options for MP4 conversion and USB delivery.
• 8mm Reels to DVD Box Prepaid bulk 8mm/Super 8 film transfer box accommodating approximately 3,500 feet of film at $660 per box, with the ReelMagic Fix & Restore enhancement option.
• Individual 8mm Reel Digitization Per-foot 8mm and Super 8 reel transfer starting at 19¢ per foot, featuring scene-by-scene density adjustment, manual retiming for natural playback speed, and flicker-free output.
• 16mm Reel Digitization Service 16mm film reel to DVD/MP4 transfer at 25¢ per foot with frame-by-frame capture, manual retiming for natural motion, and flicker-free output.
• Photo Restoration Service Online photo restoration service for previously scanned images at $45.50 per photo, handling color correction, scratch removal, and enhancement without requiring physical originals.
• ScanMyPhotos E-Gift Card Digital gift certificates in denominations from $25 to $1,000 with no expiration date, redeemable for any scanning service online.

Quantifiable outcome

• Cost per photo as low as 9 cents for bulk orders through Family Generation Collection
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• iMemories: Cloud-based home-movie and photo digitization service including VHS and film transfer, with subscriptions and digital viewer access. Comparable in consumer-facing digitization experience and digital delivery format.
• DigMyPics: Mail-in photo, slide, and negative scanning service with similar DPI tiers and enterprise offerings. Direct competitor in the same niche of professional photo digitization.
• FotoBridge: Photo, slide, negative, and video digitization service operating a similar mail-in model. Direct competitor with overlapping service categories and consumer-facing brand.
• ScanCafe: Direct mail-in photo, negative, and slide digitization service operating a similar DTC e-commerce model with multi-format legacy media conversion. Closest head-to-head competitor with overlapping service catalog and price points.
• Legacybox: National mail-in digitization service for photos, VHS, Super 8, and audio formats, with prepaid boxes and gift card offerings. Direct competitor targeting the same family-archive consumer segment with comparable pricing tiers.

Emerging players

• Photomyne: AI-driven mobile app for scanning and restoring old photo albums using smartphone cameras. Emerging threat from the DIY/AI side of the market, targeting the same nostalgic end-customer with a faster, lower-cost workflow.

Broad incumbents

• Walmart Photo: Mass-market retail photo service providing prints, photo books, and basic scanning offerings through a national storefront footprint. Adjacent competitor primarily focused on print-on-demand rather than legacy media archival.
• Iron Mountain: Large-scale records and information management company with digital conversion services for enterprise and institutional clients. Broad incumbent serving the institutional/archival digitization market that ScanMyPhotos targets with its 100K Photo Package.
• Shutterfly: Large consumer photo products and prints platform with photo-book and gift offerings. Broad incumbent in consumer imaging but does not specialize in legacy mail-in digitization services.
• Costco Photo Center: Large retail photo service offering prints, photo books, and limited scanning options as part of a broader consumer imaging portfolio. Competes at the low-end consumer segment but does not specialize in legacy media digitization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ScanMyPhotosC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ScanMyPhotos
• Facebookfacebook.com/ScanMyPhotos
• Pinterestpinterest.com/scanmyphotos/_saved

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ScanMyPhotos.com