What is A la Carte?

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I am a newborn, baby, and child photographer and I currently posted a forum about how many images I should offer to my clients. Another member of this site suggested that I offer A la Carte instead of promising a certain amount of images to my clients (due to babies and children being unpredictable)</p>

<p> I am hoping that someone can explain A la Cart and how it works? I have never heard of it.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

<p>-Brandy</p><div></div>

<p>A la carte leads back to restaurant pricing schemes. A complete "dinner" might come with a choice of soup, salad, a couple of sides and a main course, perhaps also with a desert. A la carte would allow for choosing only those particular items you might want. The a la carte items would usually be more expensive in that if you bought all of the meal items, it would cost more than buying as the full meal.</p>

<p>So your picture package might include the choice of 3 poses (out of ?) in a set number of prints, like 2 5x7, 10 wallets and an 8x10 while a la carte would allow for picking individual poses and print sizes and whatever number of prints of a size.</p>

<p>Literally, "from the the card (menu)"</p>

<p>Basically, charge for the shoot and then everything extra has their own individual prices. Don't promise a certain number of poses or images.</p>

<p>Thanks Ed!</p>

<p>As others say, its pricing that allows the customer to choose exactly what they want from a range of options- written on a "card"/menu. Its the opposite of a package.</p>

<p>You might want to consider whether you want your customers to decide after you've walked through their door, or you've walked through theirs, just how much of your service they want to buy. maybe if the child's not at its best today, or the mother needs to get off to another appointment, or the customer's had a poor month money-wise, then they can reduce what they pay. Or maybe they want to buy so much that it makes you really late for the next customer? In other words an a la carte prcing structure is very favourable to the customer, maybe not so good for the photographer, unless maybe you can apply a minimum charge below which you won't go.</p>

<p>If it were me, I'd avoid a la carte, but if a sitting was difficult I might suggest that they return at another time at no extra charge - so an off-menu favour if you like,to display flexibility and the fact that you want the shoot to go well too. </p>

<p>basically it is french term used in the Restaurant that means according to the menu. Listing or serving food that can be ordered as separate items, rather than part of a set meal<em>.</em></p>

<p>Don't you have a dictionary? or google? It is selling on a per item basis. Instead of packages you sell one item at a time. This is usually at a higher price.</p>