Asukabook

[kimberlynoelphotography]

Hello,

 

I am looking into ordering albums from asukabook.com to offer my clients. For

those of you that offer these albums, I am wondering what you charge clients

for them. You certainly don't have to post it here, but if you could e-mail

me at kimberlynoelphotography@comcast.net I would greatly appreciate it. I

would like to find a good balance of affordablility for the client, but also

make it worth my while. Thanks in advance!

 

Kim

[bdp]

Normally business-wise suggestion is easily 2-5x (more in some regions) what it cost you to purchase it. Suggested business model I believe is that COG's = 20% of final product pricing.

[j_c38]

Bob makes a good point. Maybe I'm off in my thinking but IMO a 20 page album shouldn't be cheaper then 20 8x10 prints. Esentially thats what they are getting.

 

On top of that it takes time to put an album together.

[annealmasy]

JC has a VERY good point - one that I frequently will mention to clients interested in a

book. If you're selling a single 8x10 for $20, then a 20-page 10x10 AsukaBook MUST

cost at least $400 (especially considering the profit margin on the AsukaBook would still

be much lower than the profit margin on the 8x10 print).

 

We openly acknowledge the hard cost of the AsukaBook, then charge per page for the

design. After all, if they want a blank book from AsukaBook, it will cost them XXX. But if

they want a custom designed portfolio with professional images, it will cost them more.

Makes perfect sense!

 

Check out what Red Boot (the AsukaBook preferred design company) charges per page for

design, then bump that price up yet again to account for profit. You'll be looking at

anywhere from $10 to $20 per page, plus the hard cost of the printing and paper.

 

We offer a 50% discount on printings of books that have already been designed, still

allowing for some profit for the photographs themselves, but also acknowledging that the

design part has already been paid for and completed.

[hooman_b]

I disagree with the "if 1 is $20, then 20 should be $400" thought - it is common practice in any business to receive discounts based on quantity sales. What to charge a client should really be based on what you've already charged them for the base shoot (i.e. covering the wedding itself).

[annealmasy]

Hooman,

 

The thing to remember is that (with an AsukaBook) you're not selling bulk 8x10s. You're

selling an album that requires hours of Photoshop time and has a pretty hefty price tag

attached! A professionally-printed 8x10 typically has a minimum 400% markup. Great

profit margin. But charging $400 for a 20-page AsukaBook hits WAYYYY under the 400%

markup margin, AND requires a great deal more work than simply printing a set of 8x10s.

 

I'm just suggesting that album sales are only good if they're profitable to the

photographer. A client can love an album to death, but that won't put food on the table if

I don't charge enough for it!

 

-Anne

[kiva]

Ijust spent several Days putting together an AsukaBook ... it's a lot of work and the customer ends up with a high class photography record of a treasured family event that took days of work and a lot of equipment to put together.

 

How much does one pay for a used car these days? I should say: how much does one pay for a used car that will actually run for a Year? Now compare to a Family Album.

 

Anne, you Don't charge Enough!

 

I don't either and need to Raise my prices!

[kiva]

My recent AsukaBooks album:

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=632195

 

They are in reverse order, grrr, sorry.

If anyone can tell me how to change the order and even better how to upload a set of images in the Correct order I'd apprecaite it. I've looked for the correct method by a photo.net search with no luck.

[kari douma]

I agree with william. They need to pay for the time. I charge a per page price, and it is greater than my 8X10 price, because of my time into the design. Yes, there is discount in buying quantity, but that is of the same image. If they need a quantity number of the same image, I give them a discount. But not on a custom designed album. Now, if they need 10 of the same album... we could work out a quantity discount price.

[hooman_b]

Yes, while I can understand paying for a final product, and the need to make a profit and a living - I also say, with regard to a 20 page Asuka, that aside from centering 20 images on 20 template pages and converting to a PDF does not take that much work. Obviously, if you're doing an 80 page spread with different sized photos, reduced opacity, etc.. now you're putting some time into things.

 

In the end, I try to put myself in the consumer's shoes - after paying for the intial wedding shoot - $2,000, for example - how much more do I want to spend to get a nice result without feeling bad about the whole thing - and I'm not making a judgement of any kind on the price of $400 for a 20 page book. I also know that you can read the knot and find plenty of people happy to take the CD of images they get and make their own mypublisher book for less than $150. (Obviously Asuka is much nicer and yes, you gotta pay to play, etc..)

 

Well, enough rambling for no reason - just enjoy a good discussion every now and again!

[craig bybee]

I do not use Aksuka Books, but use My Publisher's large hard back book and I still charge $425 for a 20-22 page book. Part of the profit comes from being able to know your editing program well enough to quickly and artisticly create the layouts. I do not use templates because when I show a client a sample book from many, I want to make sure that after seeing over 5-10 books they do not look the same. Even at $425, sometimes I don't feel like it is enough when I see others charging over a thousand and sometimes much more for essentially the same product, but in a nicer package i.e. Cornerstone or Aksuka.