Another print credit question

[scott_brooks1]

If you include a print credit allowance ... is it also available to use towards

an album or do you restrict it to individual prints?

 

Obviously I'm ahead both in dollars as well as time spent if I'm only allowing

them to use the credit towards prints, but I'm not sure that's the way to go.

 

What are you doing?

 

Thanks

[annealmasy]

We offer credits for specific items. Album Credit, Print Credit, Etc.

 

I know some people who ONLY offer Print Credits. Albums must be paid in full, no credits

allowed.

 

Of course, you could always just raise your album prices to accommodate. Most people don't

charge NEARLY enough for their albums (when you consider cost of materials, time, etc.).

[kiva]

Just prints.

[scott_brooks1]

So Anne ... just to clarify, you allow it for a variety of items? Right now I allow it for prints and albums but have been reconsidering the allowance for the album. I also allow it for the creation of a dvd slide show or an e-session.

[annealmasy]

Hey Scott.

 

No, we offer PRINT Credits in some situations, and ALBUM Credits in others. Every now and

then we'll offer an all-purpose credit, but not usually.

[scott_brooks1]

I'm going to have to revisit this before my shows in Jan.

 

I would really like to keep the credit to be used for prints. Two exceptions I might consider is letting them use it towards an e-session or a proof mag. Although this year when given the chance ... people took the print credit OVER the proof mag.

 

Sounds like the credit towards an album might be gone.

 

Thanks everyone.

[katieontario]

We really like the idea of just a print credit. That way, we have a really good idea as to the monty we are spending out of pocket for development only. Our per print prices are really low compared to most photographers in our area too. For instance, one couple ordered nothing but 100 4x6s with their credit - we charge $2/4x6, as they have a $200 print credit. This was about $26 out of pocket for us. One couple chose 20 5x7s - we charge $10 per 5x7. This cost us only $35.

 

If we applied this "credit" to albums, we would lose a whole lot - we order our albums from the States (we are Canadian based), and would be paying close to, or slightly over, $100 out of pocket for albums.

 

Mind you, we have packages that do have albums in them, and we order in bulk. But some clients want to apply the credit to parent albums, and we won't honour this. Most clients understand this. We have not had a fuss to date.

 

Also, when we order a very large print order, we do it in bulk, and this further reduces our fees, saving more moula on our end. For instance. We ordered two 8x10s, over 100 5x7s and over 100 4x6s and our cost was $136.

 

In the end, for us, it is all about keeping overhead costs low to make a substantial profit.