Hello all,

I'm pricing my coffee book albums per page, but I feel it's unfair to charge the same amount for a matted page if there's only one image on it.

Do you charge differently based on the style of the album? Either per image or per page? And if you charge per image, what are you charging?

Thanks in advance,
Aaron

We charge the same per page for a 10x10 matted as we do for a 10x10 flush album.

Why do you feel it's unfair? LC (only company I have pricing at my fingertips for) charges more to mount a print in a traditional album than it does in a flush-mount album.

In some of my packages, clients receive a 10x10 50-side album, choice of either flush-mount or coffee table. I charge the same amount for both, but put 100-150 images in the flush-mount and only 80 in the traditional album.

Well put! That is pretty much what we do and also why we charge the same.

Same price per page, different per page price based on the album company. So an Asuka is much less per page than a Zookbinders which is less than a Queensberry. You have to know your costs per album to determine the appropriate price per page/company.

I'm using LC, and I ran the numbers. You're right about the mounting vs. flush-mount; I was shocked at how much more the mounting cost. It just seems that the B&G get so much more with the flush-mount, but I charge the same for mounted. Yes, it comes down to their style of taste, but this isn't a hard sell for all of you?

Ryan, I saw that you include 30 - 8x10 for the parent albums. Which album are you using?

Thanks,
Aaron

Hi Aaron,

have you actually built a matted album? have you actaully laid one out, ordered the prints, numbered the prints, packed the prints for shipping and sent it all to the album company to bind? once you do one, you will see that the work is just the same - or MORE! I just about tore my hair out with the first one - all those little mats and options and fitting it together like a puzzle. When it was finished, it was beautiful, but a lot of work!

the flush mounts take a different kind of time and work, and still require knowing margins and print parameters - especially overprinting and trimming.

as far as the number of images - IMHO - this is irrelevant. a few VERY strong images in either album often have a much greater impact than an lot of photos of the same event. this is about style and taste and the client needs to decide what they like. THEY will decide which one is worth more to them.

i show both flush mount and matted. (most clients choose the flushmount - although i just sold a leather craftsmen matted album. i'm just waiting on a few changes. i cannot WAIT to see this one finished!) the book is nearly one print per page and the cost is the same - per page.

again, IMHO, it's about image quality over quantity. sometimes there ARE a LOT of fabulous images. as the pro, you need to be able to filter what is 'book worthy' and what should be a beautiful print and what should go in 'the round file'. your client often is looking for guidance. i'm sure others who pre-design hear this - i hear it ALL the time: "you picked the BEST pictures!" of course! that's the whole idea!!! then the changes are minimal. i give suggestions and usually end up selling a few 'odd' favorites as prints that really didn't fit in the album. or selling a 'groups' album or a 'parent's favorites' album. once the primary book is sold, i give very generous price breaks on additional albums, and often print a few large prints at no charge or at a very reduced price (always show the FULL price on the invoice!) they need to know what you charge for future reference, and to know the full value.

went off on a tangent there - but i hope that helps.

Robin,

What an incredible source of information. Thanks for all that.

No, I haven't built my first matte album yet. For years I've been the shoot-and-hand-over-the-DVD guy. Not anymore.

I have seen some really nice matte albums that only had one images on a page. Quality over quantity. I understand. And I don't have a problem pricing this now as such! So thanks for your advice, and thanks to everyone else, too!

Take care,
Aaron

Matted albums are really pretty easy to lay out and order with Labprints software. Yes, they do take some time to lay out, but it is a really easy drag and drop software that pre-loads all the mat choices from whatever album company you choose. This saves tons of time. We do a pre-design of the album. Post it online for them and them have them come in to go over the design and make changes. The thing I really like is that it is easy to make the changes right there with the couple giving their input on the final design. Makes the whole process go very smoothly. It definitely takes a lot less time then designing a flush album. Then you just click a button and it orders exactly what you need for the album you just laid out. You still have to mark all the photos when you get them from the lab, and that takes an hour or so. I highly recommend this software for anyone who is doing matted albums.