http://dolphinsafeblog.blogspot.com/2007/1...n-fox-news.html

Couturebook.....now open to the public.....and their prices.....I will now have nothing to do with these people.

dude, that video has been around for at least six months. They've already caught quite a bit of flack about that and it is my understanding that they've made quite a few changes since then -- one biggie being that they've eased off of the consumer market and focused more on the pros.

However, all the quality issues I've been hearing have made me very hesitant to try them. I was pretty pumped to use them but held off just in case. Now, I'm not gonna try them until I hear more positive results from others.

hey all -
i asked dave about this personally - sending him this link - and Dave sent back a thorough response...obviously we don't want to sell products that are available to the everyday consumer - but couture feels the same way. every company goes through growing pains - as will couture...and every other company.

so here is some information for all straight from the source


Hi Jenna,

Good question!

Our primary focus has always been the professional photographer, but when we
first released the books (back in October), they were also available to
consumers. We figured the consumers we were going to attract were not the
brides looking for a deal, but more the families with lots of images that
wanted a beautiful, high-end, heirloom book.

Shortly after we started, we got a lot of feedback from folks like you,
telling us that they were also uncomfortable with us potentially selling
directly to their brides. Since professional photographers have always been
our main focus, the decision to close the site to consumers was a no
brainer. We switched off the consumer login and setup a registration
process to act as a gateway.

Now to gain access to the pricing or any of the juicy behind the scenes
details, you have to be approved (personally by me). Basically I check for
a professional web site, a site that is linked to the name and email address
of the person registering.

Also, we have put a form on the site for consumers that may have seen some
of our original, local, promotions like the one you link to. When we get
these inquiries, we direct them to photographers and studios that we know
and work with, local to their area. That way these early promotions can
actually help send more work to everyone we're associated with

One other nice benefit of starting the way we did is now the homepage of the
site is very consumer friendly. I know the sites of a lot of book companies
are not so pretty. With our site, you can send customers to the homepage
knowing they can check out the all of the options and details of the books
without seeing the pricing, and have it happen on a beautiful site that will
hopefully compliment your studios high-end image.

Sorry for the long winded email, and please let me know if there is anything
else I can help out with.

Best!

-Dave

Yeah...when I ordered my book, there was no pricing available to consumers.

just discussed this with Dave. there will not be public ordering now or anytime in the future.

For those who has used them, can you share your comments about the quality, experience, etc.?

I can't wait to get my first book - Dave is so nice.

has anyone heard if the new earth books(the 100% green ones) will be on their website anytime soon???

I haven't heard anything about this, but I'm glad to see that someone is doing this and it makes me more interested in using Couture. Yay!