I've got a couple questions actually.

1. I've noticed that with some photographers, they actually offer a photo credit in their package, pros & cons?

2. When and if I do decide to do this, how do you figure your cost? Say My high end package is $5k and I offer a $1k photo credit, how much should be my cost of the $1k?

3. Since I haven't purchased anything yet from any big printers, do you generally try to order in bulk to get the best deals or are their pricing structures such that there is no bulk?

4. Specialty prints and sizes, like storyboards, stretched canvas, etc. Can you share your experiences?

5. Do you prefer packages or ala'carte?

Thanks for your responses, I appreciate it!

Since I've got a goal of opening up shop by Jan 2009 I want to make sure I am investing in my business, but don't even know where to begin!

canIgetta bump?

Hi Jus! You've got some good questions. Take some time to roam through the board using the search feature and you'll find answers to most of your questions. These are oft discussed topics around here. Start by entering "packages" and click search titles only. You're going to get a lot of reading to do...

Hi Jus,

let me give you my thoughts.

We use print credit, and if we gave someone $500 of credit, and they ordered 10 10x8's, our cost would be around $20. But, this changes if they order larger prints, so the cost can fluctuate depending on the print sizes.

We stipulate that the credit is for print only. No gallery wraps, no invitation cards, etc. Just prints. The gallery wraps are popular when people are meeting with use, but strangely, they don't order them so much after the event. Cost?

But be careful, it is easy to get into the mind set that you can give away $1,000 of print credit and it might only cost you $40. But, remember that for every print that they get through your credit, it's one less print that they have to buy at full price! So you lose revenue.

That said, we find it to be a good closer.

Good luck.

Hugh

Thanks Hugh, that is good information. Something that confused me, because I thought - why would you give away *that* much product! But I totally get it.

Hi Paige, thanks for the info. I've been doing some searches, but I wasn't able to specifically find answers to my questions. I kept seeing package pricing and who's the best, but not what it meant to have photo-credit in a package. The search feature here only let's me search one word not phrases, so unless I'm doing something wrong I'm not getting very far in my searches!

You can search for phrases by putting them in quotes, just like you would on google.

Sometimes I find it easier to search via google directly to find a post on OSP. Just go to google and type site:www.opensourcephoto.net "blah blah blah" (your search terms) and it will deliver results just from this site. (Works without the quotes too, but then you aren't searching for a specific phrase.)

Lynn rocks.
p & s