Hi everyone, I need some ideas...

I have a great client that needs an album, but the Leather Craftsmen products I offer are not fitting her budget. I want to find a decent product that meets her needs and budget.

Here is what I need to find:
Black leather album that will hold up to 50 5x7" prints

Total cost for client:
$300 or less

If you know of anything that fits the bill please let me know! I was poking around on Albums Inc. for ideas and if anyone has tried the following product I'd love to hear your review.

My idea so far:

Marshall slip-in album (I think it holds a max of 30 prints)



The more ideas the better, especially if you have a great product to recommend. Thanks!

Hi Amanda,

I am a sales rep for LC and I want to help you with your dilemma. I don't know if you were aware, but the 800 reversible will certainly fit in your budget. Also, if your client is interested in a slip in album, we certainly make them. The 900 series is a full leather slip-in album. It can hold all Verticals, Horizontals, or both (reversible). I can't quote you a price now, but if you email me or call me at my office in NY, I will be more than happy to work with you on this. My email is cis@leathercraftsmen.com and my office line is 1-800-275-2463.

Joseph Fiore Jr.

LC rocks.

That was a subtle plug, huh?

I just sent you an email.

HAHA....thanks for the plug there Mark. I hope all is well since I last saw you in the ATL.

Are you including the prints in the clients cost? Because if it is $300 including the prints, you are charging less than $6 per 5x7, which is outrageously low. If you are meaning $300 plus the prints, it would make more sense.

Thank GOD I'm not the only one thinking that... I strongly suggest that the OP reconsiders her print prices.... $300 for 50 5x7s? wow... that is $6 per print not including the book as Lynn said. That's.... $9-14 less than the majority of "cheap" people charge.

You know, I didn't really even think of it that way. Thanks for pointing it out! I was just figuring a price based on 30% COGS. My 5x7 prints are $9.99 each. She already purchased the digital negatives so I guess I could sell an empty slip in album for $300 and let her get her own prints? But run the risk of her taking them to a lousy lab? For $300 how many 5x7 prints should she get with an album? What do you think?

My pricing strategy with prints is already whack (like crack) since I include 200 4x6 in my packages. I hate offering them because it takes clients forever to choose them and then they just have them in a box. A friend advised me to offer this in my packages when I first started, but I haven't figured out how I want to change it yet. Getting back to the original topic....

Still looking for a decent product. I have a friend getting married next year who just wants a slip in album on a budget so I could save that knowledge for later.

Off topic sort of but I feel it is necessary: "Thank You!" to the OSPers who point out business blunders for others. I got a degree in photography from a fine art program and have the skill to take good pictures, but "business sense" wasn't part of the curriculum. I love what I do, but need to figure out how to be fairly compensated for it. I want to make people happy and tend to be too nice a lot of the time at cost to myself.

Thanks for not being offended! I realize some of my posts are a bit blunt but it's honestly in your best interest. I actually have some ideas for your packages and would be willing to chat with you sometime if you'd like to. Do you have AIM/iChat, Yahoo or MSN Messenger?

This is a great post, thank you Amanda for sharing. I hadn't made any money off of prints yet but I keep running into "your prices are so high, I'll just go to Walmart or Costco for prints."

If you've encountered that response before, how did you handle it? I can't compete with .17 cent 4x6's.

Up until this client looking for the budget album I had sold 1 5x7" print to a MOB. To this day no one has said my print prices are too high, but I guess lack of sales speaks for itself. This bride I am looking for the album for already spent over $200 on 4x6 prints through me which was my biggest print sale to date. I just try to talk up my use of a professional quality lab.

Don't sell the files, and you'll sell prints. Sell the files and you probably won't.

Sress the difference in a WalGreen's print and yours. Yours is printed on professional archival paper on calibrated equipment, by a professional printer who's business is to make prints that last a lifetime with exact color, sharpness, and quality finishing.

WalGreen's, or whatever consumer processor, doesn't do that. Consumer paper differs from professional paper, as do the people running them.

And...you're not competing with a $.17 4x6. They have to buy your files before that cheapie 4x6 even becomes an option. Make that your advantage.

+1

I print on metallic paper from whcc, and there is no comparison to walmart. When I talk to the client, I mention that yes, they might print the bulk of their images from the cd at walmart, but the ones they will be hanging in their house, or giving as gifts, etc. should really be quality. I sell all the images on cd for an extra $700 so I'm not too upset when they don't buy that many prints, but they usually at least get three or four larger prints to have on display.