to think school photos are a total rip off

[Cait73]

My lo is nearly 3 he started preschool this year so imagine my delight when he bought home his first school photo

Except when I went online to order it the cheapest package is £27 that's OUTRAGEOUS!!

It's Christmas in 3 weeks, his Birthday happens to be Christmas Eve and I only want 2 maybe 3 photos but you have to order a package

It's not a particularly great photo BUT it's his first "school" photo, I'm gob smacked!!

@Vapeyvapevape

Before becoming a parent, I thought School Photo Days were straightforward, a fella takes a picture of your kid at school, you buy a copy from them for a few quid. ..Nope.

• Hi there, we’ve taken a picture of your kid at school and wondered if you’d like one?

• Oh, ok, yeah I’ll take one.

• Well.. we don’t do single photos we do ‘packages’.

• Ok, what’s the most basic package?

• That would be Package One. It’s one normal-sized photo and 42 wallet-sized photos.

• Well, that’s shite, I don’t know 42 people. I certainly don’t know 42 people who own a wallet. And I definitely don’t know 42 people who are weird enough to carry around a picture of someone else’s kid in their wallet.

• They’re great for passport photos.

• 42!? How many passports do you think he needs? He’s six, not f*ing Bond.

• OK, well Package Two is one of our bestsellers.

• What’s that?

• That’s 20 photos, all really awkward sizes, either too small to frame or too big to give to relatives without it being weird.

• Great. ..Package Three?

• That’s Package Two plus a snow-globe and a 6-foot canvas for your living room wall.

• Jesus, no.

• Look just give me the cheapest.. Package One.

• Certainly.

• Is that it? Can I pay now?

• Tea towel?

• What?

• Tea towel?

• Are you taking the piss? Why the bloody hell would I want a tea towel with a picture of my kid gurning on it? It’d be like drying the pots with the Turin Shroud. I’ll just take the..

• Cushion?

• No.

• Mug?

• No.

• 6 foot cardboard cut-out.

• NO.

• What about a hot air balloon? They’re twenty feet wide and we’ll tether it to your back fence.

• Wha..?

• They’re very popular.

• No.

• We can project your kid’s face on to the moon?

• Why would yo..?

• What about one of those big, blow-up, wavey -hands things you get outside car dealerships?

• NO.

• We’ll tattoo their face onto a pig?

• JESUS CHRIST!?, what is wrong with you people!? Look, just send me the shitty wallet package.

• No problem. Package One. That’ll be 45 quid please.

• What the bloody..!? Are you hand-painting each one!? I’m not paying that.

• Well, its memories isn’t it. And they are only young once, aren’t they? And you can’t get this time back and..

• ..Fine.

…and give me one of those f*ing tea towels as well.

Atleast credit the author - that’s not your joke

@Lazypuppy

My d's pre school you can buy 1 photo for like £8 or £9 or there are bigger bundles, which we do but everyone who wants a photo pays for it.

I'd definitely do that

@Vapeyvapevape hilarious 🤣🤣

It's not his first school one so don't buy it. No one will know

Surely this idea is a bit outdated now that everyone can take zillions of pics on their mobile.

You would think schools would actually be on the parents side and not put them in a difficult position.

@Florabella they're taking advantage because they KNOW we feel we should buy them I've got no problems with them making a profit but have a heart; I don't need 28 prints lol

If it's Tempest, scroll down to the bottom of the ordering webpage, there is a section marked extras, there is an option for 2 desk size and 8 wallet prints for £8ish and other similar 'extra' packages. You don't need to order a full package to buy the extras so I just order this package and get my son's photos for £8ish. If you need more you could order two packs

@Vapeyvapevape

Before becoming a parent, I thought School Photo Days were straightforward, a fella takes a picture of your kid at school, you buy a copy from them for a few quid. ..Nope.

• Hi there, we’ve taken a picture of your kid at school and wondered if you’d like one?

• Oh, ok, yeah I’ll take one.

• Well.. we don’t do single photos we do ‘packages’.

• Ok, what’s the most basic package?

• That would be Package One. It’s one normal-sized photo and 42 wallet-sized photos.

• Well, that’s shite, I don’t know 42 people. I certainly don’t know 42 people who own a wallet. And I definitely don’t know 42 people who are weird enough to carry around a picture of someone else’s kid in their wallet.

• They’re great for passport photos.

• 42!? How many passports do you think he needs? He’s six, not f*ing Bond.

• OK, well Package Two is one of our bestsellers.

• What’s that?

• That’s 20 photos, all really awkward sizes, either too small to frame or too big to give to relatives without it being weird.

• Great. ..Package Three?

• That’s Package Two plus a snow-globe and a 6-foot canvas for your living room wall.

• Jesus, no.

• Look just give me the cheapest.. Package One.

• Certainly.

• Is that it? Can I pay now?

• Tea towel?

• What?

• Tea towel?

• Are you taking the piss? Why the bloody hell would I want a tea towel with a picture of my kid gurning on it? It’d be like drying the pots with the Turin Shroud. I’ll just take the..

• Cushion?

• No.

• Mug?

• No.

• 6 foot cardboard cut-out.

• NO.

• What about a hot air balloon? They’re twenty feet wide and we’ll tether it to your back fence.

• Wha..?

• They’re very popular.

• No.

• We can project your kid’s face on to the moon?

• Why would yo..?

• What about one of those big, blow-up, wavey -hands things you get outside car dealerships?

• NO.

• We’ll tattoo their face onto a pig?

• JESUS CHRIST!?, what is wrong with you people!? Look, just send me the shitty wallet package.

• No problem. Package One. That’ll be 45 quid please.

• What the bloody..!? Are you hand-painting each one!? I’m not paying that.

• Well, its memories isn’t it. And they are only young once, aren’t they? And you can’t get this time back and..

• ..Fine.

…and give me one of those f*ing tea towels as well.

😂

@Vapeyvapevape virtually everyone on here who has had a child in school, in the last 25 years, is nodding furiously at your post, and then pissing themselves laughing! Sooooo accurate and relatable that it's actually scary!

@Vapeyvapevape

Before becoming a parent, I thought School Photo Days were straightforward, a fella takes a picture of your kid at school, you buy a copy from them for a few quid. ..Nope.

• Hi there, we’ve taken a picture of your kid at school and wondered if you’d like one?

• Oh, ok, yeah I’ll take one.

• Well.. we don’t do single photos we do ‘packages’.

• Ok, what’s the most basic package?

• That would be Package One. It’s one normal-sized photo and 42 wallet-sized photos.

• Well, that’s shite, I don’t know 42 people. I certainly don’t know 42 people who own a wallet. And I definitely don’t know 42 people who are weird enough to carry around a picture of someone else’s kid in their wallet.

• They’re great for passport photos.

• 42!? How many passports do you think he needs? He’s six, not f*ing Bond.

• OK, well Package Two is one of our bestsellers.

• What’s that?

• That’s 20 photos, all really awkward sizes, either too small to frame or too big to give to relatives without it being weird.

• Great. ..Package Three?

• That’s Package Two plus a snow-globe and a 6-foot canvas for your living room wall.

• Jesus, no.

• Look just give me the cheapest.. Package One.

• Certainly.

• Is that it? Can I pay now?

• Tea towel?

• What?

• Tea towel?

• Are you taking the piss? Why the bloody hell would I want a tea towel with a picture of my kid gurning on it? It’d be like drying the pots with the Turin Shroud. I’ll just take the..

• Cushion?

• No.

• Mug?

• No.

• 6 foot cardboard cut-out.

• NO.

• What about a hot air balloon? They’re twenty feet wide and we’ll tether it to your back fence.

• Wha..?

• They’re very popular.

• No.

• We can project your kid’s face on to the moon?

• Why would yo..?

• What about one of those big, blow-up, wavey -hands things you get outside car dealerships?

• NO.

• We’ll tattoo their face onto a pig?

• JESUS CHRIST!?, what is wrong with you people!? Look, just send me the shitty wallet package.

• No problem. Package One. That’ll be 45 quid please.

• What the bloody..!? Are you hand-painting each one!? I’m not paying that.

• Well, its memories isn’t it. And they are only young once, aren’t they? And you can’t get this time back and..

• ..Fine.

…and give me one of those f*ing tea towels as well.

Sums it up nicely! 🤣

[quote Vapeyvapevape]@Carrotte I saw it on Facebook- so true though 🤣[/quote]
Yeah it is true - and funny, and who cares if it's not your intellectual property? (You never said it was anyway!)

Just to be clear it’s obviously not been written by me , I saw it on Facebook a couple of weeks ago , it was posted by someone called Man vs Baby

@Tania64

Don't buy the photos. Take one of him yourself with him seated wearing his uniform and send copies to relatives.

Why on earth have I never thought of doing this? I think you have just saved me a small fortune!

@Vapeyvapevape

Just to be clear it’s obviously not been written by me , I saw it on Facebook a couple of weeks ago , it was posted by someone called Man vs Baby

Well it's fab, and very funny! Thanks for sharing it Vapey!

@bluebellYellow

Yes, they are a rip off, we never bought them except the final year form photo as a memento for them. TBH I hate school uniform so other than a first day photo didn't want school pictures anyway.

@Cait73

Small person in question is my grandson I've had custody of him since he was 9 months old, I feel pressurised into buying them to send copies to parents and other Nanna but none of them contribute financially

My Mum is of the "sod them" attitude but I can't help this sense of duty and I'm angry because I feel taken advantage of (by the photography company)

That's your issues, deal with it and don't buy them!

@Vapeyvapevape 😂 😂 😂

[quote Cait73]**@Florabella* they're taking advantage because they KNOW we feel we should* buy them I've got no problems with them making a profit but have a heart; I don't need 28 prints lol [/quote]
That's not taking advantage though. That's your issue that you feel guilty. I'd be very surprised if the smallest package has 28 photos. There's usually ones with either 2 or 4 pictures.

The photographer that does DD's primary school photos lets you buy a single photo if that's all you want, I can't remember how much it was now, £12 maybe? They also let you buy the photo on a memory stick for £25 and print off however many you want. We went with a package that was three 5x7's, two slightly smaller ones and 3 wallet sized ones for £22, it worked out as one big one for us, one for each set of grandparents, the slightly smaller ones are being sent up to great grandparents and I'll give my brother one of the wallet sized one in a little frame or something.

They did have some ridiculous packages with snow globes and canvases. No tea towels though. I'd have got a tea towel

They’ve always been a rip off 🤷‍♀️

£27 is ridiculous, I’ve just bought my older sons school photos they were £7.50. Why is school using such and expensive photographer.

My dd has just had photos taken at nursery. Not sure yet what they will charge but expecting it to be ridiculous and nursery probably profiting from it too, or maybe im just cynical..

Our kids must be a similar age. DD has just had her first school photo. Born the week before Christmas.

I ordered a digital print which was £18.50. Still a complete rip off but I got my own prints done on the FreePrints app. I doubt I'll order any in the future though, it seems like a really outdated concept.

I normally buy the sibling photo as it's two kids for the price of one, and they tend to relax more and get a better picture.
But they didn't this year coz Covid (which naturally can only be spread in school and not when they're brawling together at home.) So I did not pay 2x £17 for a pair of digital downloads.

Yes, professional phorography has its costs, but school (or nursery) photos is a pretty easy gig compared to things like sports photography taking action stills in the outdoors with the lighting and elements. That tends to be cheaper too.

@Tania64

Don't buy the photos. Take one of him yourself with him seated wearing his uniform and send copies to relatives.

This.

School photos hark from an era where ordinary people didn’t have cameras or ones or good quality and so having a photo taken was something special to treasure. Now practically everyone carries a high spec camera around everywhere they go in their phone and can take thousands of photos, much more naturally and nicely posed than the school photographer (especially for a 3yo).