How can "Venture" (photographers) justify their prices???

[emkana]

My neighbour is having a Venture party next month and was telling me all about it today. She has jusr paid £500 for one (!) photograph. ONE! Another friend of mine paid £700 (I think) with three little pictures in it. The pictures are good, but are they really good enough for that kind of money??? When dd1 was 5 months we went to have photos done and for £285 we got two frames with six photos in each, plus about 10 mounted normal sized photographs. And I thought that was a lot then. How come people are willing to pay so much - am I missing something here?

One of my friends works in marketing for them and they have to charge so much because they spend SO much on advertising. They are gorgeous photos but I still wouldn't pay that much.

I agree that I find them very exoensive and have so many other things I would rather soend my money on. They are lovely photos but have to say that now they are no longer as different as they sed to be - Venture seems to be everywhere now.

But I guess if people are willing to pay it, then they will obviously keep charging those prices.

They don't have to justify - they are way overpriced but lots of people pay (including us) so even if they only buy 1 or 2 (like us) it's very cost-effective! We bought 2, b & w, 8x10's (or 10x12's) one with the kids and one with all 6 of us, and it cost a bit over £200 (3 years ago). The photographer spent maybe half an hour with us, and the viewing took maybe another half hour. Still not a bad return and some people spend a lot more on their pictures.

wk - I don't think that is why they charge so much. they charge so much because a) they can b) people will pay it.

I used to do PR for them so I do know quite a bit about them

I've just re-read my post and i sound a bit uppity! not intended obviously

They are gorgeous but I wouldn't pay for them. I got a "free" sitting and "free" photo (really small - 5x7 I think) but they were really reluctant to tell me how much they would charge for any other photos. When I found out, I didn't go to the sitting - it's ridiculous!

kr - you didn;t sound uppity don't worry. I agree - people will charge whatever someone else will pay. I was just going on what my friend's said about their advertising costs, apparently they spend an obscene amount on telesales, leafleting, store appearances etc so they'd have to charge a bit extra even before they add on their huge profit margin!!

Considering that the man who comes to check the central heating would charge me 60 pounds just to tell me what model it is (reading the stupid label) maybe the hour spent with a qualified photographer and the full session you have to chose the photos is well worth £200. Long time ago it was really expensive to print big photos but now... I think they will do more money if they lowered the prices. I'm sure I would have spent more money in several photos if I had not been stop in my tracks by the price of a single one...

The first time we used them we thought they were fantastic and very creative, the second one it was a complete repetition of the first session, I don't think the photos are creative any more, and considering that they are always the same I feel a bit rip off now...

I guess that most photographers have to charge more than a few years ago- since scanners came into existence virtually everyone with a bit of nous can make their own prints once they've got the original. I would have thought that 10 years ago photographers made most of their money on multiple prints, but most people wouldn't bother now.

People do say (forget who exactly) that a thing is worth whatever someone will pay for it. I think Venture are a great big con operation myself but hey, if you want to spend your money there...

i bought a voucher for a photo with them for £25.00 and now i find its in w'ton and i cant get there. what a flipping waste! ive only got 6 weeks left to use it aswel. beautiful photos though i think.

well, i had my free sitting last week, and have a viewing this week. I have thr price list in front of me, they range from £155 to £2,250 in price. i was saying to dh, maybe we should paint a wall and floor white in one room and just take loads of pics.
My sister went to Click last week and their prices are similar.

A subject dear to my heart this. I think Venture are a terrible example of the worst kind of pyramid selling. My mum bought me a 'free' Venture sitting at christmas which entitled to me to one photograph. That photograph cost her thirty odd pounds so seemed like a good deal to her. Little did she know that I was about to be subjected to irritating salespeople trying to get me to part with nearly two hundred pounds per small digital photo which comes in the frame already in an attempt to justify the stupid prices.(Digital photography is hideously cheap)

So me and my dh and dd went along to the sitting. Which I thought was a joke. Because it's digital photography they are looking (secretly) at the images on a screen at the back throughout. Although they tell you that their assistant is changing the lenses back there. They then make a big show of you having to go back for the presentation so you can't just choose your one photo there and then. So me and mine traipsed back to a viewing which was a hard sell on all fronts. They put your photos up on a big cinema screen, give you a cappucino and then dare you not to buy any more. We were so angry at their stupid prices that we resisted taking any one but our 'free' one. They were then at great pains to point out that they keep our photos on file for two years. (Should our resolve weaken) But should you want these you need to book for another presentation (Costs thirty pounds) For f....s sake! These are digital photos - they could email them if they really wanted to. ( I know this wouldn't make good business sense it just annoys me how cloak and dagger they are about it)

They then tell you that the photo needs to be sent to their lab to be treated in the style you want. Sniggers all round again. Anyone with a basic knowledge of the photoshop programme on a computer could do what they do and IT COSTS VIRTUALLY NOTHING to do. (Sorry but this got me realy cross as you can tell)

And then - the cheek - they can't send you the photo because they can't resist one more opportunity to do the hard sell on you. So you have to go and collect it. All in all I made three hassly trips across London with my baby in tow for them. And all because they sell to well meaning grandmothers at these dubious parties and then come on like double glazing salesman when you get there. My advice to anyone thinking of having a Venture session is DON'T DO IT. Right. Thank god I got that off my chest at last!

I think the photos are gorgeous but hte prices are MAD!
My cousin has one black and whit pic of his daughter on a huge ball.£500.!!!!!!!!!!!!

My friend had a Venture party last month and i avoided it as, i'm crazy about pics and photography and know i'd end up spending a fortune.

I've got a Venture appointment booked next month - it was £25 including one photo (I think). I am shocked, completely shocked, at the price being mentioned here of additional photos. I think we'll treat the session as an interesting morning out and leave it at that.

If you've got that sort of money you could afford to buy a digital camera and a cheap pc, plus whatever toys or stuff you want to have in the pic and get them printed out at a printers (if you want bigger ones than you can get on the printer) and STILL save money!!!

Can't stand any form of marketing where people will phone me up and hassle me in my own home, be it double glazing, timeshares or photos. Entered a comp at Xmas for a free photo and had about one years worth of cold calling afterwards, not to be missed offer, only 10 days left, but as they don't want me to miss out they will extend just for me..... etc.

Annoyed me so much I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Instead we use our digital camera, photoshop and e-mail gorgeous photos free to our family every month.

Phew! Cheers!

what utter crap! I can't even begin to imagine why anyone would spend £500 on one photo - i can think of SO MANY better ways to spend 500 quid!

yeah, but....what you have to realise is.....they're really....erm

fair play, we're muppets with money to burn.

will steer clear of this thread now [insert suitably chastened emoticon]

wonder why they don't advertise on here?

For goodness sake get a grip. No one's forcing you to part with anything you dont want to. They're a business and they're out to make money and if people are too weak to stand up for themselves then who is at fault there. I too bought a voucher for £25 and had a thoroughly enjoyable experience with my two boys. They thought the whole thing was a hoot, totally relaxed, playing with the various toys, dancing to the music I'd brought in and all the while a very pleasant photographer was snapping away. When you buy the voucher you are told which studio it is for so I cant believe anyone can buy one then complain about having to trek miles to have it done. They took about 100 photos which were whittled down to 40 and 2 days later we returned for the showing. We took both boys although they dont recommend it as they are obviously a distraction, asked for the background music to be turned off and 20 minutes later chose one very nice 5 x 7 photo we got free with our voucher. I personally cant stand the completely unnatural fake smile school portrait style photos which dont capture any personality or quirkiness at all. Our 5 x 7 has now been enlarged and reframed for a fraction of what it would have cost had I paid Venture for a larger one. You do need to decide before you go in what your budget is and dont get lulled into buying more than you can afford.

Pin a huge white sheet to your living room wall and do it yourself With a digital camera you can take as many as you like to get that one perfect shot. I got a fab one (and 7 cr*p ones!)of DS2 last week against a red backgroud which I turned black and white. OK, with home-level equipment you won't be able to get the same clarity for a large print but most people would rather have several small prints anyway.

A local photographer has started doing venture-style pictures actually. In his studio he does them with the white background but he takes our playgroup photos in a local church and they are the same free styled ones but with the lovely church interior as the backdrop. £20 for 3 prints (10 x 8 and 2 at 5 x 7). Bargain!! Not sure what his studio prices are though.

I found the same hard-sell from the bog standard Portrait Place that you get in department stores. You were made to feel you were rejecting your child if you didn't buy the whole set of photos! Venture are not alone in this.

Soupdragon - good idea

Personally, I find Venture's prices outrageous!! I didn't know anything about Venture until my dh recently received a free voucher as a thank you for completing a car survey. The voucher was for one photo worth £165, but in the end I didn't take up on it because the nearest Venture is miles away and I couldn't stand the hassle from the sales people. Ds had a great photo taken earlier this year at nursery and the pack of various sizes only cost £20

Don't forget that scanning your expensive professional photograph or reprinting it other than via the photographer is of course in breech of the copyright. Not that we mumsnetters would do such a naughty and illegal thing.

I think I might go out and buy a huge white sheet later! Have to iron it properly to get rid of the creases though...

I think you're better off buying the evil Junior magazine and using one of the photographers in the back. They are pricey too but real professionals, and you should get some really original photos. A lot of venture photos look the same to me.