Why I am boycotting school photos
After posting about this on Facebook it seems as though I’m not the only one – please support me if you agree with this, numbers speak volume and we need to make a stand…
Just a quick note before I start, this is not a swipe at schools as I support them 100%.
I hated getting my photo taken at school, it was always such a bad photo and I remember my mam and dad would always buy it and put it in pride of place on the fire place – I’m sure they done this to keep my younger brothers and sister away from the gas fire!
Now I have children of my own I can suddenly see why they wanted to buy the school photos, it is lovely seeing how smart and happy your children are at school and since my eldest has been in nursery I have been buying the school photos even though they were a bit pricey.
The only time I didn’t buy the school photos was when I had been made redundant because I simply couldn’t afford to and it made me feel like such an awful parent and I still regret it to this day.
However I now have 3 children and the photographs seem to be getting more and more expensive.
My youngest two children have recently had their school photos taken and I received them a few days ago. They were nice photos but they weren’t fantastic, we have had better private shots done if I’m honest.
Not only that, I nearly had a heart attack when I seen the prices. The photo bundle packs start at £21 and that is for very small photos – great if you want 4 key ring sized photos and a a photo a little larger, not the kind of bundle you could share out for Christmas to proud grandparents (those will set you back around £30!).
Because the photos are taken individually and then with siblings together and you can’t mix and match any of the bundles you need to pay for separate bundles (I would need 3) – that is going to set me back at least £63!
I could do so much with £63, it could get me a weekly shop, it could pay off a chunk of Christmas, it could get the kids a couple of outfits each, it could pay towards my winter gas bill… £63 is a hell of a lot of money!
Not only that but the photos need to be ordered and paid for by the 22nd November – the average pay day in the UK is 28th and if you’re late ordering/paying for them then you get an additional charge of £3 which would then take my order up to £66. It’s easy for people to say ”Well just keep some money back to pay for them” – November is probably my most expensive month due to birthdays and Christmas.
I hear from so many struggling parents every day who are trying to make ends meet, there is no way some of them could afford £63 for school photos.
I understand that the photographer needs to charge for his work, he spend his time taking the photos, editing them, doing his thing etc but £63 is crazy!
Reducing their prices would mean more orders surely because parents might be able to afford them? This would result in more money in the long run.
So I am boycotting school photos from now on until they price them fairly and make them affordable to all.
I have been doing Christmas photoshoots of my children with Max Spielmann for a couple of year and they are fantastic value for money. I spoke to one of their store managers yesterday about school photo quality and prices and she said I’m not alone in thinking this, she often has parents coming in with their children in their uniform and doing their own school photos for a fraction of the cost.
A photo shot and photo bundle at Max Spielmann starts from £5.99 and goes up to £75 – the quality is spot on and the prices, well they speak for themselves. Or even contact a local photographer who may be able to do a photoshoot and beat the prices from the school photos?
I am calling on parents to join me in my boycott, the more people who boycott means the schools will have to sit up and listen and start using a photographer that isn’t going to cost us an arm and a leg!
Please let me know over on my Facebook page, Ashleigh Money Saver, if you want to support this – we need to make ourselves heard.
I haven’t bought my kids school photos for the last six years simply because I can take a better photo myself or like you say take them to max spiel for a lot less money, besides the fact my kids hate their picture taken they’re made to put on these false wooden stick poses and then you end up paying a small fortune for one big print, then you can only buy the add on smaller ideal gift size photos when buying a package first. I understand that photographers have to make a living but half of them get printing deals themselves. It’s also the fact like you say you get the proofs one day and are expected to meet the payment deadline a few days later or you get charged even more by ordering them from their website and having a delivery cost on top. I’ve boycotted them for years and I will continue to do so until I actually like the pictures they take or can afford them, this time of year is expensive enough what with extra treats at school for the children like parties, pantos etc without having to shell out for photos.
I don’t buy them anymore, too expensive, and not the way I would like my daughter photographed. Also these photographers that come to your home and do shoots, they are so overpriced! I don’t use them either.
Max Spielman is the best value ever.
Schools ask for far too much these days and the photos are a ridiculous price.
The photographers are making a fortune.
I agree with all of this but alas all my children are grown up now, I had the same problem when mine were at school but the family ones weren’t available then, just the siblings attending the same school so with five children it was impossible to purchase these. But I have a friend that has five children and buys them because she can’t bear the thought of them being destroyed so I wonder how many parents think the same. But the price is unrealistic..how much is cost price for paper, packaging, photographers time and admin…..not as much as the 1000’s of photographs make!