Does anyone have a time frame you give B&G's for them to have their print orders in by? The reason I ask is that I have a couple whose wedding was late june, and they got their proofs early august. NOW they want to order their prints and for me to do edits, crops, and even pick about 10% of their allotted prints!!! With the holidays coming they will probably want them by Christmas and that just isnt going to happen! I have tried to be in contact with them and they always take 1-2 weeks to get back to me so I am very frustrated right now!
So what are your time frames, if you have them? What are your delivery times for orders placed within that time frame? what are your delivery times for those orders placed outside that time?
We limit them (now) to six months after delivery of proofs. Our costs go up and we cannot be waiting around forever for the same amount of money. Originally did not and we got bit by it.
I'm working on some images for an August couple today, and had another from the same month send me an SMS saying money is tight at the moment and so they'll be ordering their album in January
Ryan Britton wrote:
We limit them (now) to six months after delivery of proofs. Our costs go up and we cannot be waiting around forever for the same amount of money. Originally did not and we got bit by it.
Why not just tell them that they pay whatever the costs are at the time they order. Encourages them to order quicker. If they don't then no money lost. Most importantly, it allows you to continue to earn income months or years after the wedding.
Tony Hoffer wrote:
Why not just tell them that they pay whatever the costs are at the time they order. Encourages them to order quicker. If they don't then no money lost. Most importantly, it allows you to continue to earn income months or years after the wedding.
That would become the case if it got to that point—it hasn't yet. So far this has worked to get them to order within a reasonable timeframe of the wedding. The contract clause that specifies this leaves it to our discretion to resolve it. If and when we do have to exercise that, my guess is we'll just charge the difference in pricing additional.
My clients pay for everything up front in their package. Oddly a LOT of my clients wait a while to order their prints. I typically dont mind but when it comes to me trying to get them to finish their order and then when they finally do they tell me or hint at the fact they want them right away!
In my 2009 contract I put a clause in there that I will only host the images for 2 months for free and if they need longer it will cost $25 a month. I am not doing this to make more $$ just to get my clients to take the time to order their prints in a timely fashion. Hopefully it will work.
I promise to hold the prices steady for a year after their wedding date (they prepay for everything in teh contract by the wedding day). A friend has a "$250 Archival Reteival Fee" if the order is not placed within one year.
I don't like holding the money for a long time - to the point they may never show up. I am considering the $250 deal in addition to what I have now.
This year they've been better getting back to me with orders. 11/24 I got the order from a may 24 wedding- 6 months to the day. It's the summer 07 brides (2 still outstanding) that I'm wondering about.
As to time frame, this girl i'm working hard to have her stuff to her by christmas (will be ready tuesday - cutting it close, I know). I generally tell them 3 to 4 weeks on prints, longer on albums. Hell, I have one bride that's been waiting 4 months on her album. I got busy and it's a one time deal with a company I don't normally deal with so I drug me feet. Badly. She's OK with it so far. (fingers crossed).
Iv'e got 2 more from last year still outstanding a couple more from earlier this year. And 3 in-house in the design phase.
I think part of it is I don't make a concerted effort to get on them about it. I plan to have a brochure that i send out following the wedding with a sales pitch for additional items as well as a list of what they're due and how it works, on their end, to order stuff. Perhaps my being more pro-active will get them moving (but perhaps it won't).
