Another Groupon Photog, explain the economics of this one...

[BK553]

$25 for a One-Hour Photography Session and $20 Toward Prints from CS Photography
CS Photography Deal of the Day | Groupon St Louis

This might be the dumbest thing I've seen all year.

[dakwegmo]

I checked their website to see if maybe they were doing this as some sort of loss leader to hook some clients, and make some money from print sales, but nope.

$10 for a 5x7
$15 for an 8x10
$30 for a 16x20!!

[falafelicious]

A day or so ago there was a photographer offering one-hour sessions for $70 in my local Groupon and when I last looked there were about 100 people in on the deal. Call me skeptical, but I find it kind of hard to believe she's going to be able to schedule, shoot, proof, edit and print 100 sessions in a time frame that all those people are going to be happy with...

[mommywesley]

I thought Groupon, LivingSocial, etc sites like that gave them the option to put a limit on it? So couldn't they say only 25 available or something?

[Krusty79]

Does this mean no flash, even for the indoor shots?

CS Photography’s sharp-eyed shutterbug Cheri uses natural light to capture the sunny smiles and unique personalities of both individuals and families. The indoor or outdoor photo session accommodates groups of up to five people, making it ideal for portraits of families, newborns, and Jackson 5 cover bands.

[gturner]

I REALLY struggle to see the upside of groupon for a personal services business.
Restaurants, stock clearance sure, but selling time and product under cost makes no sense.

[Jim Bryant]

People who charge those prices are either stupid or hard up as hell to attract customers.
Their photography on the merit of quality should be worth more.

[BK553]

Even if this is supposed to be a loss-leader, $25 for an hour, - $20 worth of prints = $5 per hour BEFORE any expenses. So she loses a lot. I also don't think that it would work on a site like this, if people get the deal she loses money, if they don't get the deal they are no more likely (and maybe less likely) to use her services than they were before, because now they are facing full price (though it is very low). Just stupid.

[NicoleScraps]

I suppose that she is taking a gamble that people will buy more than their $20 worth of credited prints. Although, I can't imagine trying to juggle 63 bookings within a reasonable time frame. I think all in all, this has the potential to really screw her reputation.

[candleman]

..................................insanity

Oh well.. good luck.
Theres nothing like an Educatoin in the School of Hard Knocks I guess.