Do you tell...

[Minxes]

As a phototgrapher do you tell your customers where you get your pictures printed? (you dont have a printer yet!)

And or if they ask what would you tell them.


Minxes

[SusanH1970]

I've had a few ask and I just say I get them printed at a lab that caters to professionals.

[autofocus]

No, we use up to 4 pro lab sources, and the customer is not on a need to know basis

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Seriously guys? Your print lab is top secret information?

Hopefully the people inquiring are smart enough to use Google when they run up against your stone wall

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by Gulf Coast Girl

Seriously guys? Your print lab is top secret information?

Hopefully the people inquiring are smart enough to use Google when they run up against your stone wall

Clients don't need to know what prices I pay.

Google will get them a list of tons of pro labs. They won't know which ones I use.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Gulf Coast Girl

Seriously guys? Your print lab is top secret information?

Hopefully the people inquiring are smart enough to use Google when they run up against your stone wall

For starters, they don't need to see published prices which are sometimes available, and quite honestly, they have no reason to know. It's not a stone wall as you're suggesting. When you go to Sears to buy a new dishwasher, do you need to know their vendor distribution channel, and what their cost is?
And what exactly can they Google that's connected to the lab you use? Put in photo labs in Google and you'll probably get a jillion hits

[autofocus]

Wow Susan, once again it looks like we're on the same page

[Gulf Coast Girl]

Originally Posted by autofocus

For starters, they don't need to see published prices which are sometimes available, and quite honestly, they have no reason to know. It's not a stone wall as you're suggesting. When you go to Sears to buy a new dishwasher, do you need to know their vendor distribution channel, and what their cost is?
And what exactly can they Google that's connected to the lab you use? Put in photo labs in Google and you'll probably get a jillion hits

OK, whatever. When I googled for labs I may have got a jillion hits but it didn't take much to check out a few of them and the prices weren't all that different among them so people should be able to figure out a ballpark figure of what you are paying if they have any brains at all.


I wouldn't compare a dishwasher to a photo print but when I shop for appliances I do shop around to compare prices.


Anyhow, no big deal, I get it now, that information is top secret. Tell your customers to just go to Walmart and print their crappy home snapshots there

[Biomech]

so people should be able to figure out a ballpark figure of what you are paying if they have any brains at all.

Does that matter? If a client refuses to pay X amount because I get them for Y, then they aren't worth dealing with. I used to work in an A/V shop, and people would declare how much cheaper we bought things for at trade and demand they pay the same price. These idiots soon left, went to the shops that did break and sell at trade because "a sale is better than no sale" - they are all out of business now.

[autofocus]

I wouldn't compare a dishwasher to a photo print but when I shop for appliances I do shop around to compare prices.

We're not talking shopping for resales, we're talking about costs, and my example is still valid

Anyhow, no big deal, I get it now, that information is top secret. Tell your customers to just go to Walmart and print their crappy home snapshots there

It's not top secret, it's just none of their business. If you want to tell your customers if and when you open your photography business, by all means, you can do so. And how, and where our customers go to get their home photos printed is also their business. In fact, I hope it is Walmart...it's a good way for them to see the quality difference you'll get from a pro lab. And lastly, the OP asked what those of us in the business do when it comes to this question. I'm sure we answered the question the same way that most professional photographers would have.