How cheap can they be...

[Michael_Lambert]

Family that is.

So as many know we have a 7 week old daughter and i have been plastering her shots on here :D

Well a couple of weeks ago one of my wife’s uncles asked if we could print him off a couple of shots of Abby to show around work and stuff... which is fine with me i told him to jump on my facebook and let me know which ones he wanted. So he ends up picking out like 30 shots which really was not an issue so i dropped them off and had them printed and we seen him a couple of days later so i gave him the envelope with the pictures in it with the invoice for what i paid i mean it was only like $8 but still.

So now 2 weeks later we have seen him a dozen times and nothing has been said he see's the Halloween pictures i did yesterday so he sends me an email last night asking if he could get prints of the Halloween shots. So i replied to him to let me know which ones he wants. He sends me a list of almost 50 shots i have taken over the last 6 weeks... I mean WTF!

So i spoke to my wife about it and she mentioned that allot of her family have been asking for the shots so we decided last night that they are only snap shots i am not interested in making money off them if anything i want people to see them as i have had a few people book me to shoot there kids for Halloween and stuff from the shots i posted of my daughter so its worked out.

So we agreed i put together a CD with all the shots we care to share on it set to be printed at 4x6 and we are giving one copy of each cd to each family cost me 20 cents compared to whatever the cost of printing is.

Well i replied to this one uncle and told him that liz and i will have a CD ready in the next couple of days that will have all the shots we have taken of her and that we will drop a copy off to them this week.

His reply..

"Hi Mike,

Thanks for the offer of the CD however really don't go to all the trouble for us i don't want to put you guys out i know you really dont have alot of time on your hands these days.
If you could just let me know when the prints are done we will drop by and see abby and pick them up from you."

I mean... HELLO!!! WTF!!!!!

This guy is soo bloody cheap, no he does not want the CD cause he wants me to pay the printing cost!!!

So i replied to him and told him that the CD was no trouble for me however if a CD was inconvient for him he could go to my zenfilio account and there he can order any pictures he wants at any size he wants at the touch of a button.

his reply

"Michael,

I could not help but notice on the site link you gave me that the prints where going to cost me $2.50 each. I just wanted to let you know that i can get them printed at Costco’s for like 19 cents each."

And... After a few more WTF's..

my reply to him.

“Excellent, you will have your CD tomorrow... While you are at Costco’s i could really use a club pack of Doritos!

Best regards,
Michael "

Am I wrong in thinking that part of the family i married into is CHEAP.. While I like to be professional and we don’t like to give our work away for free.. Something like this I don’t see an issue doing.. But people understand she has 14 aunts and uncles all of which want pictures.... I would go broke printing the images for these people.. Now that i think about it i have never been repaid for any prints i have done for family :D

[robbyh]

The doritos was a nice touch.. But yea he is just being cheap and or lazy about not wanting to do the printing himself.
What I do when family wants the pics I have taken (for free) is just upload them to wallgreens or something by their house, then when the prints are ready they can pick them up and pay for them there.

[ngray77]

The doritos was a nice touch.. But yea he is just being cheap and or lazy about not wanting to do the printing himself.
What I do when family wants the pics I have taken (for free) is just upload them to wallgreens or something by their house, then when the prints are ready they can pick them up and pay for them there.

+1. Local family gets whatever they want out of the 'grab pile'. Out of towners can pick up and pay at their nearest walgreens... We upload and order for them.

With that said, if I get a funny look from family about paying, I just pick up the tab... But I've never ordered 50 pix for one family member. I'd order him a dozen pictures only, and leave it at that.

[elysium]

Glad you stood your ground. At family events, I am always the one with my camera.

I have a cousin getting married and now my aunt has told me the dates they want me there WITH my camera (with no money) - So I plan to leave it at home.

I say family and business should be kept separate if you can help it.

[Michael_Lambert]

Well i typically pick up the tab as well. And My wife and I have for years now infact this same uncle my wife was adding it up we have paid for almost $100 worth of 8x10's for his son who plays soccer this year alone.

The walgreens does not work.. large Portuguese family and we all live with in a 5 min drive of each other.

Liz has already told many of her aunts and uncles about the CD and they love the idea... Many of them have there own printers they will print on and 99% of our family live at costcos so dropping off the CD and getting 2-3 copies made is nothing for them. Its just this one uncle..

By the way its the same uncle who gave us a wedding card with NOTHING in it (big no no from what i am told at a portuguese wedding) .. Forgot the bridal shower gift at home and has conveniently never brought it up and hassled our wedding photographer to do some family shots of his family.. while at our wedding.. I seen this cause our proofs contained about 20 different shots of his family.

And then stiffed my wife on that bill and getting prints from the wedding studio i am sure was not cheap at all..

[Michael_Lambert]

I say family and business should be kept separate if you can help it.

I agree, and the same as you i never take my camera to a family thing and if i do i know going into it i am going to be asked to take photos of people and what photos i do take are going to end up in other peoples hands with out payment.. and i am good with that cause i do have the option to accidently leave the camera at home :D

[Duff]

Thank god for Zenfolio.

I put all my pictures there, set the price at "Cost Only" and let family have the link. My work is done.

[ngray77]

Also, it helps that I have business cards for our family with our email addresses and the private link to our family gallery. No CD's, I post full-rez pictures of all family events there. For the geeky set, they can download and upload themself. And it's frequently updated.

[Michael_Lambert]

**edited out**

I just can't win... went back and forth about 6 times with the guy and i just can't win.. lol My final email to him suggested he call one of his sisters and have him add his order to hers as she will be going to get hers printed and she has done it in the past and knows how to pick and choose what pictures she wants and which ones she does not want.. lol

That and I know his sisters will demand the cash upfront :D

[racketman]

give him his prints.....

[Li_Photo]

^^^+1 what's a couple of dollars in prints for family?!

[Michael_Lambert]

read the whole thread! Where does it stop.. and its been much more than a couple of dollars.

[Li_Photo]

read the whole thread! Where does it stop.. and its been much more than a couple of dollars.

I did read the whole thread. Yes, he is asking a lot but not enough to get ugly for with family. The CD idea was great but since he's still insisting on prints, I say give it to him. He obviously cares for your family since he's asking for pics of your baby. Family is much more important to than to fight over a few dollars (whatever the amount) in prints.

[tonybear007]

You were very patient in the way you handled it. I still would have asked for the past due balance...

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[DDCSD]

I did read the whole thread. Yes, he is asking a lot but not enough to get ugly for with family. The CD idea was great but since he's still insisting on prints, I say give it to him. He obviously cares for your family since he's asking for pics of your baby. Family is much more important to than to fight over a few dollars (whatever the amount) in prints.

:rolleyes:

Yeah, give him prints and then demand to borrow his car for a week. Hey, you're family right?

I would agree if it were a couple of prints every once in a while, but come on. As Michael already said, he's given him $100 worth of 8x10's this year on top of everything else he has done.

It's not rude to refuse to be taken advantage of by a family member. It is rude for that family member to demand tangible things that have a monetary cost and a time investment. Why should Michael spend his time running around town and spending his money doing to make an ungrateful and manipulative relative happy?

Good idea on the CD's, I'm sure everyone else was thrilled.

[S.Horton]

My in-laws are similar in a way -- They value certain types of work, anything I happen to do is not one of them.

I think given a situation like this I'd print on my HP home printer, hand them the paper, done.

;}

[Michael_Lambert]

Oh yea the rest of the family loved the idea of the CD.. we just got back from Vegas.. going to work on processing some of my shots tomorrow and my wife has said that they loved the pictures and loved the idea of having them all on CD.

She did say that her uncle called her mom to get the prints which she did print them all for him and then he stiffed her on the bill.. lol she was not happy.

[Viffer06]

I usually direct families and friends to my smugmug account. I also give them instructions on how to download the original size and if they choose to get a print, order it through there.

Like yourself I've also experienced your Uncle type situation, so one on more that one occasion, I purposely delayed posting the pictures and informed eeryone that I'm tied up at work and really can't find the time. Get the picture;).

After that, the only inquiries I get is when I'm going to post it so they can download a copy.