Photo Orders, what to do?

I'd consider giving them WEB images, but I'd never give them a CD of all the images & I'd print on the CD a "NOT FOR PRINTING" notice.
If you sell a Cd of images to a non-pro who will make green, underexposed, crappy prints at the corner drugstore, not only will you lose the sales of those prints, but those will be your green crappy prints that will be shown to their friends & your potential future clients?

PhotosGuy wrote in post #6625993
If you sell a Cd of images to a non-pro who will make green, underexposed, crappy prints at the corner drugstore,

Every print i've ever had made, at a variety of small labs, have all come out fine. This argument is no longer valid. Even printing at home it's hard to stuff it up.

NB: I use a pro lab for my work. I have used lots of random labs though.

My avergage order has lowered with the suffering economy...my idea was to add digital files for larger orders. My average order is back up ...cost me nothing but two minutes to email a file. To each his own but you have to be creative AND understanding of your clients. I also offer the digital file on all prints 16x20 and larger. Has helped those sales go from almost nothing to acceptable.

And I agree about the labs, even the "cheap" ones are doing a good job now

Try this: Take the same 4X6" file to different places & see what your results are.
And if/when you find one place you like, also try the same place a few hours later on the same day.
Use your own print or one of these test prints: PDI_Target_AdobeRGB.jp​g test files at the bottom of...
http://www.gballard.ne​t/psd/srgbforwww.html

minimalfear wrote in post #6612249
I resent having to scan the photo into a digital format for sharing with the masses !

There are many who feel your pain, including bank robbers who resent having to use a gun to steal money. Jeesh, if the bank would only electronically deposit it into their bank account.

You shouldn't be scanning then sharing with the masses.

I have a board of those examples for potential clients... ...yes to me there is a big difference... but on 8x10 and smaller MOST clients dont see a major difference. Especially considering the price difference .19 vs $5.00

I make a living from this, but unless your in the high end market I feel you have to be willing to comete in this saturated market. Offering digital files is one of the main reasons I landed my biggest client and 25% of my profit ...

I sell digital format pictures all the time to my Equine Customers. You sell them a low res print so the highest they can print off on their own is an 8 x 10. They also can buy lower red dig files for myspace and e-mail. It works. My customers love it.