Finisherpix discounts?

Originally posted by jmk-brooklyn I've never known them to discount their pictures. Do people really spend that much money on their race photos? I don't get it. I've been saying for years that they should tack $5 onto every person's race entry fee and then give you a "free" finisher photo as part of the entry fee. That's more or less what Rev3 has been doing for a while. I can't imagine that the race photographers wouldn't make more money getting a few dollars from every participant than they would hoping that enough people buy their expensive photo packages.

Originally posted by msteiner

I pay for race photos, and I think it's lame when people post proofs as race photos and/or profile pics.  I imagine one reason they're so expensive is that they consider people posting the proofs instead of buying the photos.

Originally posted by jmk-brooklyn



Well it's kind of a vicious circle, isn't it? If they made it more reasonable to buy a picture, fewer people would feel compelled to post the copywrited proofs. I would love to have a professional finisher photo, but not one that costs 40% of the cost of the race itself. It would be a fairly easy thing, I think, to charge everyone an extra $5 to enter the race and, as part of the race swag, you get a discount code that gives you one free photo. Figure 1500 peopel in a race, and that's $7,500 in revenue. I guess they'd have to split that with the RD in some way, but there's no way they wouldn't come out ahead.

Originally posted by mdg2003 That's a good idea and I imagine most people would be on board. However, if someone who didn't want a photo got wind of the up charge, you're going to get complaints. I'd be a little ticked if my pre-paid photo came out bad or out of focus. Not enough for me to complain and want a refund, but you darned well know somebody would! That would be a logistical snafu that most RD's would prefer to avoid.

Originally posted by Hot Runner I'll admit to being one of those "lame" people who posts a finisherpix shot in my profile. But.....I actually did try to order the shot in question, repeatedly, from both here and the US, as a present for my parents. (Most of my race pics absolutely suck. This is one of the few in 35 years of sports that doesn't.) The site wouldn't take my credit card, and attempts to contact them by phone were (expensively) futile. Most of their others have been very poor quality. I sometimes save them (one can doctor with photoshop to make them look a bit better) and show them for fun to students and friends, and keep on my computer for the memories. I wouldn't post that shot if I had other decent ones. I don't. i do have plenty of shots looking like I'm going to puke, and quite possibly one of me doing so. Found it really nice how the last race I did handled photos. They just posted them on a Flickr page and you could find yourself and get the photos for free. Probably only works for a small race, though. And unfortunately no shots of me running. It just doesn't seem right for my avatar to be on a bike. To answer the OP's question, they do sometimes have specials. I recall one around Halloween last year, and one at the end of the year. I think your previous shots are kept around for 6 months to a year, so you can go back to find them.

Originally posted by mdg2003



That's a good idea and I imagine most people would be on board. However, if someone who didn't want a photo got wind of the up charge, you're going to get complaints. I'd be a little ticked if my pre-paid photo came out bad or out of focus. Not enough for me to complain and want a refund, but you darned well know somebody would! That would be a logistical snafu that most RD's would prefer to avoid.