Venture Photography

stretchquaker

Hi - Hope this is in the right place.

Had a photo session last week at Venture and are going in shortly for the viewings. I am prepared for the temptation and hard sell that might come with it, but wondered if any Moneysavers out there had any tips with any discounts / advice / successful bits of negotiating?

Are the prices non - negotiable or is there any room for haggling?

Cheers, Stretch.

Baileys_Babe

We found them to be very hard sell. Still managed to walk away without spending any money.

Sorry not much use.

missscarlet

I managed too to get out the door with just the freebie but the salesman/photographer said they are not commision based so he was fine- we tried to ask for discounts and stuff but they said they were standard prices and were non negotiable as "their products were the best" and no one could match them- basically they have what you want sitting there on the screen and they know if you don't want to lose the images you will pay.

The best tip I have is that we were already given a free 10 x 8 photo as I had held a Truly Madly Baby party and that comes free with that, so then we thought of what the smallest photo we could get of the other photo we liked- it was the same size (10 x 8) and was £125. We realised that we could put that money towards our own digital SLR camera and have done instead and we now have some fantastic photos that I think are just as good but lots of them due to a nice camera.

Really, what I'm trying to say is put it in real terms not just the way they sell it to you (if that makes any sense)

Good luck- they are lovely photos and my 10 x 8 is in pride of place- makes me smile that it was free too!

missscarlet

Oh and don't be afraid to ask them to go out of the room whilst you think about it!

jazzyali

Hi

We got a Venture voucher for a gift a few years ago and got sucked into spending an absoloute bomb...they are good, but you can't quite prepare yourself for how much they charge. A number of friends have managed to get away with just getting the free 10x8. Guess I learned the hard way!

Good Luck

GreenNinja

Hi, I didn't use Venture, but a similar company called The Portrait Company.

There was no hard sell, but the pictures were so stunning I sold some shares to get the pic I wanted.

I had them done while I was going through my divorce as my dog had been given only weeks to live and I wanted a momento of him. In the end I bought the big **** off picture for 800 quid and don't regret a penny of it. I now have stunning pictures of the 2 of us, which is hung on the wall of my new house.

In the event my dog was given 2weeks to 2 months to live in May 2007 and is still going strong. (fingers and toes crossed here).

Some memories you can't put a price on. :A

Ohh forgot to say... I did hum and haa a lot over it and got 2 10x8 pics for "free" included in the price.

goingtothedogs

Hiya - I used to work at Venture, calling people up to tell them they'd been 'selected' to have a free session (lucky them! They were selected on the amount of income they'd written down on their competition entry form).

My advice is just hold your nerve and take the smallest photo (you could get it blown up?).

Plus, a word of warning! When customers were left alone in the room to discuss, the salespeople would leave the cctv on and watch them talking in the room upstairs. They’d then use the information to encourage them to buy.

I'm not sure if they do this at all Ventures, but I was truly shocked and felt like I was on some kind of undercover dodgy dealers documentary!

Needless to say I only worked there a month…

Freetime30

venture portraits are rip off merchants, in my opinion. we had some pics done 3 years ago, and when we went in for the viewing we got the real hard sell. there's no room for haggling, they make you feel really comfortable in their "lounge" and we were TOLD that we could order the album for £650 using their special deal with Black Horse finance, which was interest free and pay nothing for 3 months. STUPIDLY, we agreed and bought it, and the battle commenced.
When the album came it was HORRIBLE. The photographs were very poor quality, they were very very light and made my son look ill. the album was generally poor quality and we complained and told them we were not prepared to pay for them until they were changed. as we had signed an agreement with BHF, we still had to pay of course. Turned out the deal with BHF was actually NOT interest free for the duration, it was interest free from signing up until you confirmed receipt of the photographs, which as you don't begin to pay until 30 days after you recieve the photos it's a very cunning plan.
To cut a long story short, it took us 18 months of arguing and hassle to get the contract cancelled and the photographs returned.

If you take a word of advice from me, DON'T let them use the emotional blackmail. they do it so well. The photo's will be viewed by cinescreen and will look stunning. Pick the ONE FREE ONE, Don't let them fool you into anything else.
I am more than happy to give you more details if required, just pm me!

mafmaf

We have had 2 Venture sessions (at different locations) and have always been very happy with the way they have presented the images and have not had the hard sell (maybe we were lucky!). Just remember your budget and stick to it. They do charge a bomb for the framing and presentation though so if you are really tempted to purchase some of the images buy them in the cheap black 'gallery' frame 10X8 and then get them remounted.

balsingh

We had a photo session today with Venture not knowing how ridiculously high the prices would be afterwards.

Does anyone know if the prices are negotiable at all?

MrBacrylicman

We were in the local GAP store a couple weeks back, and the Venture Studio Vultures were sweeping all the families with kids up for the classic 20 quid portrait before the big hit later for hundreds or thousands (and all the props had big GAP signs on them - nice! NOT).
Stand and watch the operation for 10 minutes, you can see it all coming. It is vital to know up front, what the cost is and in my experience that is the last thing they want you to know at the start. If you knew, you'd walk out straight away.
Me and my partner have got in to producing original paintings, (yes, real brushes and so on), reaslistic price and the product which is a zillion time more personal and of course, it is an original.
We tell you upfront a 80x80 cm sq original with two heads (mother and son for example) will cost 375 or 600 or 2000. We know people have budgets but we still want to produce excellence, most canvas for simpler projects we are doing for 300 at the moment and people love it. The painting will be in the family for 100's of years very probably, so it is real value. Avoid the production line photography and hidden pricings.
The Venture way is a few bubbles, a cuddly toy, a burst of impresive camera flash and hey ho little Johnnie is a star - for 10 seconds until the next kid is shoved in front of the lens.
On google search marina skaya art if you are interested in an honest and brilliant alternative.
Call us if you want a chat about it and how its achieved.
Good luck.