So, who DOESN'T buy school pics???

[luvmy3]

I buy the fall pictures every year. I could take them all to a photographer but I know I will never get to it and I'd end up spending way more than I intended to.
In our district if we have more than one child, you pay full price for the first child and half price for the others, even if they all go to different schools.
I do not ever buy the Spring pics, even though all the kids get the picture taken and a package sent home. I hate that they do it that way.

 

[mom2d&b]

I used to buy the school pics until last year. The kids elem school stopped allowing the students to wear street clothes on pic day. I refuse to buy a pic of my kids in their uniform shirts. Now I just take a pic in the fall at a setting of our choice. I download and print pics for my parents and DH's parents.

 

[es45]

Hate 'em and buy 'em every time.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

My school takes photos twice a year. The second is the worst. They take the pics send them home later then ask for the money. The packages are 57.00 (or 10.00 a sheet). The pics are all printed up and if you don't buy then they get destroyed (a waste if you ask me). If parents don't pay or send them back they will eventually send you to collections

 

[My2Pixies]

I haven't bought school pictures of my oldest dd for a couple of years now, mostly because they were way too expensive but also because for whatever reason her class always ends up taking pics in the afternoon after lunch and recess and her hair or outfit was messed up. I can run the girls across the street to Pennys and get much better quality pics of both of them for half of what I would spend on a school picture package of just dd1.

I do always purchase a class picture though. They are sold separately from the package.

 

[stm61]

HA! I am one of those who hate the photo packages. My school does say that they are fund raisers - so I buy the cheapest in the fall. I have also found that the spring packages- where they send home the pics prior to you paying for them and you purchase what you like-are much better than the fall pictures so this year I am planning on not getting anything in the fall and waiting until the spring packages. My dd#2 also gets soccer photos twice a year so it is definately overkill. If dh weren't the coach and we could just order a team pic on its own we would but we usually end up getting a cheap small pack to get the team pic to follow dh's coaching history as well as dd's soccer career-

This really made me laugh! One of my dd's played soccer this spring and the prices were just as outrageous as the school's were. I refused to buy anything, but she insisted on going anyway so she could be in the team picture, in case any of her friends bought it. What was so funny was that the coach didn't buy the pictures either! He got a cheaper price for the team picture since he's the coach, but he said he sticks his kid in the front yard with a soccer ball and takes his own pictures lol.

 

[okeydokey]

We buy the class pic at the end of the year and turn down the individual packages.

 

[PaulaSue]

I have 3 girls and the cheapest pax is 45. I have not bought pictures since we moved. Plus they sell 2 times a year.

 

[mom2t]

Ours are twice a year. The fall goes in the annual. They are not good. The
Spring is much better. My husband insists on buying both.

 

[disneybirds]

I usually just buy a small individual picture. I would like to do a frame that has all 12 years in it when they have graduated. It is amazing to see the changes from year to year.

 

[taymaesmom]

After many complaints from parents and staff on how expensive school pics had become and how bad the actual pictures were, not to mention the stress school staff had scheduling our fall pictures, our school district finally switched photography companies. This year I only paid $7.50 each for my kids school pics and they are actually decent sized packages too, and we take the pics on registration day and you can see the picture after its taken and have it retaken on the spot if its bad! So love our school board for this change!

They also cancelled spring pics and class pics. Luckily our PTO has decided to take their own class pics and give them as a end of the year gift to all the kids, so no charge to us.

 

[3princes+1princess]

I never buy them either.....it would be outrageous with 4 kids.

However, at my school there are two ways to save money with them. If you are a parent helper for the photos, your children get a free basic package.

And, in the spring (we have fall and spring pictures, the fall are boring and more for yearbooks, ids, etc and the springs have better background/poses) you can request that your kids get a picture together. They do NOT need to get them individually. Therefore you can buy one package and get all your kids in one photo!!

 

[MAD4EEYORE]

I haven't bought school pics since DD was in preschool. she is now 10. The school pics look dorky and doesn't turn out right.

I go to a local photographer and have a whole set of pics take for 20.00 plus all the proofs on a CD. I choose 3 or 4 backgrounds with a wardrobe change into another outfit. This year I bought some pics from our cruise. I also find a local park or some where with a pretty background and take them my self.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

I still purchase the school pics from Fall, class pics and spring casual pics (let my kids pic their fave pose of the 2 poses they take). I only get the smallest package, which is about $20 and I currently have 2 kiddos in school. My son plays soccer, but our league hasnt done soccer pics in over 3 years...boo!! I always get my DD dance pics each spring, but again, still a small package.

The school always sends home a Christmas ornament package with the Fall school pic...I have never purchased those.

 

[Miz Diz]

I don't buy them. The school makes you pre-buy and they are never any good.

 

[Sadie22]

My school pictures are some of the few we have of me growing up since my parents did not own a camera. I bought most of my sons' pictures. Years ago, school pictures were not fundraisers. With the budget cuts, now everything's a fundraiser.

 

[Styx Fan]

I don't think I have ever bought school pictures...maybe when DS14 was in pre-school...maybe.

Like everyone else says, they are just too dang expensive for what you get. And I hate that they are usually so poorly done. I would much rather save money and take both kids (DD is 7) and go to a studio where I can actually pick the pose and make sure they look good. I refuse to pay then be stuck with whatever they take. And this way I can get both kids together as well as separate.

This reminds me, time to start planning this years trip....the fall flies and I hate it when I wait until the Christmas pic rush starts. Best to do it before Halloween.

 

[indimom]

Well, I'm half-way there. Our schools take a fall and spring pix. The fall pix is just a headshot, the spring pix is a nice full-length photo with a choice of backdrops. I buy a small package from the spring photo, about $35 per child, which allows me to give 4X6s to the aunts, 5X7s to the grandparents, and keep an 8X10 for home.

 

[v.t.]

I buy the yearbook instead. As for sports photos, we take our own team picture and shots of the kids and get the team layout 8x10 at Sam's, so much cheaper.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I bought my DD's school pics last year and they were such a ripoff! The pics were really good, though, so I wanted to buy them. I spent like $100 on just a few pics