IS cheap what you should be seaching for?

Is a cheap photo booth hire worth the cost?

 

The reason for this blog is simple, we get messages every week from distraught clients asking for last minute availability because they’ve been let down or who have realised their booth isn’t what they expected.

When you hire a photo booth, of course you should shop around. We’d all love a limitless budget but not many of us are lucky enough to have one. There is nothing wrong with paying a fair price and our clients are frequently surprised by the value we offer. However, price shouldn’t be the overwhelming factor. Have a list of all of the features that you would like and, most importantly, check the quality of the pictures! 

Most photo booth companies will have a gallery you can see or offer to send you a link to one. You don’t get a second chance with traditional photography and photo booths are no different.

Another reason to beware of “too good to be true” prices is the reliability.

There are two common reasons people are let down

Reason 1:

There are some unscrupulous operators who fill all of their dates with cheap bookings BUT carry on quoting at a higher price; only to cancel each time they “upgrade” to a better priced booking. They’re effectively selling your date to the highest bidder while having a “fall back booking” (you).

Reason 2:

They go out of business. This is more common than you’d think. Photo booths aren’t cheap to do correctly and start up companies soon realise that their hobby job is not as profitable as they imagined. Photo booths are becoming more and more popular but there are booth businesses being sold everyday by disillusioned and bankrupt operators.

Warning signs to look out for

Costs

A cheap photo booth hire might not be the best value – Don’t go too low. If a company is significantly cheaper than all of the others ask yourself why when he could be charging a proper rate. The chances are his equipment is shoddy and/or he doesn’t know what his actual overheads are.

Groupon and wowcher type deals are a terrible idea

We were contacted by a discount company encouraging cheap photo booth hire (who shall remain nameless) they explained the pricing structure. They encourage you to offer at least a 50% discount – at this point we would be working at a loss – then they charge you 50% of what is left which leaves you with 25% of your original fee. Many companies can’t cope and although you will get a refund, that’s not much consolation on the day.

Misleading advertising

There are some great event photographers who offer a booth style photo shoot. This is fine, they can take some great shots – but it is not a photo booth. Unfortunately many advertise themselves as exactly that. We had a tearful call in January from a lady who thought she’d booked a booth when in fact she’d hired a guy with a camera and a box of props.

Another poor example I saw myself – An inflatable enclosure with a laptop on a wheeled office chair attached to a camera. Be wary of cheap photo booth hire – often they leave out the photo booth!

vintage 1 Photo Booth Hire

About Us

PicMe Booths has been supplying photo booth hires for events since 2012 and  has seen photo booths become more and more popular. If you’d like to ask us any questions please don’t hesitate to ask

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