FAQ - Setting Custom Prices Using Catalogs
Back to the Studio/Photographer FAQ List
Open AllClose All
Open AllClose All
- Can I control the pricing for my clients?
- Yes. PWD offers highly-customizable catalogs which allow studios to select which products their clients can purchase and how much they are charged. Additionally, you can set product discounts based on a date range or on the number of items purchased. Sell your images for as much or as little as you want.
- I don't want my customers to buy certain products. Can I limit what they can purchase?
- Yes. You may create a catalog which offers only the products you want your customers to be able to purchase. When editing a catalog, simply uncheck the products or product groups you don't want to sell. Be sure to save after making any changes, and be sure your catalog is associated with your event(s).
- What is a catalog?
- A PWD catalog is a highly customizable tool that allows you to choose which products your clients can purchase and how much they are charged. As a PWD studio, you may create as many catalogs as you like or simply use the supplied default catalog. Each event will have a catalog associated with it, and it is the products and prices chosen in that catalog which determines what clients can purchase and how much they will pay when ordering products for that event.
- Can you give me a guided tour of creating and editing catalogs?
- For studios wishing to customize their client pricing and product selection, you have many options. We recommend walking through the following process to become acquainted with catalogs and how they work:
- From the menu, go to the Catalog List.
- New users should see only the default catalog listed on this page.
- We will now add a new catalog to play with.
- Click Add to create a new catalog.
- Choose a Catalog Template from the drop-down.
- You can create a new catalog based either on an existing catalog or on the PWD default.
- If you ever need to start over with a fresh catalog, create a new one based on the "PWD Default" template.
- The next page is the Catalog Edit page, and it is here where you will edit your catalog options and pricing. Begin by giving your new catalog a name and short description.
- Scroll down the page to briefly see what types of products are available.
- Any items with checkmarks next to them will be available to your clients once that catalog is associated with an event.
- If you don't want to offer a particular product, simply uncheck it.
- Each product line has a text box for you to modify the price. You may individually change any product price to any value.
- Change a price now to see what happens.
- When you edit a price and click outside the price box, the Profit fields will update to show you what you'd make (or lose) on the product.
- Each product line also allows you to enter a product discount based on the quantity purchased.
- For example, if you want clients to receive a 25% discount when they purchase twenty or more of that product, enter "20" into the "Quantity..." box and "25" into the "Discount Percent" box.
- You may also offer a dollar discount instead of a percent discount.
- Click the Printing Options button at the top of a prints product group.
- The options that appear are the printing options available for that product group. Depending on the product group, they may include Border, Color, and Paper Finish.
- As with products, you may add or remove printing options and set your own pricing.
- Now scroll back up to the top of the page and look at the "Set Product Pricing" section.
- This is a time-saving tool which allows you to change prices for all products or for a group of products.
- Simply choose which products you want affected, then enter a markup value.
- You may markup prices based on a percentage of the studio cost or set your desired profit margin.
- Enter a value, then click Apply Pricing to see the new prices.
- Play around with this feature if you like, then click Save at the bottom of the page.
- You must always save after making any changes.
- You are now brought to the Catalog Details page which summarizes your catalog settings.
- Here, you may also change the order in which products are displayed by using the up- and down-arrows next to each product.
- Finally, click Back to List to return to the Catalog List.
- If you ever wish to edit an exisiting catalog, choose it from the Catalog List and then click Edit on the Catalog Details page.
Once you have your catalog(s) setup to your liking, don't forget to assign them to your events. - Do I have to use catalogs?
- No. If you are not concerned about setting the pricing and product selection for you clients, you may choose to avoid working with catalogs altogether. The default catalog will automatically be associated with any events you create, and your clients will be charged studio pricing for the products.
- I've created a catalog. How do I assign it to an event?
- During the event creation process, you will be given the chance to choose any of your catalogs for that event.
To change the catalog of an existing event, go to the Event Details page from the Events menu and edit the Event Information section. Here you may choose any of your catalogs from the Product Catalog drop-down menu. Be sure to click Save before leaving the page. - How do I know which catalog is associated with a certain event?
- With the event in question selected, choose Event Details from the Events menu. The catalog associated with this event will be listed in the Event Information section. You may also change the catalog for this event by editing this section.
- If I edit a catalog, will the events associated with that catalog automatically start using the new changes?
- Yes. Any changes made to a catalog are automatically and instantly put into effect for all events associated with that catalog. This makes it quick and easy to update pricing for your events.
- Will my clients ever know how much I've marked up the event pricing?
- No, not unless you tell them. All they see is the pricing you set, and we do not post our studio pricing anywhere on the PWD site.
- What happens if I set the pricing below the studio cost? Can I give away free products?
- This is an option some studios may wish to exercise. Setting your pricing below the studio cost will result in your clients paying the amount you set, but the difference will be billed to your studio account. This is also true when a product discount is set such that the user is paying less than the studio's cost, so pay attention when setting prices and discounts.
- I know I can use catalogs to set a discount based on quanitity purchased, but can I also set a more general discount or sale period?
- Yes. You can use the Event Discount page to setup a catalog-wide discount which is offered during a time-span of your choosing. Please see the Event Discounts section of the FAQ for more information.