drugstores -- putting the screws to film users

ampguy

ampguy

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well, for the 2nd time in a month I've run into a chain drug store that prices developing + cd-rom for more than other stores in the same chain --

first was a walgreens that didn't do just developing + cd, same price as with prints because there was no bar-code sku to scan.

today it was a longs, who finally price-matched, but wanted to charge $6.99 instead of $3.99. I called them up in the morning, and they said their 1 hr photo person would be in later, and I asked if they were the same prices as other longs, which they replied yes to.

When I went in, and filled out the envelopes, they said it would be $6.99 for developing, and photocd. I told them I always go to a Longs, several times a week about 10 miles away and get the same for $3.99. They called that store and verified, and matched, but said they would only do it this one time, since their price structure was $6.99.

Is it time to start mailing off my film for processing, and cd for < $4 or $5? I don't need prints, only about 1 or 2 shots out of a roll do I really want a print out of. I also don't want to get a scanner at this time. I do have a couple of nice inkjets, but I'm sure I'm paying more than photo store prices for a high quality inkjet print with good ink and paper.
 
ampguy said:
first was a walgreens that didn't do just developing + cd, same price as with prints because there was no bar-code sku to scan.
Click to expand...

I do most of my processing at Walgreens, and most of the time I have a develop and CD only.

Both I and a co-worker have been told at times that they do not do it, but my personal conversation with a manager and my friend's conversation with their corporate office both say the same thing. Develop-only with a CD is a service that they, Walgreens, offer at all stores that have the machines to do it.

It's not obvious to the untrained worker. They have to specify zero sets of prints on their terminal. Then they have to add a CD to the order. If anybody says they can't do this, ask to speak to a manager. This is a service they offer.

You'll pay $2 and change for the developing, and $3 and change for the CD, for a total of $5 and change. I'll sometimes add the $0.79 contact sheet.

I'll search for the relevant threads, but I did have an employee refuse, saying they could not do it, until I asked for a manager who immediately agreed that yes, they do it, but they don't do it that often, so many employees just don't know how to do it.
 
I don't frequent Walgreens, but the time I did they ran DO/CD with no second glance and hardly any button pushing. The receipt said something like "negative only." It was around $5 or so, less than York/Clark charges for develop, scan and prints in the mail. Some frames had very flat contrast compared to adjacent shots in identical light. I consider myself guilty until proven innocent for those, but it's something I'll pay attention to next time.
 
My local Walgreens does develop only for $2.99 and rings it up as "Negatives only." Last time I went, it only took 15 minutes, just enough time for me to get some shopping done.
 
Thanks, read the old threads. I will stick to the DO-CD places I know, and not push my luck with stores that don't know how to ring up a DO-CD sale.

Unlike some comments in the other threads, I've never run into a store that didn't know how to develop and make a CD without prints, only pricing issues.

On high res scans, ~50% say they just don't know how to do this on their minilab, other than the default ~1 Mb .jpg sizes, and the rest say the machine can't do it.

Online developers who do .tif and large .jpg are well into the pro lab prices (~> $10 / roll) so I'll stick with my $4 Longs source for now.

I am interested in finding online or b&m print processors who take .tif files and print enlargements at low prices.
 
To teach them how to do HIRES scans go to the website for their brand of printing machine, download the manual, and print the relevant page(s) and show it to them.

Worked for me.
 
jcee said:
My local Walgreens does develop only for $2.99 and rings it up as "Negatives only." Last time I went, it only took 15 minutes, just enough time for me to get some shopping done.
Click to expand...

Funny I wrote this not long ago, and I had an unpleasant experience at the same Walgreens today.

I asked for 'develop only' as usual, but when I went back to pick up he had made prints. He said 'the machine automatically prints them,' and I said, 'but I always just got negatives only for $2.99.' Then he did something with the register to only charge me $2.99, and pulled out the negatives from the envelope and handed them to me, leaving my prints on his counter! I didn't really expect to keep the prints, but... just the idea of my [crappy nonetheless] photos [including MY photo] in some stranger's hands really bugs me. 😡 I should've ripped them apart with my own hands! I guess from now on all my C41s will go to a pro lab.
 
For my latest roll of develop only-scan I went to a local independent lab. It's not a pro lab, but is dedicated to photos. Even though I've been able to get develop/scan only at all the drugstore labs around here, at $6.99 it's not a tremendous bargain, and none of them give me TIFFs. So this labe charged me $10 for high res TIFFs, and it worked out well. Here is a sample:

197590813_9430f4461c.jpg
 
I think I have finally found something cheaper in the UK than the US.

Costco here do develop only for £1.16 ($2.19) and scanning for another 89p ($1.51) = $3.70.

I don't get scans as I do them at home.

I was irked yesterday in Jessops when an old lady came in with here camera for film as was charged £3.99 for their own brand film and told it would cost £7.99 next-day to have it developed - way to kill film for sure.
 
Last edited:
I think I'm going back to Walgreens for my negs+cds. I've been going to a local pro lab to have my slides & b/w stuff developed, so I figured I might as well leave them a roll of negs, and even though it's pretty expensive, have them do the scanning too. Well, I picked up the stuff today, and not only am I looking at probably a $15/roll charge (gonna have to get it straighted out next time I'm in), but the scans are LESS THAN A MB EACH. ie: the same or worse that I get from Walgreens.

Now, if I can just figure out how to get my local Walgreens drone to scan in highres mode, I'd be set.
 
A local CVS used to develop only at a good price. Now they say they only do sometimes for students, because they lose money. Right!

Well partially true. I don't go there any more.
 
oftheherd said:
A local CVS used to develop only at a good price. Now they say they only do sometimes for students, because they lose money. Right!

Well partially true. I don't go there any more.
Click to expand...

Crap, I've only ever used CVS...I'm the "cd only" guy there...write it on the sky in gossamer teardrops...cd only...
 
>>I find the 'evil' Walmart fast, cheap, honest, and efficient. The more "Mom and Pop" places arethe ones I've had problems with.<<

With some regrets, I've had to give up on the mom-and-pop stores in my neighborhood. I can't keep up with their prices, and the scans have been very mixed in quality.

Walmart develops and scans to CD at about 2 megapixels with decent quality for $4.60 plus tax. They even print tiny thumbnails of the images onto the outside of the CD, which makes it easy to quickly find the right CD.
 
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