Grade-school photos are about the biggest scam perpetrated against middle America.

[Orrex]

$40 for a single 8x10? Really? On shit-stock paper?

Back in the day, school photographers actually took photos on film that required actual time in the darkroom, and the pics were printed on heavy photographic paper. Today, for about five times the cost, they spend a fraction of the time working with the image in Photoshop before printing it on something just a shade thicker than toilet paper. And why does a green background cost more than a gray background? Hmm?

What, exactly, are we paying for?

[Fleshdancer]

1. I agree

It gets crazier: last year my daughter's school had two picture days! One for fall and one for spring. :wtf:

[Orrex]

2. Our school district does that as well.

There's an implicit (and none too subtle) "you're a bad parent" message if you don't step right up to buy these criminally overpriced keepsakes.

[Fleshdancer]

7. and wtf am I going to do with 24 wallet sized pictures anyway?

the packages they offer are ridiculous. I did get suckered into the photo mouse pad one year though and gave it to my husband as a xmas gift. Then I realized I could have had one made using a much better picture for less at Walgreens. Live and learn.

[Brickbat]

3. Wow -- our prices are a lot less than that.

[Orrex]

4. They offer several photo-packages, but...

To get the 8x10, you have to pay $40. That's $31 for the pics and $9 for "retouching."

[Brickbat]

5. That's horrid. I think an 8x10 for is is like $10. And I've always been pleased with the results.

[jmowreader]

8. Easy way to save $9

Retouch your kid before you send him to school, and you won't have to pay them to do it.

[carlyhippy]

6. My son's junior year of high school, the schools brought in photographers

who had different backgrounds and unique layouts for the pictures in the package. I wish they had done this years earlier, when my kids were small. They almost look like senior photos. They too were not cheap in price, but better than those horrid gray or blue background pics that we had as kids in school.