Put your photos in the Photobox! (photobox.co.uk)

Member Name: lyndsey1989

Product:	photobox.co.uk
Date:	04/09/09 (89 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quick turnaround, quality of prints

Disadvantages: High prices for prints

I first came across photobox on Money Saving Expert where I learned you can get 40 free prints when you register. I print an awful lot of photos and therefore am always looking out for a bargain so I signed on yesterday to have a look.

**Homepage**
The homepage has a lot going on and primarilly shows offers that the website currently has. The 40 free prints offer is located to the right of the page and is easy to see. Down the left hand side there is a list of other options including prints, photobooks, calenders and diaries, wall decor, home gifts, fun stuff and gifts for kids. So there is obviously a lot of different things you can order from the website, meaning all your photo needs are in one place rather than needing to look about. The homepage is primarilly white and grey and looks very stylish and well designed. This is key for me when first logging onto a webpage because I believe it gives you a strong idea as to what their service and products will be like.

**Uploading**
Registering on the website was easy, all they required was a name and an email so it took only a couple of minutes, you didn't need to wait for a confirmation email which I thought was fab. I then proceeded onto uploading my photos, I had the option to name my album but I decided not to bother so photobox automatically called it 'My First Album'. There were a number of choices concerning how photos were uploaded, because my laptop can be rather slow at times I decided to use the photo by photo uploader. This provides you with 6 boxes (you can add more if you like) where for each you browse for the photo you wish to print. Once the boxes are full you simply click the upload button and they will proceed to upload. I found that per 6 photos this took around 5 minutes but I am certain this is due to my internet connection and anyone with a quick speed connection will probably have it done in seconds. Uploading 40 photos took me less than half an hour which I have to say is shorter in time than a number of websites I have used. This time included going through and picking out the photos which I actually wanted to print.

**Ordering**
When I had finished I simply clicked that I wanted to order the prints in my album. I then chose the size of the prints I wanted and the finish (eg. gloss or matt). I was then directed to a page where I needed to fill in a billing address and a delivery address. The page after this asked for payment details and then my order was placed. Placing my order took no longer than 5 minutes. I was told I would be sent a confirmation email, and later an email when my item had been dispatched. This was where I was really impressed with Photobox-I placed my order at 10.05am and at 11.20am I received an email telling me my order had been dispatched!

**The prints**
The prints arrived in the post the very next day, something I was very pleased with as delivery had only cost £1.49 (delivery price increases the more prints you order). The outer wrapping was a metaillic silver plastic which looked very stylish. When I opened the package I was pleased to see the photos were actually in a plastic box rather than the regular paper photo sleeves. This meant all my photos were protected well during transit and none of the edges were bent. The box is also much more stylish meaning if you dont put your photos in an album, they look much nicer. The prints themselves were of excellent quality. They had come out really well and my partner also commented on how clear they were an how happy he was with them. The colours were bright and all shades were spot on. They were printed on Fuji paper which was good quality and thick. They even had the name from the album on my computer printed on the back which I thought will be extremely helpful at a later date when we have forgotten where they were taken!

**Print Prices**
Standard print prices depend on how many you order and prices are as follows (for 6x4 prints):
1-149 10p each
150-299 8p each
300-499 7p each
500+ 5p each
These prices are quite high eg. from Tesco photo 150+ prints cost 5p each.

**Other Services**
Photobox also offer a number of other services including photobooks from £5.99, calendars (A4 size from £14.49), T-shirts from £7.99 and fridge magnets from £3.99. I imagine these items would be fantastic as gifts as I imagine the quality would be fantastic and there are a number of brilliant items on the website.

**My opinion**
I was really impressed by the service I received from Photobox. Although I originally only logged on in order to receive free prints I would certainly consider using their services again, especailly due to the quick turnaround. The website was easy to navigate and very easy to use, I also found that although I had to upload my photos the slow way it was actually rather quick and my order was done and dusted within half an hour. I really liked the way that they email you once your order has been dispatched and was extremely happy with how quickly they printed my order. I was also very happy with the way they packaged my prints due to the fact that none of them were damaged on arrival and all of them had clean, sharp edges. Although their prices are slightly higher than others around I would certainly use them again, especially for gifts or if I needed a large number of prints and needed them very quickly. I would also use this service if ordering prints for someone else due to the lovely presentation. Well recommended.

Summary: Fab service, will be using again