We use a photographer from the community as we do not have a staff
photographer.  He automatically tacks on a 200% addition to our orders when
the image needs to be turned around the same day.  So we are simply passing
the fees on to the person who waited until the last second to order
something he/she desperately needs. These people (TV studios, magazines,
publishers usually) can usually afford the fees.

If you cannot rush the procedure to obtain the image, there should be no
extra charge since no rush is possible.  However, if the "rush" means you
set aside your other work to do it, then a rush fee seems appropriate,
perhaps at a lower fee than if you are covering additional expenses caused
by the rush.  A standard additional fee (per item?) seems like a good rule
of thumb if you are giving extra service, or paying extra for the speed.
However, since our lowest cost reproduction is $13 for a 4 x 5 print for
which we already have a negative, the triple rush fee works out to $39, much
less than that standard $100 fee.  This does allow the purchaser some
flexibility in figuring out what he/she needs and can afford to pay for.

Rush fees are not applied all that often.  The photographer is not very
busy, and usually gets our orders back to us within three days without the
rush fee.  The rush fee simply serves as a guarantee that I will have the
order sent out within 24 hours of receiving it.  For us that works out to
about 3-day service since it includes mailing time.  We always warn people
that we cannot guarantee less than a 2-week turn around.  I leave it up to
the purchasers whether they can wait four or five extra days.  They are
usually very happy when the order is sent within a week.  If it takes the
photographer longer (e.g., when he is out of town taking the American Dairy
Association prize cow pictures), they cannot say they were not warned.

Of course, if I have a readily available way to fill the order quickly, such
as an already-digitized photograph they want to receive by e-mail, I will
not charge extra for the quick service, simply because I don't really need
to do much work.  The rules we have keep me from being overly affected by
sad tales that sometimes accompany the rush requests.

Now on to today's rush order for 12 scanned images.....

Erin Foley
Archivist
Circus World Museum Library
550 Water Street
Baraboo, WI  53913

[log in to unmask]
608-356-8342, ext. 3283
fax 608-355-7959

----- Original Message -----
From: Ziva Haller Rubenstein <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 3:30 AM
Subject: Re: appropriate rush fees


Hi Erin and others,
Wow! We had a double or triple policy at first but received a number of
groans in response. Clients don't always understand that in order to service
their order asap you have to put some other orders aside.
We now tack on a $100 rush order fee and that goes over without notice.

A couple of questions for you and the list:
- What are your limits or definitions within which an order is considered
'rush'? Is it only 24 hours? What about a three day treatment, for example?
- What do you do if/when you do not have the photographic material readily
available to supply (either you have to dupe some slides or transparencies
or order a print from the lab)? (And I guess this is related to my first
question) If takes at least 3-5 days to receive the material from the lab,
do you still consider it a 'rush' order and charge 'em?

Thanks for your time and consideration. Looking forward to reading the
responses...

Best wishes,
Ziva

Ziva Haller Rubenstein
Rights & Reproductions Coordinator, Art
Dept Image Resources & Copyright Management
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

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