Costco Photo Center is no longer, some prices increase 243%

Costco removed their in-house photo machines a few years ago, and now they are moving their online operations to Shutterfly.

I like printing just a few pictures at a time

One of the things I loved about Costco Photo was being able to print just a few pictures, so I am curious how my past orders would compare now.

I love that I have a camera with me at all times, but having my pictures locked up behind a screen means I don't see them as much. So, I tend to print out 10-ish pictures every couple months.

I also print posters for my office and have printed headshots for customers, so I grabbed a few actual orders and made a comparison.

Costco Pricing (Jan 2023)

Shutterfly Pricing (Jan 2023)

Aside: This is not a easy chart to read. I think at the "10 print, economy shipping" level each single print ("Inc Price") costs 9 cents to ship, plus a base fee of $1.88, but clearly this chart is meant to make you go think about something else.

Comparison

Analysis

For my typical use case, this is now 243% more than before.

I wonder who at Shutterfly came up with "we can advertise a lower price per print, we will just add a per-print shipping fee!"  The unit prices (after the discount) are generally comparable, but then the additional shipping kicks in.