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CVS Review

Tuesday, October 8th

2024 Photo Book Company Reviews

CVS Review 3 Star Rating

CVS

3 Star Rating
  • Pricing from $7.99 to $69.99
  • 75 themes available
  • Free same-day pickup
  • Interfaces easily with social media

CVS drugstores are everywhere, which makes them great places to pick up your photo prints that you upload on their website. In fact, you have the great option to build your photo book online at CVS and pick it up the same day at no extra cost. However, the shipping times are a bit long and with fewer total designs than other companies in this review, CVS doesn't stand out as a top service for photo books. But, as a local or last-minute pick up, CVS could be a good place to check out.

75 themes available

The available designs at CVS include 283 backgrounds to choose from. Additionally, CVS has 75 pre-designed photo book themes that already included backgrounds and graphics throughout the book, making it easy to add images and print the book. CVS Photo provides seven book sizes, including popular ones like 8.5 x 11, 11 x 14, and 8 x 8. They offer various cover styles such as hardbound, softbound, lay-flat, and window covers. However, this service does not offer dust covers, fabric covers, or leather covers, so users interested in those options may need to explore other providers of photo books.

Connected with socials

There appears to be a decent amount of creative freedom for designing a photo book with CVS. Customers can adjust the layouts and resize their photos to their liking. The editing process is simple and user-friendly, offering an autofill feature and the option to share albums with others online. On top of that, the CVS platform makes it simple to add images to books or get more pictures from friends and family, as you can import photos from various sources, including Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, and Google Photos.

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6 styles to choose from

The pricing at CVS depends on the cover style you choose for your photo book. The options range from hard and soft covers to books that are completely customizable. Further, you can also choose whether you want a traditional binding on a photo book or a "layflat” style, to keep your pages from arching. The pricing range includes:

  • Custom Softcover: $7.99
  • Hardcover: $16.99
  • Custom Hardcover: $19.99
  • Custom Cover Layflat: $39.99
  • Layflat: $44.99
  • Premium Layflat: $69.99

The cost range is reasonable but does get a little pricey as you get into the layflat styles. So, it may be important to keep that in mind as you browse.

Free same-day pickup

In the case of CVS, the processing and shipping of photo books is noted to be pretty slow by customers. To speed up delivery, users can upgrade to express shipping, but this will cost much more than the standard option. However, it's important to note that CVS takes three to five days for processing before shipping. For those in need of a faster delivery, express shipping or in-store pickup are available choices. Plus, same-day pickup is completely free, and you don't have to worry about the shipping costs at all.

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Low-rated and "F” score

In terms of reputation, CVS isn't really hitting the mark. The page for CVS on the Better Business Bureau shows that the company has a very disappointing "F” rating. On top of that, the verified customer reviews for CVS aren't stellar. With only 3 stars from Sitjabber and a measly 1-star rating from another third-party review site, it's clear that customers aren't thrilled with the CVS experience. It is important to note, however, that most of the reviews for CVS are related to other services (like shopping or pharmacy) and aren't directly related to their photos and photo books. But, with a low reputation overall, it might be better to check out a different spot to get your photo book.

Average photo service overall

While there are some fun perks like being able to load your photos directly from Instagram or Flickr and free same-day pickup, there are a few red flags for CVS as well. The company has some pretty low ratings both from the BBB and from customers who've left plenty of verified reviews. With lots of companies out there that have more reliable customer service plus more themes and templates for unique photo books, the styles, and themes at CVS start to look a little average. For this reason, CVS doesn't jump out at us as a top service, but it's a fair option for anyone who needs a photo book same-day in a pinch.

Where is the Best Place to Get Photo Books Out There Today?

Photo books are a fantastic way to keep our special memories in a tangible, beautiful format instead of just storing pictures on computers or in boxes. They are perfect for different occasions, like giving them as anniversary gifts, thoughtful birthday presents, or even creating yearly projects to decorate coffee tables, making it easy to look back on good times.

For example, weddings and engagements have become extra special with the rise of personalized photo books. Couples use their wedding or engagement photos to create these books, allowing guests to sign and leave heartfelt messages during the wedding reception. This makes photo books an important part of people's lives as they become a way to treasure precious moments, experiences, and important events.

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Photo Book Company FAQ

Photo Books are available year-round, ranging in celebration type, shapes and sizes. Photobooks can be used for any life event, keeping the memory within wedding albums, yearbooks, travel adventures, and more. A lot of companies allow the customer to pick a style and size to best fit for the occasion. When it comes to the type of cover, many companies have softcover, image-wrap hardcover, debossed hardcover, flush mount, or deluxe hardcover, to name a few.
Depending on the size, and type, the number of photos can range from 50 to 800 per photo book. On average a typical photobook has about 20 pages that are customizable. Each page can contain several photos and if you run out of pages, most companies will add a page for an additional cost.
Photo books range in value of $15.99 to $39.99 depending on the company, size, material, style, and number of pages. Some companies offer discounts upon first purchase and include monthly free promos. Cover styles can include softcover, hardcover, and leather. Paper type options can range from the base type of semi-gloss finish to premium matte lay flat.
Photo books come in all shapes and sizes. Standard photo books normally start at 8.5-inch x 8.5-inch and can get larger or smaller. The maximum size available is 12-inch x 12-inch. The minimum size offered is 5.5-inch x 4-inch. Some companies do offer layout size options as well.
Delivery can take anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks depending on the what you order. Bulk deliveries may take longer than the normal to receive. Shipping costs vary on the specific service and size of the package.
Most companies have you start out with picking either a theme/style of photobook, whether it is modern, simple, birthday, wedding, you name it they will have it. Then you select the size of the photobook and the type of cover and paper within. Finally, the fun begins, insert photos. For some people it may be easier to have the photos already downloaded on your device before you upload them to the photobook
Customization can differ per company. Customization can include size, style, type, format, color, font, quality, page style, and number of pages. Some companies offer bulk bundles of photo books (like yearbooks for schools).
Depending on the company, if you are not satisfied with your purchase you can return your product with a full refund. Most companies offer a customer satisfaction guarantee and excellent customer service options. Make sure to check the site has a customer satisfaction guarantee before purchasing.
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Continued from above...

In the past, making a photo book was a lot of work. It involved printing loads of photos, getting binders, stickers, fancy paper, and special tools for adding cool borders. Hours were spent carefully gluing the pages together and writing descriptions for each picture. Although some people enjoyed this scrapbooking process, it took a lot of time and resulted in big, bulky books that took up a lot of space.

Thankfully, in today's digital age, photo books are easier to make than ever. Many people opt to create photo books online due to their convenience and endless creative possibilities. With just a few clicks, you can capture family vacations, document special events, or preserve moments with loved ones. The ability to create photo books online has led to a significant rise in the number of people who now choose to immortalize their cherished moments in these beautifully designed keepsakes.

What's really fantastic about online photo books is how flexible and customizable they are. They can be super simple with just photos laid out neatly, or they can be like fancy scrapbooks with fun borders, stickers, and our own text. For example, if you're making a photo book about your beach vacation, some websites even offer special themes that let you add seashell stickers, "sandy" texture pages, and frames with palm trees to match the beachy pictures.

That's pretty awesome, right? So, no matter what style you like or what you want to remember, creating a photo book gives you the freedom to be as creative and personal as you want.

If you're looking for a fresh new way to collect your photographs, or you just have some memories that need to be shared, don't worry. There are so many places to get photo books these days that it can be overwhelming. Fortunately, we've done the research to help you find the photo service that caters to your unique needs and crafts a photo book made just for you.

To help you get started we've put together some tips to point you in the right direction:

  • Cost: Compare the photo book cost with other competitors. Check if you pay per page or for the entire book, regardless of its size. You may also want to see if there are extra costs for delivery, or if that's included in the price of the photo book.
  • Customization: Depending on what you need your photo book for, you may want to look for various size options and choose between softcover and hardcover books. Ensure there are ample choices for fonts, colors, borders, stickers, themes, and photo arrangements.
  • Features: To make sure that you have the best experience creating your photo book, you may want to prioritize user-friendly websites that offer easy navigation and straightforward tools for creating your photo book. Avoid platforms that may cause confusion and frustration during the creation process.
  • Customer feedback: Ultimately, customers like you are some of the best people to check in with when making your decision. They, like you, have a clear idea of their preferences and have made photo books with these companies before. So make sure you check out customer feedback and BBB ratings to ensure that photo service is the one that meets customers' needs.

To help you find the best spot to get a photo book today, Top Consumer Reviews has assessed and ranked different photo services to put together a beautiful collection of your favorite memories. Whether you're seeking a wedding photo book or something to track memories for your little ones, there are options out there for everything (even the DIYers who want to be more hands-on). We hope this takes out the stress of photo book creation and helps you get back to organizing the memories most important to you!

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