Coronavirus - Lab Closures FAQ

What to do when your lab closes due to COVID-19

The rules and mandates surrounding Coronavirus continue to evolve, which has and may continue to result in some of our partner labs temporarily closing their doors. What does this mean for you as a photographer? Below we have outlined some frequently asked questions and steps to take if you find your lab has closed due to COVID-19. 

What do I do to secure new customer orders for open jobs?

If you currently have open jobs set up with a lab that’s now closed, it’s important to move these to a new, open lab on the GotPhoto platform. Here’s how to do that:

1. Activate a new lab in your GotPhoto account
   One Time Settings - Labs & Products 
2. Create a price profile for the new lab
   One Time Settings - Price Profiles
3. Switch the price profile in any open jobs to the new price profile you created
   Photo Job - Main Settings
   Tip: This is a good time to also check your shipping settings for any job - either bulk and/or drop shipping. Some of our customers would prefer to switch from bulk shipping to drop shipping, as distributing bulk orders may be difficult at this time. See below for moving bulk orders to drop shipping after they have already been sent to the lab.

What do I do if orders have already been submitted to a closed lab?

If you already have placed orders with a lab that’s now closed, these orders need to be manually re-entered in GotPhoto and sent to the new lab. Follow the steps above to assign the job to a new lab, then refer to Order Entry: Inputting Offline Orders for step-by-step instructions to manually enter the orders.

If you’re not sure which orders are affected, please contact us at support@gotphoto.com or 646-362-5100 for help.

What should I tell my customers?

We recommend that you reach out to your customers immediately to let them know the situation and that their orders will be delayed. You can easily do this through the GotPhoto platform:

1. Go to Customers > Newsletters
2. Select the blue button on the right - Write Newsletter
3. Build your newsletter
   Tip: When selecting recipients, go to Add / Edit to manually select or choose recipients by Photo Job. You can also choose whether the newsletter goes to all customers, customers with photos available, or customers with no photos available yet.
4. Save and preview newsletter
5. Send
   

Is there anything else I should consider?

With so much uncertainty around lab closures, it may make sense to move a job(s) to all digital downloads, as they run completely independent of labs. Digital downloads are product options that are added when creating a price profile - One Time Settings - Price Profiles.

Related: My schools are now closed. How do I move existing bulk shipping orders to drop shipping?

With school closures making it difficult to distribute bulk orders, some of our customers have inquired about how to move bulk shipping orders to individual drop shipping orders once orders have already been placed. Here are your options:

1. Contact the lab. If the order has been sent to the lab, contact the lab to let them know you don’t want it processed as a bulk order. You can enquire with them if they are able to process it instead as individual drop shipping orders. Please note, this is at the discretion of the lab. Given not only the lab’s particular workflow but also the times we are in now, this may not be possible.
   
   
2. Manually re-enter the orders. If the order has not been sent to the lab or the lab is unable to accommodate your request, you will need to manually re-enter the orders in GotPhoto as direct (drop) shipping orders. 
• Go to Orders > Order Entry
• Select > Direct shipping orders

From here, refer to Order Entry: Inputting Offline Orders for step-by-step instructions to manually enter the orders