I went to a shop on Xinyi rd the other day to get a passport photo taken and was shocked that they wanted $400 NT. Is this normal? I’ve done searching on here and see people feeling ripped off at $70, although that was many years ago.
I’ve always paid about that much at shops all over Taipei. But they give you something like 10-20 pictures, so you can keep using it for a while.
Well, the people who felt ripped off there quite apparently had never been in business themselves - we can file that thread under “idle talk”…
NT$400 doesn’t sound unreasonable at all to me (assuming you got good quality pictures there).
And at the shop i’ve used i got a CD with the data files on top of that. Like, only signs of aging can stop me from using the pictures for years to come. 
In Germany, two years ago, a set of - very nicely done - pictures cost me the equivalent of NT$2500. And the photographer put the picture data on my USB stick, as well.
Now, i could have used a do-it-yourself machine for much less than what i paid then, but i wasn’t after mug shots.
On pricing, I don’t recall, but make sure you’ve got the photo rules clear with your consular office. The different governments have different rules about size and stamps on the back and so on. You may find a cheap place, get nice photos, wait in line at the consulate for hours, and then discover you need to get a different set of photos.
Passport photos / headshots are an absolute scam in Taiwan, at most shops. I keep my headshots in a regular photo sized .jpg file, so I can go print them when necessary. To date, probably at least 3 out of 4 print shops I’ve tried will simply refuse to let me print my headshots out for the price of any other photograph. I’ve stopped arguing, and now I just walk down the street and find another who’ll let me do it. Some will charge $300 NT to print out the headshots myself (a normal photo is around $10 NT). Some simply refuse to do it at all.
Of course, getting your photo taken is a bit different as they usually do a bit of Photoshop magic to get rid of pimples and stray hairs. You could tell them you don’t want it Photoshopped and see if they’ll reduce the price? But I’d say $3-400 is normal.
There we go again! 
So what qualifies you to insult shop owners like that, may i ask?
Hi timmyc,
I was wondering if you could post the direction of the little shop you went to?! Thx.
Also, would you recommend the shop to shoot business portraits, like the pics on linkedin/resume? I need that kind of pics and don’t know where to go! Thx for any help!
[quote=“BenjiUsi”]Hi timmyc,
I was wondering if you could post the direction of the little shop you went to?! Thx.
Also, would you recommend the shop to shoot business portraits, like the pics on linkedin/resume? I need that kind of pics and don’t know where to go! Thx for any help![/quote]
The one I went to on Xinyi for $400 NT is
台北市信義路4段254號
or
No. 254, Section 4, Xinyi Rd, Daan District
Taipei City, 106
google.com.tw/maps/place/No … 2af8885713
It’s right outside the Xinyi MRT, on the south side of Xinyi.
The receipt says there’s another location here:
台北市興隆路3段43號
or
No. 43, Section 3, Xinglong Rd, Wenshan District
Taipei City, 116
google.com.tw/maps/place/No … d8d56b3790
Also I want to thank everyone here for replying! The prices seem ridiculous since I expect Taiwan to be cheaper than the US for service related things, but I guess this is one of the exceptions.
20 years ago in Belgium a Polaroid or Kodak, ID photo size (actually 4 images, because it’s a special camera 4in1) was 200-250 NT$ … it’s like sit down, take picture, wait 3 minutes, put in cardboard frame (pass-partout) … done.
Recently with the digitized IC ID cards and passports every city hall administration has their own digital camera set-up (officially, government issued), fingerprinting machine direct to computer. Now they are more like mug shots.
Most Belgian embassies worldwide have them too now, even in Taipei.
There we go again!
So what qualifies you to insult shop owners like that, may i ask?[/quote]
Well for one, you left out an important qualifier. I said most. Specifically because there are some shops that haven’t been an issue.
Here’s a list of shops that I know will not let you print out headshots or will charge you an exorbitant amount of money for them:
- Guangfu Rd., Hsinchu across from NTHU, 2 or 3 shops
- Jiangong Rd., Kaohsiung across from KUAS, probably half a dozen shops
- Taipei across from NTNU (Shida Rd. & surrounding area), at least 3 or 4 shops
So that’s at least 10 or so shops that won’t print headshots, all across the island. Another handful of shops and some proper data recording and I could practically publish an answer to your question in a scientific journal, so yeah, feel free to ask.
There we go again!
So what qualifies you to insult shop owners like that, may i ask?[/quote]
Well for one, you left out an important qualifier. I said most. Specifically because there are some shops that haven’t been an issue.[/quote]
So what? You wrote
But even if you had written
my question would be “what qualifies you to insult shop owners like that?”
Don’t go to them then - they are not obliged to print out your files.
And your point is? Let me guess:
perhaps you wanted to tell us that business that choose not to offer a service you are looking for and businesses that choose to offer that service at a price you don’t like, then they are scammers.
Did i guess correctly?
Actually in Taiwan when you return for more pictures, the store will ask like 80NT$ for 8 more because they already took the money for the work (and investment, rent, utilities, salaries) they did the first time, after that it is just charging for a print it out.
That sounds logical to me. Now, if you had such a shop and there was someone walking in with a USB stick of pictures taken elsewhere and requesting a print-out, what would you do?
That sounds logical to me. Now, if you had such a shop and there was someone walking in with a USB stick of pictures taken elsewhere and requesting a print-out, what would you do?[/quote]
Print it and make some money … rather than refuse it and make no money. There will always be people that need new headshots or ID pics.
OK. Apparently some are doing that (even if someone around here appears to not like the price. 
). And other businesses are apparently not doing that. Do you see anything wrong with this picture?
I just get photos done at those automatic photo booths that can usually be found lurking around government offices. It’s fast and cheap (120 NT at most), and although the results are ghastly (i.e. they actually look like you), the advantage is that they save you time going through immigration because the flunky doesn’t have to sit there looking back and forth between you and the photo to determine if that photoshopped image is actually you. There was one of those booths in the alley right next to AIT last time I checked.
I like your pragmatism 
The less time spent dealing with bureaucracy the better, I always say.
Some FM have them to.
I just had my passport photo taken at a shop across from NTU (“Elite Genius” is what they call themselves). I have not seen the prints yet but the staff were very patient and professional, taking lots of shots and even adjusting the lights to make sure the end result would comply with Canadian government requirements (in this case, no glare off of glasses). This cost me NT$400. Given their attention to detail, I cannot say I’m displeased.
Guy
EDIT: I picked up the photos today, and everything was in order. Recommended!