You've seen the pricing: School Yearbooks and Yearbooks.ie charge €18–22 per book. AerEthos charges €28–55. But comparing per-book price misses the real cost: 35+ hours of school staff time. Let's calculate what yearbook production actually costs your school.
The advertised cost is per book. The actual cost includes every hour of school staff time that goes into running the yearbook process. Here is a conservative breakdown — most schools report even higher time commitments.
| Phase | School Yearbooks | Yearbooks.ie | AerEthos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design planning & setup | 3 hrs | 3 hrs | 0 hrs |
| Photo collection & organisation | 8 hrs | 8 hrs | 0 hrs |
| Page design & layout | 12 hrs | 12 hrs | 0 hrs |
| Student coordination & chasing | 5 hrs | 5 hrs | 0 hrs |
| Proofing & feedback | 4 hrs | 4 hrs | 1 hr |
| Order management & payment collection | 3 hrs | 3 hrs | 0 hrs |
| Distribution & follow-up | 2 hrs | 2 hrs | 0 hrs |
| Total staff hours | 37 hrs | 37 hrs | 1 hr |
| Staff time cost (@ €20/hr) | €740 | €740 | €20 |
What this means for your school: Every year a teacher spends 37 hours running a yearbook project. That's the equivalent of one full working week — taken from lesson prep, admin, and everything else on their plate.
The onboarding fee only applies in Year 1 for new schools, Year 2+ is €199. Staff time is calculated at €20/hr. Competitor per-book price averaged at €20 for 90 students.
| Year | Competitors (books) | Competitors (books + time) | AerEthos (books) | AerEthos (books + time) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | €1,800 | €2,540 | €4,050 + €299 | €4,369 |
| Year 2 | €1,800 | €2,540 | €4,050 + €199 | €4,269 |
| Year 3 | €1,800 | €2,540 | €4,050 + €199 | €4,269 |
| Year 4 | €1,800 | €2,540 | €4,050 + €199 | €4,269 |
| Year 5 | €1,800 | €2,540 | €4,050 + €199 | €4,269 |
| 5-year total | €9,000 | €12,700 | €21,046 | €21,445 |
| Staff hours (total) | 185 hours | 5 hours | ||
A side-by-side of what you actually get — not just what the brochure says.
| Feature | School Yearbooks | Yearbooks.ie | AerEthos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design approach | DIY tool | Professional templates | 100% bespoke |
| Staff hours required | 37 hours | 37 hours | 1 hour |
| Cost per book | €18–22 | €18–22 | €28–55 |
| Design quality | Variable (student-made) | Consistent but templated | Professional editorial |
| Digital archive | None | Flipbook (static) | Vision NFC (30-year, living) |
| School onboarding | None | None | €299 new / €199 returning |
| 100% retention rate | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Error reprints | Occasional | Occasional | Zero (our responsibility) |
Five years after graduation, your student finds their yearbook. They tap the cover with their phone. Everything from that year opens instantly in the browser — graduation photos added two weeks after print, the class playlist, an alumni directory. No app, no login. The archive grows with the class, forever.
This is not a QR code. Not a web link. A chip invisible in the cover, one tap with any phone, opening a permanent hosted archive. The 30-year hosting guarantee is contractual — not a promise.
Explore Vision in full →Not marketing. Not projections. Every school that has worked with AerEthos has returned the following year. Without exception.
One 20-minute conversation. AerEthos handles everything after that. Respond within 24 hours, always.