I’m curious about the high cost of custom picture framing. A client wants me to make a solid walnut frame for a print. I’m thinking of an outrageous price of $90 – 100. Talking to a framing shop, using solid cherry (their close in price) they would charge 150 to 175$.
What am I missing. I don’t want to screw myself!
Dave
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Talking to a framing shop, using solid cherry (their close in price) they would charge 150 to 175$.
Perhaps you are comparing the price at a frame shop, to your price of producing a similar item in your home woodshop. If that is the case, then you have not considered numerous items in a normal business budget. These would include the fixed and variable costs associated with the storefront and shop, various insurances, employees, taxes (which eat almost 50%), and profit for the investors.
Think about it....those costs easily double the cost of a picture frame. So, if you are estimating $100, and the shop will do it for $175, perhaps the shop is not charging enough.
I agree about the high cost (my opinion) of picture framing. I own a business albeit not a frame shop business. I can only imagine staying busy 8 hours a day framing pictures for $100-500 each. I just received an estimate for a 20" x 30" print I received for Christmas, $425.00 and this was with the cheaper frame. I don't believe you need alot of expensive equipment to start a frame shop. Am I wrong? I'm with you, what am I missing? Floorman
Is it safe to assume the price-tag included matting? There's another significant expense. The equipment for cutting mats isn't exhorbitant, but it isn't cheap either. Then there's the time spent with individual customers deciding on what color matting, what size frame, how big inside and outside, etc., etc., etc. I suspect another big expense in overall pricing for frame shops is coverage for people who change their minds, are overly picky or not clear in their minds about what they want. There's bound to be alot of back-tracking in a personalized response type business like that. Add those things up with the level of inventory required, storefront costs and advertising and it's costly.forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
And what about insurance? The rates have skyrocketed and the insurance companies say that it's due to forest fires, flooding and liability lawsuits that haven't even affected me, but I'm paying the higher rates for my frame shop. Are you covered in case your friend sues you for a botched job? Are you covered if the artwork is in your house when it floods or burns down? Frame shops need this coverage. If the artwork has any value, you need archival materials to frame it. Otherwise, the materials that make up the artwork will be damaged by the acids in the wood and matboard that touch it. If it's not sealed from the air in the room, it can also be damaged by mold over time. If the glass is not u.v. protected, it can be damaged by exposure to light as well.
Yep, insurance can be high, especially if you're trying to cover more than just liability. Another type of insurance that's most non-business-owners don't understand $$-wise is worker's compensation. The rates can be incredibly high for some types of businesses.forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Your not kidding there FG. My wife and I own a resturant, and the taxes are ridiculous. The account said that the workers comp insurance that we buy, is among the most expensive, because of the hot food, sharp knives, ect. I can just imagine what they feel justified to charge pro wood shops.
Labor is way expensive now days. If one of our employees is taking home say $10/hr. my actual payroll cost is about $20/hr. Skilled woodworkers make a lot more then what we pay waitress, so that $200 to $500, picture frame is probably not making all that much profit.
I'm dangerously close to a political rant, so, back to the shop.Steve
PS: Whatever the insurance companies say, the reason rates have gone up pretty much across the board recently is because their investments have tanked. That's where they get their long-term money, not from premiums, and any time there's a downturn like this latest one in the stock market and the economy, rates go up.forestgirl Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I've noticed, though, that when the market goes back up, insurance premiums DO NOT go back down to previous levels.
Re: equipment costs. A cheap double miter saw will run you about $6,000, and a cheap V - nailer will run you another $2,000. Both are necessary if you do any quantity of framing at all. Then you get into mat cutting gear, inventory, and the like.
The biggests supplier of framer's supplies figures that if you take the cost of your moulding and multiply by 5 or 6, you'll make a decent profit. My experience has been that you'll never get rich at that rate unless you do a heck of a volume. Of course then you need employees and that opens a whole 'nother can of worms plus OSHA et. al.
Cheers,
Enery
Yes, my price of $425 included the matting, glass, etc.. I realize that insurance has gone up but it has gone up for every business not just picture framing. I guess my main complaint about pricing was just for the frame itself. Being a woodworker, I know what it costs to take typically narrow and shorter length wood through a profile molder and finish it to make picture framing. That is just not very expensive to do but yet they get $12-30 per lineal foot for much of this framing. I settled for some $15 stuff but that alone still amounted to approx. $150 before any labor. Maybe the framing shops are getting ripped off by the frame distributors. Finish carpenters install finished oak trim for $2-3 per lineal foot around here. This is much the same work (miter joints, etc.) They have insurance too!
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