i don't care what your poster cost...

[silpic]

entering into my 18th year as a framer,(i was 10 when i began ha ha) why do people feel it a duty to tell you the price of the poster they want framed ie. "but i only spent $10 for the poster, why is it $200 to frame???!!!!
can people not see there is no relation to the cost of the item and the cost of framing it?
what are some of the comebacks that you say to your clients when you hear this? i go into too much explaination and sometimes talk them right out of the framing sale and result in just a dry mount. any good one liners out there?
beth

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[TADPORTER]

"...and if the poster was free...???"

[Heather]

I say "yes, but it's the framing job that makes it look like a million bucks!"

[Ruth Yheulon]

The story from my customer:
She has had many pieces of "art" framed over the years. An artist friend of hers told her that she would know when she had arrived into the "real art world", it would be when the piece of art cost more than the framing.
Ruth

[Kit aka emrr]

Since you saved so much on the artwork, that means you have that much more to spend on the framing. Right?

Kit

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Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana

[framechick]

I often say "Yes, but if it were a $3000 limited edition or antique this size it would only cost $300 to frame this way."

I keep this to myself when the customer seems humorless.

I also start really high - finished corners, wrapped mats and other fanciness so when I scale it back I don't have to go all the way to drymounting and Nielsen #5

[PAMELA DESIMONE,CPF]

We all get those from time to time. I try to refrain from "snappy" comebacks, but sometimes I get curious and ask them how much they thought it would cost to frame their poster. After I stop laughing... Sometimes I get it from the other end. "I've already spent $500.00 on the art", etc. etc...

[JPete]

Isn't it nice you didn't have to put much money into the print or what a nice piece of art work it is well worth a nice frame!

I always like to know the value so I do no HARM!

[JRB]

I have several posters that I went nuts on framing, I spent several weeks on one in particular, $15.00 my cost. I used over $300.00 my cost in materials and about two weeks off and on working on it.

People oh and ah over it constantly. It is my secret weapon for "My picture only cost $5.00" I show it to them, tell them what it cost and what it cost to frame. I then tell them, " It's not what the picture costs, it's the end result that counts".

That one framing job has paid for itself more than a hundred times on gained sales over the years.

John

[Audrey]

There is an equally evil flip side to this question....and that's "Oh, I spent so much on the artwork I really can't afford anything fancy for the framing...."

I had a young woman in fatigues come in yesterday with a sketch, a brass plaque, and two lapel pins that she wanted to frame, along with generous mats for people to sign.

I worked up the shadow-box price, and it was over $200.00. She FLIPPED. I worked up the price on a raised mat with spacers, and it dropped to $150.00.

She tells me, "But we're having people DONATE to pay for it, and we've already spent fifty bucks on this stuff! It's for a GOOD CAUSE! And I went to another shop for something similar, and it was only $45.00! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!"

I resisted the urge to tell her that my boss finds his wallet an equally good cause, and gently informed her that there was no cheaper way to do it.

She stood there gaping at me, obviously waiting for me to say, "Oh, if you yell long enough, we DO lower the price to whatever mythic quote some other shop gave you."

Find me a shop that will do a shadow-box for $45.00, and I'll sell you tickets to Never Never Land.

http://www.thegrumble.com/framer/ubbs/biggrin.gif

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I don't care what color your sofa is.

[Handy]

Sometimes I would like to say "look, this is custom made furniture for your walls. Would you expect to pay more for a custom made dress???"

I wish that the average person could do our job for one month and see how much stuff we have to waste because there is a bubble in the glass, or a scratch, a dent in the mat or a stain, a knot in the wood, or it's warped like a hockey stick.

Then maybe they would realize that we dont' have "frame trees" out back that produce already shaped and stained "peices of wood" - which of course should be really cheap because we can pick them out of the grove of trees for the "it's only a gift" or the "it only cost me $10.00" projects. LOL!!

[Greg Gomon]

Audrey, Your customer must have been in my store several times over the past few years.
My comment is usually, in a very sincere manner, "you should go back to the shop that offered to do it for $45.00 because they were being extremely generous to offer to do it for less than the cost of materials. It would be an insult to not have them do the work for you." And they thank them for stopping in. You hit them with the guilt factor and the result is one less "problem child" to deal with. I know she was lying, but you really don't want her business, do you?