Selling Supplies

[MarkG1]

Do any of you sell sheets of matboard or moulding to customers? I have had people in recently wanting a certain sheet of matboard or foamboard and was wondering what you would do about pricing or, if you would even sell it.

I personally don't think that I should sell it and should recomend a Big Box.

What do you think?

[EllenAtHowards]

Of course, as we are an art supplies store, too, we sell matboard. We have enough room in the basement to stock all Crescent rag (retail $13.00 per sheet) and most paper mats (retail $6.50 per sheet). We also sell: Framemaster guns, framers points, screweyes, wire, hooks, Logan matcutters, and anything else we can think of to turn a buck. They will buy it somewhere... why not from us? The only thing we have not gone into is moulding. We all know that sometimes it comes warped, sometimes with dings, but of course we are used to working around this. We saw a huge potential for having a lot of unsaleable stock, so we only sell joined custom frames for those who would like. Otherwise we refer them to the local planing mill.
We also have a single sheet free handout "How to Frame Your Artwork Yourself" and another "How to Frame Needlework Properly". I got tired of trying to explain in 5 minutes how to frame, but I did want them to know how to do it properly.

[Less]

I do. I hope that someday they may decide to have something professionally framed, or recommend me to a new client. We don't usually know how or why it will be used. I hope the good will (especially since I'm high-end) will get me referrals down the road. I usually give small quantities of hardware away when asked if I sell it. I say no, please take it and come back for framing when you need it, or recommend me to a friend.

[Linda Foote]

We sell all the framing supplies, too. We started out as a craft store, so our customer base was do-it-yourselfers. Eventually most of them come back for custom framing. Do you think they would come back if we had sent them to a "big box" for a sheet of mat board?
We also have several information sheets that we hand out. The more educated our customers are, the more likely they will come back for good quality custom framing.
BTW Our nearest "big box" competitor takes up to 2 weeks to cut a mat for a do-it-yourselfer. They also refuse to sell a piece of mat board without an opening. Go figure. Guess how we learned this information... tongue.gif Their loss is our gain.

[Janet L]

Mark, I have customers that buy matboard and foamboard from me too. Our community college teaches basic framing and many of these people only want to do a "project" for their class. After they have completed the class, they become my customers! LOL

Also, some of the high school kids are doing projects in their art classes that look better on matboard than poster board. I donate scraps to the schools. So the kids come back to me to purchase a full sheet of a color they really liked. Hopefully, they will be my future customers.

[Ron Eggers]

Mark: Why not? The people who are looking for supplies are either going to buy it from you or someone else. It might as well be you, as long as you can make some money on it and you're not selling them something you need yourself to complete a custom order.

Like several others, though, I don't sell moulding. Not many people ask for it anyway. Mostly, I sell matboard, fomecore, glass, spacer stock, hardware and - oddly enough - the occasional piece of craft paper.

[MarkG1]

Ok, the nearest big box is at least 45 min. away, and I have had customers bring in mat board that they purchased there and wanted me to cut to size.

That made me feel like telling them no, but in that one case, I did go ahead and do it. This is one of those customers that wants the fall out of the mat you cut for her. (Christmas projects and the sort she said.)

Like Less, I have given away D-rings and that sort of things, to people that wanted to do it themselves. I don't blame them for wanting to save a buck or two. But if I promoted that in my area, I'd have a hard time paying overhead, much less have an income.

The guy that came in yesterday wanted a sheet of matboard (Regular cresent) that he had the number for and I told him that I don't carry reg. boards anymore and did a ticket on my POS for a 32 x 40 Piece and It was a little high if you ask me.(didn't change the markup) On the other hand I did have another customer picking out materials for her project, and I didn't want her to have the idea that the cost of the material is cheap.(I don't think it's cheap considering labor and all!)

Help me with some kind of reasoning.

[MarkG1]

Ron,

In my case, I try to keep at least 2 of each of the matboards I keep in stock and Only get a once a month delivery , So keep that in mind. ;)

Mark

[fttom]

I will sell paper mats, if I still have the wanted color in stock, as I'm trying to get rid of them. I've gone to all rag mats. Also, at my part-time, we occasionally sell pieces of leftover board. We don't stock full sheets. When folks want full sheets, we refer them to another big box that is about 30 min away, that sells paper mats for a little less than $5/sheet. I can't even buy it for that price. No one in this area sells moulding, not even the lumber yards.

[Kit]

Sure, I sell mat board in either full or half sheets. Why not? I mark them up 100% and charge twice what I paid for them. And when it's Science Fair time, I stock up on fome core because I know I'm going to get alot of requests for it to be used as display boards.

One thing I will NOT do is cut a board that a customer brings in to the shop. There's too much potential for disaster in that scenario. What if the Wizard decides to chew it up and spit it out?

I have occasionally been asked how much we charge per foot for moulding. I just explain that we don't sell moulding by the foot; we sell it by the frame.

Kit

[JRB]

If I have it, it's for sale. I use the same prices as Ellen at Howards uses. I sell moulding the same way I buy it, full sticks only. If I have a four foot piece and they need three, I'll sell them the four foot piece, not a ten foot stick. I dont sell art supplies but I will order in anything a customer needs and is willing to wait for. I keystone all those types of items.

John

[EllenAtHowards]

As to the folks who request the fallout... I have come up with an analogy that seems to take the sting out of my refusal

Buying matboard by the sheet is like buying oranges at the grocery store. You can make whatever you want with it. Buying a mat custom cut to size is like buying those nice orange sections in the glass jar. It costs more because someone has to section the oranges, and you don't get the peel, even though you might like to make candied orange peel with it.

[lyoncat]

This is an interesting thread. I do sell length to some local woodworkers, whom have given me great references in the past. I mark it up to make a profit for my time in order.....etc. I am always willing to share info about framing, and almost 99% of the time, people come to appreciate what goes into a great framing job.
For the cheaper clients, we have actually chopped and joined stock moulding, and make them bring extra, at their cost, in case of a problem. We charge oue hourly labor, and it has always worked out well.
I have donated fallout pieces to local schools, or other venues I see as deserving, but I hang onto quite a bit. I find ways to us it all the time. (Although, not everyone makes home-made paper) It also goes to my art school.
Just make sure you are getting what u want for your effort. Resentment only comes when you feel the action is not justified.