A Quick Giggle

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Larry Peterson

Larry Peterson

SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
Resource Provider
Joined
Apr 8, 2003
Posts
11,108
Location
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Just received the following email from a customer that has purchased several frames from me in the past. Keep in mind that I am online only and that the largest frame I will ship is 24x36.

Larry

Hope all is well and safe. I have an old flag I would like to get framed. Is that in your scope?
The flag is:
110 inches in length
59 in width

Wanted to ask. Call me with any other questions.
John

I let him down gently.
Anyone that wants to frame this and ship it to the Pittsburgh area, let me know. Anxiously waiting for your replies.
 
We just finished a 96 x 60"

flag final.JPG
 
and i just got a call from someone with a 112"x 60" flag they'd like to have framed...
 
Here's our latest "humm, I don't think so" request. A lot of the schools around here are having graduation ceremonies before the new school year begins. We had a lady call in Thursday wanting a frame she could put her daughter's graduation robe in. Oh, and could we make it so the daughter could take the robe in and out as she pleased and could we have it ready Saturday?
 
cjrojik said:
We just finished a 96 x 60"

View attachment 34974
Click to expand...
What did you use to attach the flag? I've done a couple smaller ones recently. One, the customer didn't care how it was attached, and agreed to let me hot glue it to the backing board. The other one I attached with mono-filament poked through holes in the matboard every few inches.
 
bruce papier said:
Here's our latest "humm, I don't think so" request. A lot of the schools around here are having graduation ceremonies before the new school year begins. We had a lady call in Thursday wanting a frame she could put her daughter's graduation robe in. Oh, and could we make it so the daughter could take the robe in and out as she pleased and could we have it ready Saturday?
Click to expand...

You mean you had from Thursday to Saturday and you didn't make an offer? Without doing any calculations whatsoever I would have said (unless I had soooo much promised work already in that it was impossible) "Absolutely. That will be $4,995.00. Would you like to pay with cash or use a credit card?".
 
Kinda makes ya wonder what the Sam Hill is wrong with people nowadays.

I mean, I know we keep saying we framers are NOT MAGICIANS, but then we all have this tendency to keep pulling those rabbits out of our hats.

So we have only ourselves to blame.
 
Ylva said:
Would be fun to say that for sure. But what if they’d take yo7 up on it and you can’t get materials on t8me?
Click to expand...

For that price I would make it happen. Of course they may not get the moulding they wanted, or glazing, but you can't have it all.
 
bruce papier said:
Here's our latest "humm, I don't think so" request. A lot of the schools around here are having graduation ceremonies before the new school year begins. We had a lady call in Thursday wanting a frame she could put her daughter's graduation robe in. Oh, and could we make it so the daughter could take the robe in and out as she pleased and could we have it ready Saturday?
Click to expand...
A folded gown would probably fit into a 2" deep shadowbox about 12" square, just big enough to stuff the mortar board and tassel in as well. So it was a definite "Yes" with a caveat or 4. Maybe not what she wanted, but what she asked for.
Since when did anyone actually buy a graduation gown, other than for doctoral degrees? They are expensive enough to rent!
 
wpfay said:
A folded gown would probably fit into a 2" deep shadowbox about 12" square, ..
Click to expand...

Like I said - $4995 and I can do it for you.

I'm serious - when people ask me for something super-special, I quote over-the-moon-prices. Because almost always, when you get into it, they want not just the Moon, but also Mars and the rings of Saturn.

And - TBH - even quoting riDiculous prices, we rarely make any more than "normal" margins.
 
I keep some extenders in stock just for this kind of job. It makes it possible to make of box of almost any reasonable depth

I try hard not to say no and have done overnight jobs. But I put the onus on the customer to say no these days. I quote the price for that level of service and almost always what was presented as a have-to situation becomes something that can wait a little longer.

The only exceptions I make these days are things for a funeral. I don't charge anything extra for those things, and sometimes, if it is a simple job, I don't charge at all.

And while David's price might seem outlandish, giving up a weekend and working under that kind of pressure is something I want to feel good about. I want enough to feel valued and to do something special for my family for that kind of disruption.

I think our profession has a tendency to undervalue what we do. I don't see any doctors, lawyers, or accountants working overtime for free and a discount is something that never even comes up in discussion unless THEY are asking us for one!
 
OK David, what is the ratio of "Over the Moon" pricing to jobs landed for same? If it is greater than 10%, your pricing isn't Over the Moon.
My original thoughts were: I have the material in stock, and I could get it done in the time allowed. I'm talking full gown, no or limited folding.
 
My only worry is getting the materials on time. I would quote a high price if it means giving up family time and work through the night.
I did a job like that last summer. Artist came in, needed 10 large pieces framed for a show two days out. I was lucky that it was just before cut off for free truck delivery. Placed order, did order extra. Truck came in Friday afternoon, order was picked up Saturday morning.
And yes, I charged very handsomely for that as I was a zombie the rest of the weekend.

I could not have done that this year. I don’t get materials that quickly currently.
 
bruce papier said:
Here's our latest "humm, I don't think so" request. A lot of the schools around here are having graduation ceremonies before the new school year begins. We had a lady call in Thursday wanting a frame she could put her daughter's graduation robe in. Oh, and could we make it so the daughter could take the robe in and out as she pleased and could we have it ready Saturday?
Click to expand...

I had a similar request from a lady about a very frilly bridesmaids dress. I gave her a quick 'estimate' which was waaay
lower than realistic, but enough to put her off the idea. 😁 (Which was my intention).
She went away saying something about a getting cheap poster frame. I would love to have been there when she tried to
shoe-horn it in. 🤪
 
I don'r really have the capability in-house to do what she wanted anyway. She was essentially looking to get a hanging (or maybe free standing) display case. She wanted the gown to be on some sort of form so the gown could be taken off the form, worn, and then put back in. I suspect she wanted a door on the front for easy access. It just struck me as being funny she was hoping to get something like that so quickly.
 
I have seen something like that custom-built into a closet. It was like a closet within a closet with a glass door that made it visible from the master bedroom.
 
Maybe a coat hanger and a sky hook would be the full-length garment equivalent of four thumbtacks for a poster. ;)
 
One I missed lately - a customer was looking for an
wpfay said:
OK David, what is the ratio of "Over the Moon" pricing to jobs landed for same? If it is greater than 10%, your pricing isn't Over the Moon.
Click to expand...

I haven't tracked it, but I would say its maybe 1% of the time.

That said, a lot of our custom work, while not nearly the scope of what was described in the OP, is what I, as a moderately well-off individual, would consider "very expensive". And I am only seeing the wholesale cost of one piece of the job. And we sell way more than I would think there's a market for.

We did a job about a year ago for three frames worth of moulding (three different mouldings) that came of over $10,000 delivered just for the raw lengths. And I didn't price it "over the moon", as it was a pretty "normal" job as far as lead time or design/engineering. And yes, we made money on it.

I'd say we get roughly 1/2 to 2/3 of custom jobs we quote.
 
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