Mat Cutting Charges

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carladeam

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Oct 17, 2005
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Weaverville, North Carolina
One quick question--I own a Wizard and there are a few framers in town who do not. They occasionally ask me to cut a mat for them, usually ovals or muti-openings. They provide the matboard, just need the mat cut. These only take me a couple of minutes to do-literally. What should I charge for this service? Regular shop rate would be almost nothing. I want to be fair to both of us, but can not seem to even think of a mathmatical way to figure out charges. Help!
 
I'm assuming that they call first.

1) They didn't pony up the $25,000, you did.

2) Your time is worth what your shop time is worth.

3) You got a CMC to increase your productivity which increases your value.

4) They are using you to increase their productivity which increases their value.

Therefore:

Next time you do one of these. Note on a piece of paper the exact time. When you are finished, and the fellow framer is ready to leave... note the time.

Then ask what they charge for shop time. Now figure what that charge would be for the time they just removed from your production.. and charge them.

You may find that it's only 15 minutes.... but at $60/hr, that's $15.
We flat fee at $20, and the other framers are happy, and we get to schmooze a little without the clock.

Foamcoreforstep-daughters,weonlychargeasapass-through. :D
 
It may only take you a few minutes but it still causes wear and tear on your cutter, and blades ain't free either. You could do what Wizard does with some of their lease programs and charge by the corner. We do this for the artists who display in our gallery.

We sell them the mat for a less-than-retail markup over our cost, then charge them 15 cents a corner to cut it. So if they just want one rectangular mat, their cut charge is $1.20. If they want anything fancier, we take the corner count from Wizard and multiply it by 15 cents, up to a maximum of $5 per opening.

And yes, it's only a couple of bucks that you're not charging. But a couple of bucks here and a couple bucks there can add up. At the very least it'll help you buy your next roll of ATG tape.
 
Sorry, Carla. I have to retell a story I've told a few times before.

Some years ago, my sister was visiting and had a small poster she wanted me to dry mount. I had the press on, so I mounted it when she stopped by.

I didn't charge her but, because this is the way her mind works, she asked what I would normally charge. She gasped when I told her and said, "But it only took you a couple of minutes!"

I told her it only took me a couple of minutes because I had bought a $6000 press. She asked me if I actually expected my customers to pay for the press (my sister has never worked in retail) and I said, "Well, not the first one but, yes, I expect my customers to pay for my press, along with my utilities, my rent, my kids' college educations . . ."

Those cuts only take you a couple of minutes because you made a large capital investment. Make your customers pay for it - include the wholesale customers.

(Today, I would expect my sister to help pay for my press, too.)
 
What they said + the wizard is my employee. Operation requires my supervision & my employees effort so I need to charge a couple bucks a minute for wizard use just to justify taking away time from doing MY customers orders. The occasional favor, you scratch mine, I'll scratch yours is fine but it's probably best to set a policy & stick with it. I'm sure they don't expect to make money at your expense right?
 
Objective is to retain a customer

Great story Ron - "Not the first one." LOL

When I need a CMC mat, I'm wiling to pay retail if necessary just to keep my customer from going elsewhere. It's okay if I don't make money on the mat. I'll still profit from the rest of the order and kept my customer. I think a 20-25% discount is very generous.

On the other hand, I used to re-cut frames for competitors who bought chops and got the wrong size. I never charged them for it.


Paul Cascio
 
This is a tuff one Carla.

Are these other framers competitors that you tolerate, or would you consider them Friends?

Would you go out to eat with them on Saturday night or the does the sight of them put a knot in your stomach?

Not Friends, somewhere between retail and some percentage off. Friends, no charge.
 
I have a local distributor that also offers mat cutting on an Eclipse. They charge .15 per united inch + the cost of the matboard if they supply it and offer free delivery along with a regular minimum order of moulding, glass, etc. I design the mat on my computer using Eclipse software and email the file to them. Decorative corners, etc up the cost slightly.

They also return any cut-outs and usable left over pieces of the mat brd.

A 16X20 regular rectangular mat would run $ 5.40 + board if they supply it.

Now, these folks are set up to do this as a service. I don't think it would be at all unreasonable to charge more to a friendly competitor since you really are not trying to offer this service and it does disrupt your work flow to some degree. I'd think 20 cents per united inch isn't unreasonable.

I normally cut most mats myself the old fashioned way, but often use them for ovals, multiple opening double mats, etc.

Dave Makielski
 
I have a great relationship with a shop 1/2 hour away. I cut his fancy cuts for him on my Wizard and he supplies the matboard. He usually gives me an extra piece in case something goes wrong. I don't charge him for this service as it is only once or twice every few weeks. I don't have a chopper or saw, so when I have a moulding that needs to be cut down, he helps me out by doing it for no charge. Also he has a heat mounting press, and I only do wet mounts on my cold vacuum press. I can supply the foamcore and he will heat mount for me. We don't keep tabs, but I bet we use each others services equally. It is a great relationship and has worked out very well!

Susan

PS: It just so happens that we live very close to each other so that the transfer of materials is simple.
 
Susan, now you're talking about something entirly different... Frienergy. [it's the synergy of friendship working together that equals a virtual third hand.];)
 
Okay--there is one framer close by who does my oversize mounting for me, as our press is only 36x48. For him, I cut mats in exchange for the mounting. I have no problem with that.

The latest mats I cut for another framer, I don't even know them. The mats (they supplied the matboard) had three oval openings. It took about two minutes to design and cut the mats. I charged her $5.00 each--there were two identical mats. She was happy as can be.

My problem is, I am not consistent with this type of request. I want a standard charge and haven't come up with a good one yet. I did get some good ideas from you guys, but I think I still need to tweak this a bit to work consistently for me. I am still not sure what I will do. I try to think what I would pay, and believe me, if I were doing mats with a hand cutter, there are times when I would pay a lot! but, I'm not sure I could charge a lot.

Well, let me think on this some more. Thanks.
 
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