Mirrors

ice

Grumbler
Joined
Apr 22, 2005
Posts
47
Loc
Los Angeles
Do any of you make and sell mirror frames? Do you find that these are more or less profitable than picture frames? What kind of markup do you do on them? Thanks!
 
We do a great business in mirrors. Sell them just like any other frame order. Great excuse to stack frames and sell those gigantic moulding that no one ever buys.

Find yourself a good supplier for mirror both beveled and plate (no bevel) and sell, sell, sell. Beveled mirrors come in a wide variety of standard sizes and shapes. You can also have them custom made, but they get a little pricey.

I would recommend selling nothing but 1/4" plate or 1 1/2" beveled for anything custom. They are the better quality. You can use the 1/8 (shock) mirror on anything smaller than 22x28, for a less expensive option. I would not suggest it for larger mirrors unless you are specificaly looking for the "Fun House" effect.
 
What is a reasonable price to pay per sqft for 1.5" beveled and 1/4" plate? I'm trying to figure out what kind of margins there are.
 
We have found that the moulding sells the mirror but a good quality mirror will insure he return of the customer. I have stocked a moulding for several years (a MAX with horses)and only sold two jobs for pictures until a customer finally noticed that it would be ideal for a mirror. The moulding was discontinued by the manufacturer and I had to search for unsold moulding from about ten suppliers. I sold ten jobs all for mirrors within two weeks. I also displayed framed mirrors for five years without a nibble. As far as I know the horse moulding no longer exists.

Jack Cee
 
I'm afraid I don't understand your post. I'm a grumbler in training! Do you mean that mirrors don't sell or that they only sold with that moulding? I'm confused.

Also, how much do you pay for the mirror glass? I'm trying to figure out if I've been ripped off.
 
We do a lot of mirrors and I ALWAYS call our supplier for a quote before I give our customer the final price. If the customer picks a pricey moulding (which is often the case) we tell the them that there will be no retail mark-up on the mirror. We give it to them at our price + a smidgen for gas to go pick it up at our supplier. Customers looooove that, we get the sale on a $40/foot frame and cover our costs on the mirror.
 
I just finished a job for an interior designer for $15000 worth of mirrors. Mirrors rock! On the opposite end. I've had the same freakin mirrors hanging on my gallery wall for 10 years and I can't give them away. Put some on the walls to let people know you do them (you'd be supprised how hard it is for a customer to make the connection that a picture framer can frame mirrors also) but don't invest much on your display items because it will never be the size they are looking for or it will be the right size but wrong frame.

Ice,
find a supplier localy that can give you a cost per sq foot on 1/4" mirror and bevel by the linear inch. The mirror shouldnt cost more than $4 or $5 per square and no more than $1 per linear inch. Those are the highest you should ever pay, with luck you should pay less. And watch out for quality. A lot of glass shops will sell you mirrors with scratches on them.
 
I had some mirrors that hung around for a while and gave them to my top customers as a thank you gift. Those particular ones were beautiful, just not big sellers. I always have a couple of larger framed ones for sale and 1/2 dozen small ones. Besides being great framed model pieces, they make a great addition to the look of the shop.
 
Brian - what do you mean by $1 per linear inch? If I bought a 40x30 inch mirror then that is 8.3 sqft at $5 should be around $40. It is beveled...what do you add for that?

Also, I plan on working with designers on the mirrors similar to the way you did. I would appreciate any advice you may have. Thanks!!
 
Ice,
Most glass companies will charge you by the perimiter size ie 20" x 20" = 80 linear inches. so you would pay $80 for a bevel on a mirror based on a $1 per inch, in addition to the square foot cost.
 
That seems pricey...I bought a 40x30 beveled mirror (1" bevel) and 3/16" glass for $60. I thought I was getting ripped off but based on your $1 per linear inch it sounds like that should have been $140??? That doesn't make sense to me.
 
wait - and my calculation above is not in addition to the sqft charge which would be approx another $40 for a total of $180?
 
Like I said those numbers are high. I pay much less than that but I don't know what's available to you. Not to mention I am quoting custom prices not a premade standard size mirror. You should be paying much less for premade stuff.
 
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