Price check on a collage frame

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FrameMakers

FrameMakers

PFG, Picture Framing God
Joined
Mar 20, 2001
Posts
7,395
Loc
Powell, OH
This was quite the project. The customer emailed me 39 photos and dropped off 15 other items to be included in the frame. This is for the president of Make-A-Wish Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. She is stepping down after 22 years so there is quite a few memories for her to take with her. This box features 2 Nascar drivers, a US President, NHL Players, Kirk Herbstreit, 2 OSU coaches, Robin Williams, Rascal Flats, Jonas Brothers, countless volunteers and of course a ton of wish kids.

Now my question for you is what you charge for this project?

Size 32x32
Inner frame International 305-950
Outer frame International 300-590
Glass Con Clear
Mat Peterboro A423
Sides of box lined with the same.
Printing of all photos and drymounted to 3/16 foamcore

I was given no direction other than they wanted it dimensional.

I ended up spending 5 hours between trimming out all the photos, arranging them and then building up and attaching them. This time does not include the actual framing.

I came up with a retail of $880, I do however give them a 30% discount because it is a charity that I believe in.

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Good on you.

I don't print photos, but if I did, my retail price for that entire job would probably be close to $1,000. Your retail is $880 and you allowed a 30% discount, making the net price $616? It seems to me that you have barely covered the real costs for material and labor.

You have given the charity a wonderful gift and they should be very pleased to get that framing for that price.

Great design, too.
 
I agree with Jim about both the design and the pricing. The trouble with pricing projects like that is that WE all know how much time and effort goes into it, but the average person probably thinks it's just like slapping things randomly into a scrapbook. They have no idea how painstaking and time-consuming those kinds of projects are, and why they should cost what they SHOULD. In this case, take good notes and at least you will have a valuable reference for future similar projects so you can really cover your time, which might otherwise be spent on projects that involve more materials sales proportional to the time spent.
:kaffeetrinker_2: Rick

I have a folder where I keep photocopies of work orders from complex jobs with notes on them about the amount of time spent. This isn't foolproof because things often take more time than we expect for one reason or another, but it has kept me from unrealistically undercharging on certain jobs.
 
Not surprising, the customer balked at the discounted price. :(

I went through everything that we did and reminded her that SHE was the one that sent me a carp load of images and other stuff to go into the frame. She asked if I could do some of this as an "in kind donation" when I pointed out that I was already doing that for 30% of the job.
 
FrameMakers said:
Not surprising, the customer balked at the discounted price. :(

I went through everything that we did and reminded her that SHE was the one that sent me a carp load of images and other stuff to go into the frame. She asked if I could do some of this as an "in kind donation" when I pointed out that I was already doing that for 30% of the job.
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Wait, you did all of that before they agreed on a price?
 
Yes, sometimes an idea of what thier budget is from the start is helpful.
 
They told me they wanted it special.

PWalters, when they placed the order, they had not sent over the pictures yet, I had no way to realize that they were going to dump 54 items into this shadow box. I had no way to know what size it would be till after it was laid out. I did tell them that it was going to be an hourly charge of $60 per hour for the non framing portion of the job. One other thing to remember is this job was a rush and I only had 2 business days between when they got me the images and they needed to pick it up.
 
RParrish said:
Yes, sometimes an idea of what thier budget is from the start is helpful.
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I asked them this and they told me they wanted it "something special"

This is also not someone that is just an occasional customer, we do 5-10 jobs for them per month.
 
FrameMakers said:
They told me they wanted it special.

PWalters, when they placed the order, they had not sent over the pictures yet, I had no way to realize that they were going to dump 54 items into this shadow box. I had no way to know what size it would be till after it was laid out. I did tell them that it was going to be an hourly charge of $60 per hour for the non framing portion of the job. One other thing to remember is this job was a rush and I only had 2 business days between when they got me the images and they needed to pick it up.
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I get that you couldn't have known up front but once it was laid out, measured up and the design was planned I would have given them a quick call to let them know the number. I get that you were rushed. I get that you do stuff for them all the time. But you have to look at this reaction from them and admit that you could have avoided that whole scenario (and any potential damage that may have been caused) by giving them a heads up. Or am I crazy?
 
I completely agree in 99% off cases. With a project like this you really can't size it till it is all laid out and at that point there is really no going back. I stayed late to get this arranged the night before it was due, there wouldn't have been anyone to answer the phone if I had made a call. In this case I was durned if I do and durned if I don't.
 
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