 Pricing
Art!
The price of having a picture custom framed varies of course with the
materials used, the labor and other overhead of a custom frame shop and
art gallery. That said let’s talk about a few specifics.The first
mistake some people make is to compare the work of art with the price
of the framing. For example I’ve had people come into our shop to
get a beautiful limited edition print framed and think nothing of spending
three hundred dollars. Yet when the same person came in to frame the same
size picture of their wife they would almost faint at the same price.
Shows you what they think of their wife!Using the same materials, it does
not make any difference in cost as to what is being framed. To the framer,
both pieces are still just two pieces of paper. The only cost difference
would be that if the pictures were going to sell in the gallery, then
of course you would have to add the cost of the art to the job. Then again,
the picture of the wife may be worth more than the limited edition print
in the right situations!
Another mistake I’ve seen people make is to see a custom framed
print sell in one place for three hundred dollars, and then see the same
picture sold at another place for two hundred dollars. Then if he had
paid the three hundred dollars for it, he feels like he has been had.
Not so. It all comes back to that first paragraph again.Two framed pictures
can look almost exactly alike and yet one can cost more, why? And let’s
say that both these framed pictures were of the exact same print..Maybe
one has been matted using rag mat while the other has used identical colors
of regular mat board. Rag mats cost more. Maybe one has been framed using
regular glass while the other one has been framed using conservation glass,
or reflection control glass, or museum glass, or conservation/reflection
control glass. Maybe one has been dry mounted to a cheap backing board,
while the other has been conservation mounted to the finest acid free
mount board, or mounted using spray glue or even mounted on cardboard.
There is also the backing, maybe one has been finished properly using
a nice dust seal inside and then paper covered while the other has just
been mounted and tape sealed on the back. There are big differences in
quality here. One picture may out last the other several times over. One
has been designed for the lasting quality of the art while the other one
hasn’t. There is also the frame, lets say both use the exact same
moulding. Maybe one framer chose a 3-inch mat border and/or covered up
part of the picture and maybe used a ready-made frame. The other framer
with more talent and artistic sense decided to make the picture a little
wider and taller because it looked so much better. To do this he had to
cut his molding and put it together himself. In doing so, maybe he properly
glued the corners so they wouldn’t come apart. This is built in quality
which is not usually thought about. In this day and age with all the competition
out there you generally get what you pay for. Each person selling art
has to compete. Some places do this with price. So they buy five thousand
feet of lower grade moulding, lots, so they get a better price. They in
turn frame all the pictures using the same four or five molding. They
also buy their mat boards the same way for the same reasons. Then have
the mats punched out with dies or computerized cutters by the hundreds.
The pictures usually all end up looking very much alike except for the
art they contain. This is not custom framing. Nor is working like this
very much fun!
So there you have two exact same pictures selling for two completely
different prices even if the both were framed pictures of the exact same
piece of art. So the next time you see a beautiful custom framed limited
edition selling in one place for five hundred dollars, and then elsewhere
for four hundred you should understand why.
Then also maybe one gallery has a custom framed limited edition hanging
on his wall for four hundred dollars, it’s been there a couple of
months. Another gallery down the street just sold his last one, he calls
up his publisher and is told the print is sold out, but he knows of a
print on the after market for three hundred dollars. He buys it and frames
it, adding the framing to the cost we now we have two galleries selling
the same print, the later at more than twice the price of the first gallery
because the first gallery owner doesn’t know the print has been sold
out. There is also the overhead of each gallery. It costs more to operate
in a city then it does in a small town. Every gallery has to add on a
gallery charge which he feels is appropriate for his place of business.
For example, if the gallery owner buys a framed print for three hundred
dollars, he may add on one hundred dollars or more to cover his costs
of doing business at his location. The same rule applies for every product
being sold in every store. Each store must make a profit or close. From
the teddy bears in department stores to the automobile in car dealerships.
Each has added on their "gallery charge", to make a profit.
Why would anyone think framed pictures are any different? The same is
true of the framer. He must buy the art, all the materials, pay the help
and put the pictures together. Somewhere along the way he better make
a profit or he won't be in business for long. Some chose to do everything
as cheaply as they can. Others try to do everything the best they can.
Grignon's Art and Frame chooses this last category!
At Grignon's Art & Frame we try to properly custom frame each piece
of art using mats and frames that truly compliment the art. We pick the
mats and frames that really look great with each piece. That is why almost
every piece on this web site looks different from the others. We custom
frame all the art so that it has the chance to last the longest, while
giving the best service. For example, all our limited edition prints are
framed using conservation glass. Why take the chance of having a limited
edition print fade?
What we do here is strive to give everyone the best deal we can give
him or her and still stay in business. In fact we have given up looking
at what others are charging for custom framed pictures for all the reasons
above. Looks don’t tell all, it’s what has been used and how.
We are giving you the best prices that we can give for this kind of quality!
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