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 lets 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 lets 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!
The object is to try to properly custom frame each piece
of art using mats and frames that truly compliment the art. 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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