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Hi Folks - Lurked around here long enough, now for my first question!
What would you charge for miniatures - glass size 65mm x 55mm?
Moulding costing £1.54 per metre inc vat, artcare board etc (mind you, at this size it doesn't make a helluva lot of difference!)
I don't want to undercharge for these as I want to allow for the "fiddly factor".They take me a bit longer to do as firstly I have to cut the windows in the mounts oversize,(no room for being a fraction of a mm out here!) hand measure and cut down manually (for accuracy), then assemble the frames with hand tool as they are too small for the underpinner etc etc. All in all, a little bit of a PITA - now understand why a lot of framers(according to this artist) won't touch them!
Any thoughts would be appreciated, and thanks for all the interesting info so far!
Jay
I frequently inform customers of the startling fact that a frame has four corners, no matter what the size. Something that they don't tend to consider. It may take longer to assemble a small item than one ten times the size. As you point out, the tolerances are tighter. The amount of material used can become almost inconsequential in these cases. A mini frame may cost you £5.00 in materials, but take an hour to assemble. A 20x16 may cost you £20.00 in materials but take only 20mins to make. In the end, you can buy more materials but you can't buy more time.
Work out the cost of materials consumed in doing the job. Not the amount that actually makes up the frame. Then work out the time involved in doing the job x hourly overheads. Anything on top is your profit. Only you can decide if it is enough.
ps.
One good thing about mini frames is you can use up offcuts, especially glass. But always charge as if you where cutting full sheets. After all, you have had to store all the little bits.......
My pricing is loaded so that even if the materials were free there would be a minimum charge for all services. As a result a frame with frame, mount, mounting, glass and assembly would be priced @ at least $27US.
As an example, my frames are priced as such...... $6 plus 3x chop prices for in house moulding. If it were to be ordered chops from a vendor, that minimum charge ($6) would range from $6(free delivery) to $15
The minimum size I can join either with my underpinner or a standard right angle vise is 4” x 4”, so I simply tell the customer I cannot do anything smaller than that.
But our base minimum retail price is for an 8 x 10 (18 United Inches), so we charge for an 8 x 10 even if it is smaller than that. When the frame gets that tiny, most of the cost is labor anyway.
In most cases, we are luck to break even on those miniature frames.
Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent! – Porky Pine
It sounds to me a bit like 'Lincolnshire born, Lincolnshire bred, strong in the arm, thick in the 'ade' . I was born in Devon and the same applies, also if you were born in Wiltshire so a friend tells me.
To get back to Jay's topic my computer tells me that the moulding costs 55p; materials £1.72; Labour £20.79;PROFIT £5.84; VAT 5.06 Total £33.96. This price is for a one off and of course you would give a discount to a regular customer for a quantity and of the same size. As these are fiddly jobs you wont have too much leeway. Look how much BMW charge for a MINI, which I think is eye watering, but they seem to sell.
Remember that you have to make a living from your labours.
The Pheasant Plucker
There's no fool like an old fool
when i worked offshore for a diving company they used to say health of a racehorse, strength of a shire horse and brains of a rocking horse.
Well thats framing for you as well
kev@frames wrote:when i worked offshore for a diving company they used to say health of a racehorse, strength of a shire horse and brains of a rocking horse.
Well thats framing for you as well
I was thinking exactly this the last time I was down at the 'Stanegarth'
The Pheasant Plucker
There's no fool like an old fool
