Ad blocker detected: Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.
I have stumbled into a mine field with regards to pricing software for framers, There appears to be no end of self made programs developed by framers with 30 yrs plus experience for £20-50...or unsophisticated excel pricing packages on ebay for £10-15..through a wee bit of research I looked into estlite pos £120-450, I have downloaded the free trial software (which doesnt run on my mac os) and compared this to some of the above packages..erm not much difference in the pricing sytem or structure the real only difference is the hundreds of pounds in price one would have to pay!
Can anyone tell me why they chose estlite as opposed to some of the other options out there and if the extra cost is really worth it! Of course I understand that you pay for what you get, but I also understand that without putting in the proper research I would be a mug!
Please help..
I will talk you through why we chose estlite 3 years ago as the only option for our frame pricing system. It's so much more than just a "pricing calculator"
some of the many benefits we felt warranted choosing estlite.
Free updates for life
Free support for life.
Automatic moulding stock control
automatic update of prices from suppliers
customer database and job history, enabling us to target our customers efficiently for future purposes.
recently there have been the addition of Powerful reports, allow us to keep a track of anything in the job history/ customer data database and chart it year on year.
Also, newest of all, after a little persuasion, John the creator has implemented a "chop report" creator, which automatically emails your suppliers with chop orders.
anyway Stu, give us a call, we are here until 5 today.
Super support if something goes wrong, as I have just experienced.
It took John who is the owner of the software about five minutes to get me sorted.
Other points;
Online updating of suppliers moulding price list’s
Great data base for doing mail shots.
Easy screen for showing to customers “it looks very professional”
Software - yes indeed a mine field, all of which will do a job in different ways, some of course easier than others.
The power of this forum makes it near on impossible to choose anything other than Estlite. The support from the owner of the software (John) and other forum members, makes it a no brainer if you have questions, concerns or problem. Everyone here will be massively eager to help and sort you out with whatever issues you may have.
Also and a big advantage is, Estlite is highly regarded amongst suppliers all happy to release moulding data and pricing which can be loaded pretty much instantaneously into the system to make your life easier
If you wanted to tag on a visualisation software at later date, such as Pre-View, I am reliably informed that Estilte will seamlessly integrate perfectly.
Why do I have Quick Price then? - I have a Mac but do not use Quick Price on this, Instead I purchased a note book which has Quick Price loaded and the idea is, this gets taken around to the potential customers homes to help in the pricing process.
I am not a techno geek and to me in use, I found Quick Price easier to use, it had more of a Mac look and feel to it. I was also able to spread the cost of the software over quite along period of time, which was something I needed to do and John (Estlite) was not into doing that at that time for me. When you are setting up and buying many items to get you 'rockin & a rollin' in picture framing, I needed that financial facility.
I am happy with my choice and the product is easy to use with a logical approach to it's application. Support is at the end of the phone, but unless there are any other forum members who run Quick Price, I do not have anything like the support offered here for the Estlite product. IF I EVER NEED IT - ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
Time to make your bed and lie in it.
Are you a Cavalier or a Round-head?
Are you a follower or a leader?
Be honest in mind and the heart will follow. - I just made that up.
estlite or bbest, choice only really depending how much you need a database. no serious competition so far as features are concerned, and nothing better on the market. Download a free trial from the banner link on the left.
obviously goes without saying the product, support, forum and features are first class.
Stubrowner
I dont think you have really looked closely at Estlite plus if you think it bears any comparison to the "value" priced, pricing software. The amount you want to spend really depends upon what you want the software to do for you. If you just want a price - Then go for something that costs you a few quid and does the basic calculation for you. If on the other hand you want the job priced - the documentation printed out for the customer and all details saved in a usable and easily accessed form - then you need something a little more sophisticated - and Estlite Plus comes into this category. In fairness there are a few big players in the expensive Pricing software category - they all share the same comparison as Estlite Plus - they do so much more than just price.
Possibly more informative than going on about the virtues of Estlite is to tell you how I use it as it can be used in many different ways.
I have a networked system - so 2 copies of estlite running. Shop (Host) and Workshop (client).
The workshop pc is used to view orders - from them I get all my cutting information - glass type etc. New feature this year is customer notes - I can access stuff Ive noted down about the customer that may well flow from one job to the next - they like a particular hanging type or some other off menu like.
The shop copy is the one I mainly use for taking orders (although I can take orders from the workshop as well - and some users have several installations)
The shop pc has a postcode application running - Estlite uses this program to fill in customer information - postcode and first line of address and I have all the customers address. I ask for a mobile number - Estlite will automatically text them when I press the job complete button. I could also ask for email - and the programme could email instead of text.
If an existing customer comes in I can recall old jobs - and pertinent facts - what they like - dont like etc.
I can then price multiple jobs - recall and use old jobs - add stock items priced from a stock list - (sell them moulding if you do that) accurately detail what the customer wants and present them with a detailed job sheet that contains enough detail to be used as a vat invoice. This detail can be highly personalised - logo - legal text etc.
I use colour coded bars - and installed price lists with suppliers moulding codes - the system can use these to generate chop sheets that are processed so that they can be emailed directly to the supplier. Possibly more relevant to me as I use a lot of chop.
When my customer pays me (upfront in my case, but you could just take a deposit) the system records that payment - when it was made and how - cash debit card etc. I can then view that data in excel - Estlite provide a little excel spreadsheet with macros - very useful.
Same reporting system used to generate chop sheets can be used for customer mailshots - cutting sheets etc. (they have to be configured by you to suit your needs - the chop sheet has been preconfigured.)
Back to the workshop pc and the history view page tells me at a glance where I am with my work flow - colour coding of jobs gives me access to a wealth of info - as stated before I use lots of chop - I know if its ordered - arrived awaiting assembly - out of stock - in progress - complete awaiting collection - collected. And for my few account customers unpaid or paid. This can be personalised and most users would have different priorities.
At that end point a box is ticked - a text sent and normally my customer turns up soon afterwards having received my text.
End of day figures saved - handy details given so that you can check your takings making sure it all balances up - data can then be safely saved to a place of your choice - online starage - remote drive etc.
Oh - I forgot - it also links to Preview - having designed the customers work on screen - the dimensions - mouldings - mat board etc are all taken into Estlite. So, as I said - not just a database!
Thank you all for your wise words, the overall impression is that the majorities use this program 20% pricing and 80% admin.
Ok, I understand the benefits you all talk of, however it seems that if your are capable of using a Mac/pc proficiently then one would be able to set in place your own business admin tools.
Is it a case of …Fear of Mac/pc programming has pushed people towards paying a large amount of money for these packages?
Grahame, will call you later to discuss.
Dermot, great customer service, nice!
Mike (Deepjoy), if it’s any help, to run windows programs I have split my Mac book pro hard drive 70/30 Mac os/ windows. So with a quick restart with alt you can have the best of both worlds.
Mark, thank you for your detailed words.
Just as a quick footnote, whats your view on Frame visualization programs? Do you use them? would you intergrate them into your pricing packages?
