The Framers Forum

Looking for some advice/information on what fellow framers offer in terms of sundrys.

I’ve been asked several times if I supply D-Rings,cord, picture hooks etc but it’s not really something I’ve looked into until now.

If anyone can let me know what they offer (pictures of display would be great) along with prices they charge that would be extremely helpful.

Thanks, Ian

Supplying sundries as retail sales to the average customer, who comes in off the street is a largely pointless exercise for most of us. There's next to no profit in selling items like this whatsoever and the sales volume if you want to persue this market is a bit pointless. Customers can obtain cheap sundries on ebay for prices that will make you wince and the quality is such that you won't touch the same stuff with a barge pole.

Stock the sundries that you need for you own use and if someone wants to buy them mark them up at ten times what you paid for them and just accept the fact that you won't even cover your normal hourly rate, while picking out what the customer wants. Sorry, but there is not any worthwhile money in selling small quanities of stuff like that.

No harm having a pos display selling a few items. lion sell various pod display items in packets.

I have all this stuff loose and if they only want a couple of wall hooks I generally hand them out gratis (if I like the look of them )

Lost money? Well by the time I have looked up the price and put the cash though the books that's all time and I would be more out of pocket.
I write it down to good PR and it's (a lot) cheaper than advertising.

Buying bubble-packed stuff for resale involves quite a big outlay and that's capital tied up. Displaying it takes a lot of space.
Not so bad if you have a large premises with a large footfall of customers but a lot of us don't.

I bought this display from a framer who was closing, and added my own header, I get the bags from Lion along with cards to go in them, but I have my own cards printed by a local printer (in exchange for framing) and we just pop bits in, we sell them on eBay and do quite well with them, I get my part timer to make them up when we don't have a lot to do. another thing for me to do when I retire at the end of next year

I bought a display peg board/hangers from Lion a few months ago it was cheap as I think they have discontinued them now.
I also bought a selection of prepackaged hooks etc. (They now have a different name to when I bought them, the mark up is approximately 100% but most importantly they are there if someone asks (happens rarely) they also have instructions and weight limits printed on packaging card, so no come back on you if they hang a 6x4 mirror etc. off a nail in picture hook. Sometimes I will hand some over gratis to good customers if they comment about hangers when collecting their framing jobs.


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When I first opened the shop I offered small bags of sundries but quickly found it to be a time consumer for very little return. Now I always give hooks FOC to all customers when they collect their framing if they want them.

If somebody walks in and asks if I sell hooks/cord/d rings I grab what they want from the bench and when asked how much I say put some coinage in the charity collection box on the counter (Scotty’s Little Soldiers).

I find that this approach has brought some of those people back in for a full framing job and also provides referrals to their friends and family. It’s a method of cheap advertising.

LION still stock peg board sheets with hooks https://www.lionpic.co.uk/r/25417/Pegboard-Hooks