The Framers Forum

Done a bit of research on various software programmes for pricing, in order to get consistent, accurate prices, but want to know what people find works the best and what is the best value for money...

If you haven't already found them then Estlite is certainly worth looking at for value for money and great customer service. You can also combine it with PreView visualisation software, both help make pricing simple and affordable. We have been using it for the last six years at least and are very happy with it. Just a one off payment for each, with excellent support from John McAfee who is also a framer.

Here are the website links:

http://estlite.scenes.biz/

http://pre-view.biz/

Hope that helps.

Rolf

Hi Smiffy

I've been using Framiac for about 8 months and have found it to be excellent. Its easy to get to grips with and the support is consistently great. I would say its the single, most important investment I've made for my business. http://www.framiac.com

i use Estlite, have done for a wee while now

but am keeping an eye on Lifesaver - www.lifesaversoft.com - they are performing a soft launch on the UK market at present- and are the biggest US software vendor for picture framing based on market share.

estlite does what we need it to, and at the right price, but lifesaver has a few more bells and whistles. my best advice is to download some demos and have a play. Software is a very "person orientatated" thing - you either love it or hate it

Grahame is correct in that the U.S. POS software companies that cater to the framing industry tend to have more comprehensive products. They typicallly are more expensive also. LifeSaver as well as SpecialtySoft and FrameReady each have about a third of the North American users according to some surveys that I've seen.

Not only do we pay the up front expense but also an annual subscription fee which not only gives us tech support, but pays for the pricing updates that can be downloaded. This is more important in the U.S. where a majority of framers rely on chop service to a greater degree and this allows them to offer more to the customer and with the POS software stay current with pricing. Remember that we have hundreds of suppliers in the U.S.

If you get the Arqadia Newsletter, 4 Walls, look in the current issue No.8 and you'll find a useful article on "Software - Servant or Master?". It has the url addresses of the six major POS providers available in the UK. The author suggests in the article that some framers might not require or desire POS software. I honestly would not be without it...

• The time saved in making pricing changes to samples - mountboard and moulding
• The ability to make changes in a quote on the spot with the click of a button on the bar code scanner
• The ability to generate a report that will tell me how this month compares to the same month for the past 4 years....within seconds!
• The ease in which a customer can return and I can pull up a quote on a frame given to this client 9 months ago.
• The list goes on....

I was honestly a bit surprised at the number of framers not using POS software when I asked this question during seminars at the Spring Fair. The sooner you start, the better...and the happier you will be!

John

Listed below are the six POS software vendors as identified in 4 Walls - No.8 Edition from Arquadia...

Royall Framing

EstLite

Lifesaver

Quick Price

Framiac

Frameman

Be sure to check out their websites...ask for a trial version (Most offer this for 30-90 days) and share your experience with others...

John

there we go, John has hit the nail on the head - a fabulous post!

John = pricing software legend.

Thanks man!

Dont forget Wessex PP4 (available via Wessex website)

I'm just trying to buy the BBEst Lite software, but I keep getting a message next to the bank card number field: 'Please enter a valid integer in this field'

I have deleted and re-entered several times, all result in the same message.

Anyone else had problems buying the software?

Could be that a space is being aded to the beginning or end of the number. Or, possibly somewhere within the card number, the letter "O" is being used in place of the number zero (or a lower case "L" or capital "i" where a one should be).

Hi John - am I right in thinking that its your software?

Neither of those solutions apply in this case... I must have done it 15 times, with 3 different bank cards... I'm wondering if there's a problem with the merchant service on the site?

Yep.

I've just tested the webpage and am unable to replicate the problem, so just came up with the only solution I could think of.

In further reflection, perhaps it's browser related. What browser are you using?

I've tried it on the work laptop (new and running windows as well as the iMac....

I just don't get it

..windows 8

Windows 8 is not the browser, ie, firefox etc is what you are looking for.

It's just done it... I don't know why it wasn't working - i've literally done NOTHING different

Ah well, sorted! Thanks for the help.

Looking forwards to getting it up and running!