Quite A Difference In Picture Framing Shop Prices

14 years ago

A couple of months ago I bought a large framed print at a garage sale for my living room for $75, which i just love. However, considering its best room placement, I decided to switch out the regular glass for non-glare. I took it to "Michael's", I guess a national chain (?) which is heavy on crafts but also has a picture framing department in the back of the store. The price they quoted for doing this & reassembling (no new frame, no new mat) & ready to hang was $120.

I decided to just think about this as it did sound awfully high, so a few days later I stopped into a little framing shop closer to our neighborhood. I didn't have the picture with me this time, only told her it was about 36" x 36", and she quoted me a price of $60 for the very exact same thing "Michael's" quoted on.

Today I again stopped in the little frame shop, but this time with the picture in tow. I was amazed she remembered me two weeks later. Said since the picture turned out to be only 32" x 32", the price would be $50 rather than the $60 she had earlier quoted me. Recall Michael's quote was $120 measuring & knowing the exact size of the picture.

Guess which one I went with?

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Comments (3)

johnmari
14 years ago
Yes, Michaels is national, and IMO they're a big ripoff. They run "50% off framing" coupons so often that they jack up their regular prices in order to accomodate that reduction - with the coupon their prices are usually comparable to independent frame shops and their quality is often inferior. Good call to go somewhere else.

For future reference... If you're up to reassembling a picture yourself (easy once you get the hang of how it goes together), you can take the frame to a glass shop and have a piece of glass cut to fit it. It is MUCH cheaper to buy glass this way than it is to get it at a frame shop where it is marked up, often by a great deal. I once took a picture (approximately 20x30) to a frame shop to purchase new glass after it got knocked off the wall, and the framer wanted $40 for the glass alone. I had already disassembled it to get the broken glass bits out of the edges of the frame so I was just lugging around the frame. On the way home I passed a glass shop and on impulse stopped in. They had the exact same glass in stock, cut a piece while I waited and charged me closer to $15. I frame in acrylic - aka plexiglass - nowadays for weight and safety, especially for large pieces.
User
14 years ago
That's a great tip johnmari, I hope you added it to that thread posted a few days ago regarding Decorator Tips.
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pammyfay
14 years ago
I never go to Michaels anymore. In addition to the fake sales and markups, I just don't think the framers are very skilled (well, I shouldn't make a blanket statement like that: the ones near me are not).

I live in Northern Virginia, and there's a store called Total Framing in the area. A great shop, very skilled framers, reasonable prices, and when I want just glass or a new mat, they usually can do it while I wait.

I wonder if, in addition to the markups you find elsewhere, the independent frame stores are just finding it hard to compete in this economy, because for many people, framing or reframing is something to put off for a better day. And maybe that's why they stick to more-reasonable prices to try to keep, or rebuild, their return-customer base.

(And the day Total Framing closes its doors, I will cry my eyes out!)

Quite A Difference In Picture Framing Shop Prices

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johnmari

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