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Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

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Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#51

Post by bradleyjg »

jhubball wrote: post #39
ISL wrote: post #29

These sentences in your copy set me up to expect a framing solution that would let me frame a poster in a nice frame for ~$40: "A handful came from Fab.com, there was a Ray Lamontagne concert poster I picked up after a show, and several others I had purchased on and offline. Not one had cost over $40." I felt let down that the minimum cost for framing 24x36 prints was then $109+. It's a nifty idea, and the custom-fra…

Thanks for the feedback! Price-wise, there is almost no way a wooden frame of that size with a framers-grade acrylic could ever get down to that size. Cost of the wood alone is ~$0.30 per linear inch. For me, I think it's wonderful that you can get a great print or poster for $40. That problem has been solved. But you can tell a cheap frame from a quality one every time.

That just doesn't sit right. It is like if you had to pay significantly more for a belt than for the pants they are holding up.

I get sticker shock every time I go to buy a nice poster, print, or art piece at what seems like a very reasonable price and then see the cost triple or quadruple when I add the frame and shipping.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#52

Post by earlyriser »

What I'd like is to be able to enter the dimensions of my print, let's say 10x10in and no more options: a kind of ikea product, -4 sides of the frame, the sides are made of wood alone, that I can assemble like legos, the cheapest wood with a natural feeling -matting (calculated on the size of print)

You could decrease production costs because you won't be making frames by order, just having a bunch of "sides" with different dimensions.

If you can deliver this under $20 it would be perfect for me.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#53

Post by wmeredith »

ISL wrote: post #29

These sentences in your copy set me up to expect a framing solution that would let me frame a poster in a nice frame for ~$40: "A handful came from Fab.com, there was a Ray Lamontagne concert poster I picked up after a show, and several others I had purchased on and offline. Not one had cost over $40." I felt let down that the minimum cost for framing 24x36 prints was then $109+. It's a nifty idea, and the custom-fra…

24x36 frame with foam core backing and U/V protective lens cover for just a hair under $55 ($51.05 if you monkey with the settings right, $70-ish if you want all the bells and whistles): http://www.wholesaleposterframes.com/product_info2.php

Now... That website is ugly and hard to use. I wish it wasn't, but their product is great and by far the cheapest I've found that's not junk. I've order 15 frames since I discovered them a few years back, and they're great. The frames arrive incredibly well packed. They do require assembly, but it only takes about 10 minutes to go from unpacked to wall once you've done the first one or two.

You should also note that they are metal frames (they own the factory), but they have a wide variety of finishes and are very high quality. No wood options, though.

No affiliation, just sharing the link.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#54

Post by demoran »

Just tried a random size (24x36, + 3 inch matting, other things default) and tried to match it in a German manufacturers webshop.

Prices: 180 $ (+ sales tax depending on state, correct?) vs 180 € (= 240 $, includes 19 % tax)

Options: Very similar, german site offered more detailed options for materials (neutral, since to much can be to much) and also for different mounting methods and artwork thicknesses (can be relevant depending on artwork)

I feel like you need to work on presenting why I should go with you as someone new to the market at not-that-much-better prices than an established, well-regarded company which gives me more options and information about their product. Maybe your materials or craftmanship are better, but I have no real indication that this is the case, or the difference is on a level a might care about. Right now I have you calling your competition criminals and then charging more or less the same.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#55

Post by Theodores »

jhubball wrote: post #42
joshfinnie wrote: post #37

Thank you for this... what great execution to an issue you wanted to solve! One question, where do you source your "best bet" suggestions from?

So framing is mostly subjective, but there a fair amount of science and best practice can be applied. Based on the size of the artwork, there are some "golden ratios" around how thick the mat and the frame should be. The Best Bet button employs a simple algorithm that will give you the recommended configuration. More room to optimize this, but main goal was to have one button that would get you to something good look…

I have an upsell for you to consider. However, a small word of caution regarding artists - they are like herding cats and as the legendary Paul Graham discovered, quite hard to base a start up around! However...

The upsell is for the artist's market. They need to get their pride and joy off to galleries and shows. So even if they are driving the stuff to the gallery themselves, it still needs to be packed and made transportable.

The solution - 'art bags'. These are tailored to the frame with a few inches to spare and are made of that bubble-wrap that has mylar film backing in it - heat welded together, rip-proof and good for shifting framed artwork around without it getting damaged. A simple flap - add velcro if you must - closes the bag. Prominent on the front is an enclosure to add a picture of the picture with the expected fragile notice, artist's name, name of the piece, phone number etc.

Obviously such bags can be used for shipping the frames so you can sell on your packaging :-)

There is an un-developed market for this in the UK, as in a cottage industry. As a standalone business it is a hard sell, however, as part of a framing business it could work out quite nicely. Plus the start up costs for the materials and welding device are not great. Trade building supplies places sell the mylar film bubble wrap stuff so it is not hard to get.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#56

Post by jhubball »

Yen wrote: post #45

Trying out the site, I'm really liking the frame editor, UI-wise. Particularly * actually shows the expected price, in-line, without having to go to a new page. * shows both the low-detail, big-picture information (a picture of the actual frame), and the high-detail information (exact specs of the frame) * can quickly switch between options, and the display updates This combination of features lets me quickly iterate…

I got triptychs on the roadmap - huge fan of how those look!

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#57

Post by jkaunisv1 »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #44
jkaunisv1 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may be cheaper than similar offerings, but it is still expensive. The thing that jumped out at me from his writeup is the initial problem he was trying to solve - framing a piece of art without paying 10x the price of the art or more. It doesn't _feel_ like he accomplished that, even if he technically did by bringing it down to 3 or 5x. My inner consumer doesn't want to pay more for a frame than I did for what's g…

It may be cheaper than similar offerings, but it is still expensive. Fair point. I'm framing hand-made photographs (i.e. made in a wet darkroom) with a retail cost measured in the hundreds of dollars, not posters or prints purchased from art.com. It's totally reasonable that you wouldn't want to pay more for the frame than what's in it. a shitty frame Chipboard, particle board. That sort of thing.

Makes sense. Most of my art is $20-40 prints bought to support artists at conventions and a simple pine frame would do the trick. Eventually I'll just cut my own.

I'm glad to see OP is targeting the higher end market with the possibility of expanding to the low-end later. It's not what I'm after, but it clearly has value and at least he's not trying to do it all.

Re: Why I took on building a better way to frame any poster, print or photo

#58

Post by jkaunisv1 »

solipsism wrote: post #35
jhubball wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks donall! Yes, these are not cheap frames or Ikea offerings. They are what you would get from a high-end custom frame shop. I'm able to bring the prices down by going direct, removing the need to handle the artwork (you do that part, but it's not hard) and eliminating the retail overhead.

Maybe I'm cheap. I want cheap frames and Ikea-like offerings, but I want custom sizes and combinations, and I want it for like $20. It seems ludicrous to me to spend $5 on a cheap thing but $100 if I need it custom-sized. I fully acknowledge I may be asking too much. Just saying that if you can hit that price point I will probably become a customer. No idea if I'm unique.

I'm definitely the same use case as you. I feel like there will be a lot of people who feel similarly. Post-college but still frugal is how I think of myself.

Doesn't sound like what OP is going for right now - seems like he would have better margins to start out on the high end. I don't have experiential data but I've read in many places that low-price products can have more difficult consumers because they expect so much for $20.

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