COST OF FRAMING A FOOTBALL SHIRT

[shepherdn]

I recently had a request for box framing a football shirt, this is out of my remit at the moment so I contacted my supplier who quoted trade price £175 + VAT I put a very small margin on top of this, however, when I contacted the client they had been quoted £130 by a framing shop. I just wanted to know what the norm is for this kind of work because if I can't be even remotely competitive I feel it would be best to avoid this kind of work at the moment or I might get a reputation for being rather expensive!!

[Roboframer]

Apart from all the different overheads we have that makes prices vary from shop to shop and area to area, there's also many other factors to consider.

I could frame a shirt for less than that - much less, but it wouldn't be done very well - or I could frame it very well for around that , if it was small!

I normally charge £50 to make the thing frameABLE - (stitch (or tag) to foam board insert, stitch (or tag) that to mount) Then it's a frame that's up to the job, with a good rebate, or a box of some sort if the customer does not like anything that fits that description - either way it won't be a cheap contract frame, and then there's spacers and lining the spacers.

That's a basic job and I'm around the £180-£200 mark - but after that you could add mounts, fillets, photos, tickets, scarves, etc etc, which all bump up the price.

Nielsen do an aluminium ready-made shirt frame and that's about £130 retail!

[signatures-r-us]

Hi

Funny thing I was at my local club, Bradford City for a charity evening on Saturday.
They had a couple of framed shirts, that were ready for corporate sponsors.
Seeing as I know the lad in charge I asked how much they pay for them, thinking I might be able to offer my services......
You ready for the answer.....
£55.......
I was gobsmacked, and thing is they were very nicely framed too....
Needless to say I didn't follow the lead up.....

Jeremy

[Roboframer]

Wow!

Mind you, I recently re-framed a shirt that looked just fine - spaced well back from the glass. The customer paid less for the shirt and its frame than I charged to re-frame it!

The moulding had a groove for the glazing, which was sytrene - so it was joined with the glazing in; no need for spacers. The shirt was mounted with a combination of staples and carpet tape and the board it was mounted to was bonded to MDF and stapled to the back of the frame - unsealed.

I wonder if I was pushing out that sort of thing in quantity I could match that price?

[Nigel Nobody]

I wonder if I was pushing out that sort of thing in quantity I could match that price?

I couldn't be bothered to try to match that price. I would much rather they went somewhere else and let me get on with some profitable jobs!

The issue I have with signed jerseys being done to a price is that most of the general public think that if they put a jersey or anything else into a frame, any frame, it will be protected, then in a few years when things start to go wrong they will blame the framer, no matter how much they paid for it. Count me out!

[Roboframer]

I hear you Ormond - but there are cases where neither the customer or the framer gives one!

In the case of the customer - e.g. a large pub chain themed on sport - their framed shirts, whatever, are simply wall decor; no more important than the paint on the walls they hang on. One day they may decide to change from (say) Rugby to motorsport and simply throw the lot in the skip - and change the colour of the walls while they're at it!

In the case of the framer providing the framed shirts - they look only at time and cost - the job WILL BE profitable for them - and, as pointed out above, will still look good.

[mikeysaling]

not so sure about all this - i'm in two minds really - the most valuable shirt i framed was one of ian bothams and it was for a charity do! (as you can imagine it was a big shirt! - beefy botham). It was a few years ago but i framed it with arquadia frame box with styreme cut to shape sewn to the backing of velveteen (may have been billiard table type beize) anyway it took ages and i became yet another donator to the charity!! NEVER AGAIN!!! It was at this pointi bagan to hate charities! The biggest thing I ever framed was an aboriginal 'oil' whatever of dots on canvas - it was 6ft x 4ft again NEVER AGAIN - (the couple that had it framed split up and threw the whole thing on a skip when they parted) It was rescued glassbroken frame badly damaged and the finder brought it back for me to repair

Im happy with medals and militaria .

nb - the ausi dot thing i only did cause i knew the couple and 'it meant so much to them' bullshit!! all these famous shirts and other crap - you spend hours or not! and it ends up on ebay and does anyone care about the quality !!! i don't think so!

[Roboframer]

I'm amazed that anyone would use carpet tape and staples to mount a football shirt. I think that's worse than unprofessional, to my way of thinking it's totally dishonest to charge the customers for the privaledge of having their prized possession irrepairably damaged.

Don't be amazed - there are plenty of companies about whose main interest is making money; (er ..... reality check - isn't that what any business is about?) time is money and turning long bits of wood in to square ones; making big boards and big pieces of glass in to smaller ones, making holes in the boards and then fixing something inside those holes/on to those boards, is not very difficult with the machinery and materials available - in fact it's a piece of p.......p.......p.......proverbial - I've just taken on a new framer and she can do all that after less than a week.

Couple these businesses with other companies/customers that want something that looks the bollocks, but at a good price, and to meet a deadline...... and you have your average contract framer, who may or may not offer a bespoke service as well - with absolutely no upgrade on quality of methods or materials - but will still of course charge a bit more for the one-off.

That price will make you look like a conman!

Some of us love what we do and work to high standards and aim ourselves at customers that care - or we make customers aware - create awareness, create customers that care and then aim ourselves at them.

Do we REALLY care about the demise of their artwork? Where would it last longest....

1. In your frame - mounted and hinged with stuff that attacks 'enemies' present in any average home - like light and bad breath?

2. Under the bed in a suitcase?

Correct answer is #2 - but that's bad for business - if you care about preservation of art - really care, then you should be selling plan chests or something - which is not much of a go-er if it's to be a conversation piece.

In the case of your average football shirt, whether stapled and carpet taped or stitched ...the felt pen signatures are going to fade, with or without UV glass, long before the staples rust or the tape gives/rots.

The fabric the shirt is made from will probably fade at the same rate too - possibly quicker - it wasn't made to last - it was made to make sure a player from the opposite side didn't inadvertently pass the ball to an opponent.

[yankee]

the problem is to many people want to do a cheap job on football shirts and qoute 50 to 80 pounds and thats just throwing it into a frame.to do a good job with a box frame keeping it back from the glass nice mount round it well tagged in so its not hanging down at one side should really start at 130 upwards its about time we framers start charging for quality work that we do.if its a good job nicely done it will be worth the money.

[mikeysaling]

hate to put another conservation snag in the works - but if the shirt is unwashed and signed just off the field - how does sweat affect the life of it all??? Think i agree with robo - my general frames will last a lot longer than the contents. I'm wondering who the lucky winner of the IB shirt was - is it now banished to the box room or is it on E BAY!! With the medals ive seen them come through hell and high water - not to mention severe house fires - we can restore them .

conservation is great but how long before anything goes awry - before my mdf melts the medals uv b****rs the ribbons - years i think many many many. I have medal frames on my wall from 20 + years ago and they still look good - including the mighty mounted plaques!!

had my say!

[Roboframer]

You specialise in a fortunate line of work Mikeybaby - made from stuff (bar the ribbons which is another story) that clinks in pockets and cash registers rubbed against itself daily and has survived for decades, centuries even, that way.

They will outlive our frames whether our methods fail or not - thankfully.

[Nigel Nobody]

In the case of the customer - e.g. a large pub chain themed on sport - their framed shirts, whatever, are simply wall decor; no more important than the paint on the walls they hang on. One day they may decide to change from (say) Rugby to motorsport and simply throw the lot in the skip - and change the colour of the walls while they're at it!

This is what I call 'Temporary Framing' and I agree with you that it doesn't matter one whit what you do with it as long as it looks good!
Even for temporary framing of a jersey that includes frame, backing glass and time to do the job, I wouldn't want to touch it at some of the prices being stated here.

If you were selling in large quantities at 55 or 90 quid, how much would all of the materials (including waste) cost you up there if you bought cheap stuff?

[mikeysaling]

believe it or not one of the biggest parts of our business is replacement ribbons! AND nearly all the medals we frame the customer wants new ribbons - the old ones being 'conserved' on the frame back within an envelope etc! You would not believe (maybe you would) the state of some of the orignal ribbons! definately not frameable.

[Nigel Nobody]

conservation is great but how long before anything goes awry - before my mdf melts the medals uv b****rs the ribbons - years i think many many many. I have medal frames on my wall from 20 + years ago and they still look good - including the mighty mounted plaques!!

had my say!

Mike,
We all have to make our own decisions on how we frame stuff for our customers. Medals, ribbons etc are probably not going to be as badly affected as art on paper, textiles and some other items, but I prefer to use the best materials and methods if my customer will allow me to, and they almost always do.
I'm not sure that a cursory glance from the outside of an item that was framed item many years ago would give an accurate evaluation of whether there is deterioration or not.

My say!

[mikeysaling]

hey ormond - i have a price list

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/medals/page2.htm

but go back to the home page to see latest guest book thing!!

we make our money by a combination of shrewd buying of medals ribbons etc and cap badges (we got hundreds of them) and providing a tailor made service . in the uk there are framers - millitaria dealers - researchers - medal dealers - ribbon providers - etc etc but not all in one like me and tony!! we are the dogs b******s even if i say it myself! - when we started 20 years ago we thought the whole thing would run out of steam - it hasn't - we now get sons of ww2 soldiers - in fact sons of sons - having medals framed and put on bars - it goes on - the sad thing is - its to the worlds shame that conflicts continue!

[David]

I've been doing shirts for a long time and have quite a quick system now, but everything gets conservation standard framing, spacers, box or deep moulding, back and top mounts. Prices start at around £200 and go up depending on moulding, additional mounts, fancy cutting/creative stuff and UV or museum glass.

I've also reframed some dreadful bodge jobs, one included the removal of about 50 staples.

David.

[Nigel Nobody]

I've also reframed some dreadful bodge jobs, one included the removal of about 50 staples.

That's at least 100 nasty holes!

[David]

You're right Ormond, apart from being squshed in the frame up against the glass it looked OK from the front. When I opened it I couldn't believe it someone had gone manic with a staple gun, up each side across the top and down the middle - random pattern style.

David.