The Framers Forum

Without getting in to any debates on RMFs and whether they're worth doing (they are for us - I need to find something to do for 8 people a day!)

Those who do sell them - any sizes or styles that sell better than others?

Someone mentioned square frames at some point, anyone had any luck with that?

Thanks,

andrew

There was a thread before viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15691&p=121716&hili ... es#p121716
and this a copy of a post I made to it

we sell a lot of square R/M as there seems to be a lot of square prints around at the moment, due to IKEA square frames, we have a promotion on 6"x6" square frames with a mount in to fit 4"x4" pictures, they sell at £5.00 each or 5 for £20.00, they are great for Instagram photos

I keep a stock of glass cut to size in standard size up to A4, easy when you are cutting glass for the weeks work, just cut any off cut to the nearest standard size, they are then ready for any R/M you may make all so if anybody brings in any photo frame with broken glass, you can replace while they wait

going on from that the sizes we keep stock of are as below, the ones in green are our best sellers

6x4, 6x6 (as above) 7x5, 8x6, 9x7 ,8x8, 10x8, 10x10, 12x10, A4 then it's metric 23x23cm, 30x30cm. 30x40cm, A3, 40x40cm , 50x40

Thanks, Steve. That's really helpful.

That was the thread I had remembered but couldn't seem to come across when I was looking.

O.K., here's my take on RMF's.

Colour.

If I doing some coloured frames, I generally go for muted colours. I try to do a bit of the interior design type colours and subtile, or muted colour seem to sell well for me.

Natural woodgrains.

Classic wood grains like oak and ash are always popular. Washed and subtile / muted finishes get quite a bit of attention. I produce a significant volume of off-cuts in oak and like to use these up making RMF's.

Don't bother with "run of the mill" down market mouldings.

Always go for the quality end of the market look, but don't forget to price them to interest the buyers.

Try to display RMF's including mounts using some of your mountboard off-cuts

Scrap mountboard is quite often destined for the dumpster, so effectively it owes you nothing, but it creates appeal when included in your RMF's. Sorry, but in this case, the mounts work best as loss leaders to sell the RMF's.

Sizes - There are no magic sizes that are guaranteed to sell

Or if there are, I've never found them. I've customers who buy a frame because they like it, not because they necessarily have something that needs that particular size of frame. They will figure out what to put in it some other time.

Deep box frames

Some customers buy loads of these and just go away and see what fit into any particular frame. There's no sense, or reason to this, they just buy stuff from car boot sales, junk shops, you name it. Don't worry to much about it, just make a few deep box frame out of suitable scraps.

There's no obvious reason why there are days when people are buying and days when they are not

So don't think you are doing something wrong. My experience is that people will sometimes look at frames in your window for weeks before they buy it, especially if it for a birthday present. As they get nearer to the date, they are getting ready to go for it.

Too much choice puts off the indecisive

Beware of offering too many choices, it is not always the best strategy to get the sale. It's something they like and there nothing else there like it, that needs to be bought while it's still there. Don't say you nearly sold it the other week - that's can be a negative message! It can make them think that the other person changed their mind because they thought it was not that special.

kartoffelngeist wrote:I need to find something to do for 8 people a day!

That sounds to me like you need to do more than just making up some RMF's. Given the likely volume of RMF's that eight people can make in one day, perhaps you need to consider some other items as well. At some point you will run out of space for so many RMF's.

What about a trinket box, or two? How about small wall cabinets, with front opening glazed doors? You'll be surprised what else you can still make using your Morso, underpinner and some left over moulding.

Try to be a bit individual and distinctive as well, people love stuff that not "run of the mill".

Thanks, Mark. That's really helpful.

I've had a go at a few trinket boxes and they went fairly well. Hadn't thought of little cabinets. Not a bad idea at all. I'll need to have a little play around.

The little cabinets don't need to be any particular size, just make them out of off-cuts. Again price them to interest the buyers. My town is a bit quite these days, but I manage quite well with anything a little bit out of the ordinary displayed at the right price. The right price will be according to your location, not everywhere will necessarily have the same prices for the same things.