Pricing Software Question

[fitz]

Hi. I currently use the Estlite software for pricing jobs and yesterday I was asked by a customer why I only measured the actual print rather than the whole item which already had a substantially sized mount around it. I explained that the programme automatically calculates the mount cost and takes wastage into account therefore it’s the artwork measurement that is entered into the system and not the mount sizes. If I took the measurements from the whole package it would cost considerably more. It was only later I began thinking about this and am probably second guessing myself. Should I be adding on the mount width when entering the sizes on the software to calculate the price and have I been ripping myself off for years?

[JKX]

Yes!

[fitz]

Damn. Thanks for that very succinct response.

[JKX]

Well maybe the software assumes a mount but if so, how wide, an inch, four inches? You surely have to tell it how wide and what colour reference too and then it can calculate the glass size and also cost different types/thickneses/mutiples of mount - it's just like me, information has to be punched in to it.

If something comes in mounted and you're framing it as is, then the software has to know the outside size in order to price glass, moulding and backing plus any other extras but you don't need to tell it the mount width as well, otherwise it would surely assume you're cutting that too, but you're not.

I don't know this particular software but am assuming if all you give it is an image size, that's how it will price it, unless there is something built in, which will not be relative to every job.

[fitz]

Yea I get it. Wonder if that’s why I’ve been so busy

[Justintime]

Fitz, fwiw a lot of us are happy to do price checks, if you want a gauge of where you're at.

[NTG999]

Hi, I use the basic Estlite BBEst and you will probably notice the length comes up on page 1, a handy check. So if you have a frame 40cm x 50cm, 3cm wide it calculates 1.8m + 8x 3cm plus whatever your waste is set to; mine is 20% so total 2.45m. unfortunately this length doesn't come up on the printed docket. When you add a mount it doesn't change the length or when you add the mount widths.
Another thing to be aware of is the % markup of mouldings, in my way of the thinking if a moulding costs £3 per metre and you mark it up 100% then you would be selling it for £6 per metre, in BBEst 100% is 100% of what you paid for it i.e. no markup

[fitz]

Thanks Justin and NTG999 for your responses. The most recent example of this was an already mounted print. I measured the artwork @ 35.5 x 25cms. Centrado moulding CO.CR3313OK. The price for the moulding came up at £33 on the pricing software. I had no mount cost obviously and the glass price came to £6.70. The glass size was 50.7 x 40.5 so at that measurement the frame price would be £30 odd more on the framing software than my measurements of the print? I paid £17.46 for the frame moulding which left me with around £15 or so profit. I guess I’m short changing myself as that’s around £10 an hour for time?

[NTG999]

You are short changing yourself, the glass price should be calculated on the frame size, the software I originally misunderstood; there is a setting for the minimum glass price this I thought would be (if set to for example £5) the minimum charged even if the glass is tiny, but it doesn't calculate like that, it is £5 plus the (tiny) glass cost - minimum, as in starting price. I can go through the settings if you want?

[Justintime]

I'm on framiac, I'm getting £58 fitted. On my Estlite it's £55.50 (and I haven't updated the glass prices in a few years...)
I couldn't remember but looking at it now, yes you have to input the outside measurements, otherwise it's pricing your moulding and glass at the artwork size not the frame/glass size!

[fitz]

Thanks very much Justin and NTG999 for taking the time to respond. I think I definitely need to sort this and will look at the settings on the software as you suggest. I’ll study the Help Section and see what I can come up with.

[NTG999]

I am about the same price as Justintime
On my BBEst software an important figure is the Minimum Frame Price on the Mouldings Tab, if you raise this and have lower margin on materials then small jobs cost more to the customer, if you lower this and make your money on larger margin on materials big jobs can become very expensive