The Framers Forum

Hi,

I just wondered what you all think of chop service? I have just looked into Larson Juhl's chop service and was surprised to learn that the chop price they show on their website isn't the full chop price! For example, the box oak moulding 155200000 has a listed chop price of £7.77 per metre, but if you order chop for a 508x406mm frame, for example, the charge is £17.10, which works out to £9.31 per metre. I contacted Larson Juhl and they said there's also a charge for cutting! I would have thought the chop price which is already higher already accounted for the cutting, not that there's then an additional unlisted price on top of that. To anyone who used chop service, is this right?

The reason I'm looking at chop services is I am finding that for every job I get, I tend to spend double what I'm charging on a Centrado or Larson Juhl order (not all for the framing job, but some to top the order up to minimum order amount or free delivery amount. I keep some of my more popular mouldings in stock, but people do tend to choose mouldings that I don't have in stock and there's no way I can stock all of them. That would be a cost and a storage issue. I thought maybe chop would work out cheaper than buying single lengths of moulding, which it would at their listed prices, but there isn't much in it at the price you actually pay, so I may as well buy a length for the same price and have some left over to maybe do something with at a later date.

You need to add VAT to the £7.77 price shown and charge accordingly.

NessFramers wrote: Fri 16 Sep, 2022 1:10 pm You need to add VAT to the £7.77 price shown and charge accordingly.

But they're not charging £7.77 + VAT. They show the chop price as £7.77+vat, but are charging £9.32 PLUS VAT. What I'm questioning is why is the chop price shown as £7.77 +vat when it's actually £9.32 + vat? Larson say "we also have to charge for cutting it", but surely that's already why the chop price is already higher??

I regularly use Lion’s Chop Service mainly for the more upmarket mouldings. However I always compare the stick length price for what I need to the chop price. It is frequently the case that their chop service is cheaper than buying the lengths I may need. If it works out cheaper for me to buy the lengths then that’s what I do. One of the benefits of the chop service is I am always guaranteed flawless mouldings that pin very nicely and I am happy to pay a little extra for this.

The reason the chop length is dearer is to account for the wastage. The cutting is something else. You can't really
expect them to do the work that you would have had to do for nothing.

I've never used a chop service, but plenty of shops use it routinely. It can make good financial sense for some framers. Not every framing business has room for a fully equiped workshop. It can be a different business model, with a difeerent priciing policy. I don't know anything about pricing your business to operate on a chop basis, but I expect that there will be others who can tell you how the do it.

prospero wrote: Sat 17 Sep, 2022 12:25 am The reason the chop length is dearer is to account for the wastage. The cutting is something else. You can't really
expect them to do the work that you would have had to do for nothing.

I appreciate that, I guess I would just rather see a price that includes wastage and cutting. That way I could look at the chop price on the website and know what it's going to cost me.

I think I have talked myself out of going down the chop route anyway. I don't have the room to stock masses of mouldings but I can still buy single lengths of lesser used mouldings as and when I need them. That way, I can keep more of my orders with Centrado - I don't really have enough framing work at the moment to justify ordering from two or more suppliers every week. There's only so much extra oak I can order every time to take my orders up to free delivery levels!!

I don't use chop service but I agree that the price displayed should be the price paid.

I would be annoyed if I saw a price of £7.77 + vat for chop and got charged £9.31 + vat.