The Framers Forum

My other work sources have come to an end, as has my stock of Frinton bundles, so I want to get cracking. I'd like to know from a lower volume framer how you manage ordering moulding in particular.
Do you order straight away and factor delivery into your price, or do you wait to get to the carriage paid level, which affects your turn round on projects of course. What kind of turn round are you offering. Any views appreciated, thanks.

We deal with 3 to 4 different suppliers regularly and as a result don’t always have sufficient to qualify for carriage free. Our turn around is long enough that we can wait at least 2-3 weeks before we have to place an order.

If a customer needs a quick turn around then I explain that the cost of carriage will be added to their invoice.

I am a low volume, working from home framer, although I do have a customer base built up over many years on the High St, but 40 miles away from where I now live. I use mainly Centrado, (but the same strategy would work with Wessex). My approach is to sell mainly AR70 glass, so by ordering that one or 2 sheets at a time, and my moulding and mount board as I need it I can still have sufficient order value to make free delivery at least once a week. ( I can get Centrado delivery on Monday and Thursday each week), probably 5 or 6 orders a month is normal for me. If I was to use more suppliers I would struggle to make carriage free orders with each supplier.

As for turnaround, I manage 80% in 7 days and 99% in 14 days. I think that is a large part of why customers continue to come to me, in spite of my short opening hours and working completely by appointment. I also find that I can still remember what the customer wanted, in spite of my inadequate notes. Jobs from a month ago I would probably have forgotten what I was meant to do!

My customers all seem happy with a 4-6 week turnaround, I always state that it is often much shorter. I use two moulding suppliers, one mostly chop. If it's a rush order I add the carriage charge onto the job. If not, it is factored into my pricing software as an expense and shared between all jobs.