The Framers Forum

Does anyone know of a company who would buy several hundred prints from us?

We have recently refurbished our shop, and taken out about 3 print browsers with sleeves, to give our shop a more open, less cluttered appearance.

We are now left with the stock of assorted prints purchased from Rosensteils, Forest, Art Group, King and McGaw etc etc that we need to sell.

I could put them on ebay, either individually or as a job lot or two. I could try to sell them through the shop, but we have moved away from open editions and now concentrate on limiteds and originals. I could put an add in The Picture Business (which is probably my favoured option at the moment).

Has anyone faced a similar problem and how did you clear your surplus stock?

Robin

For all that you will get for your prints you might as well hang on to them. You will find that they will trickle out gradually, even if not on display.

People will come in from time to time whose requirements can be met by framing one of these prints.

On suggestion that I know off is that a framing shop in the US offer their old stock of prints at a knock down price with the proceeds going to a local charity……….say the local school or community centre………..some charity that is part of the local community…..or your target sales area…..

From that charity sale the US framing shop picked up a bucket load of framing…..and a load of new customers………….they reckoned it was the cheapest and best promotion they ever offered…..

Have a box or a jar (with the name of the charity on it) on the counter for the money from the prints……………that way you wont be running the charity donation through your books or you may be able to write the charity donation off against your tax….

Good luck

Sale of posters and prints today is very popular in Russia. You can probably find the client who will buy all your collection in Russia. All question, how many you request for it of money, and what it? You can place your offer with me at a forum of a site independently, and I shall translate it on Russian. Or send it to me on the electronic address, and I shall place it.

Thanks very much,

I will put a list together and forward it to you Aivar. Hiowever, it may take some time as we are trying to get our "new" shop sorted ourt first,

Robin

It is not necessary to gratitude.
Only, please, if you will send the information by e-mail, make the comment, that from a forum.
Last time as I began to take part in the international forums, me attack advertising.

Funny you should mention clearing prints!

Mrs Kev and I came to the conclusion that the floorspace is far better suited to ready made frames.

OP- Here's something you might try whilst you are sorting out the ebay listings-

we are starting monday clearing out ALL our unwanted mounted prints at 50 percent off or "free if framed" (pay only for the frame).

The old "free if framed" gag is a nice one, we've done that one before. Customers seem to love it, and word of mouth spreads like wildfire. Two years ago we bought in a job lot to do the "free if framed" promotion! funny how things come round....

We've had a good look, and we have found stuff thats ten years old or more in the browsers lol, and some items with three shop address labels on them!

Probably clear a batch (most of them) as an ebay job lot soon in time for someones christmas stock too, so you have to weigh up how much you'll get for them before christmas, against how much you'll make on the free-if-framed and 50% promotion if you hang on to them till after christmas.

We've noticed that people dont buy mounted prints to any extent any more. Neither do they seem to come in the shop to browse. In the past year or so there has been a sea change in how our customers shop, and we have shifted quickly from a frame shop that sold a lot of prints, to a frame shop that people bring a lot of prints they bought on the internet to

Most of ourt sales of framed pictures have been out of the shop window lately, rather than from in-store browsing. And the "frameables" (mounted little prints that fit into standard size mounts) is in another phase- people seem to want bigger pictures, which they look for first online then bring in for framing. That is if they have not already bought some "decorative" piece of crud in B&Q while they were choosing their paint on the six-weekly whole-house makeover, or oversized ArtGroup mass produced print in Argos...

In the past I'd always been minded to hang on, as they do "dribble out" nicely over the years. But I'm fed up of dribblers now, so we will be clearing what we can in a "sale" (our first ever Sale!) to make way for more profitable items (frames).

I think it marks a change in the way we are doing business, or will be doing business. Framing first, and what we frame up is to show up the framing, rather than to sell the pictures. Whereas we used to be a solid 50/50 framing/sales.

all the above imho, of course, as its different from town to town.
On the bright side: Ought to have our new electro-hydraulic morso for the busy season though.