Things that are just bafflingly expensive

Never had anything framed - how much did you get stung for?

Those framers are mad defensive.

The prob I guess is that it doesn't seem hard in my head - like you can guess handmade shoes would be stupid expensive because they seem very hard to make. But a wood oblong, not so much. And even if you just keep making your made-up version of framing harder ('special wood', 'special glue', 'very straight') it still never seems like it's that specialised a skill, not till you get to those fancy gold-leaf frames with fruit round the edges etc. .

If I made a makeshift frame & showed it to someone they would say, 'o a slightly shitty frame, you made it yourself, that is nice'. If I made some shoes, they would say 'What is that? Well they don't look like shoes. You can't wear them. How long did that take? Why?'.

I have a Dubout film poster at home that cost a lot of money, but not as much money as the frame.

When my mom has had stuff framed for me at home, they do a custom frame, the design of which you choose out of HUNDREDS, cut not to the size of your artwork, but to the size of however many layers of matting are going in it -- different colors of matt will frame your item differently, plus the angled cut leaves a white border of varying widths (depending on the angle) that adds depth again and sets off the next layer...

How far you want the matts to extend in framing the piece depends on a ton of shit, like whether the scale of the orig is bold or dainty, how big the space is in your home where the piece is going...hell, probably 5 other things.

If you want your art or poster to go right up to the edge of the frame and have no matt and no detailing, fuck it, go to Ikea!! Don't get it professionally framed at all.

My wife bought like a 9" x 12" print when she was in Italy back in 2004, we took it to a frame shop and were told it was going to be $200 to frame it. She paid $45 for the print.

some ikea frames have mattes

Nice to know. I have a 15-yr-o Belle & Sebastian show poster that I want framed, and it's an odd size and I might want it double-sided glass b/c it's a double-sided print. Not really looking forward to that final number, but it's prob a couple of years away anyway.

can't believe arugula hasn't been mentioned yet

it's a weed

weed

can't believe arugula hasn't been mentioned yet

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, March 10, 2010 12:33 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

it's a weed

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, March 10, 2010 12:34 PM (44 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

same with ramps. they grow everywhere in upstate ny, yet go for $16 a pound at farmer's markets.

27. Pizza

I was thinking about this this morning. I live in a neighborhood w/ super cheap ethnic food everywhere but the pizza places aren't cheaper than anywhere else in the city. you'd think there'd be more price competition, esp considering how cheap the ingredients are.

this pizza place near my office just lowered their prices to $1 a slice. First time I've seen pizza prices go down.

imo that should be the fair price for a not-fresh piece from some crappy hole in the wall pizzeria

any job that requires a person with specialized skills to work on something for an extended period of time will be big bucks

this seemingly logical statement so far from the truth

Friends tell me framing in the US is way more expensive than the place I used to go to in the UK. I need to get a picture re-framed :(

cant believe you guys are such framing haters

if u have nice artwork its important to have a quality frame that complements the art, otherwise your art will look shitty and you will look like a fool

It's almost as if we're trying to make it appear that the industry is guilty of some crime that it did not commit.

¯\(º o)/¯

if u have nice artwork its important to have a quality frame that complements the art, otherwise your art will look shitty and you will look like a fool

lookit dis dude, buyin' into the framing-industrial complex lie$

Good framing is worth it.

anyway yall want me 2 blow yr minds

shit is expensive

because

~~~people will pay lots of money for shit~~~

I would agree that the industry is gilty

thanks, max. i like the way your argument is framed.

I got two screen print posters framed at the local (UK) framing shop and paid about £60 each (total size about 30" x 14"), which seemed fair to me - all the stuff upthread about expert knowledge for the type of materials, best mounting colour etc resulted in a far better job than I'd ever do, even if I had access to a shed, suitable woods, saws, glass, ambulance service etc.

And for something truly bafflingly expensive I'd like to agree with the comments from '07 that printer cartridges are absurdly so - a few weeks back I spent the best part of five grand at work on HP toners, effectively coloured dust in a box.

yeah but that's not baffling

(printer company has (more or less) a monopoly over making cartridges for its printer -> $$$$)

lol i'm only posting here because i was just looking at my tub of grapes and saying "two quid for these wot a rip off" and seconds later just saw this thread

Took a smallish painting to be framed the other week, came to £90 - when I looked at the price list I exclaimed "christ, that's expensive" exactly as mr spacecadet (who has had things framed before) declared it to be very reasonable

but an incident a few years ago led to me attempting to, uh, reconstruct the small wooden frame around the 4"x6" glass pane in my parents' front door - thought this would be a simple task but after much measuring and sawing had 4 pieces of wood which did not fit together at all, so yeah, not going to make my own picture frames any time soon

i used to be a framer (lol to see a link to the grumble on ilx). even the simplest moulding starts at about $10/ft. retail, plus they get you for glass ("oh, you're gonna want the UV-protectant, glare-resistant glass too"), upsell you to the nice suede mat board, then talk you into a decorative fillet around the bevel. then of course the price has got to account for my minimum wages. yes it's all overpriced, but no more overpriced than the art itself. 90% of the clients who came into my shop were all rich old ladies anyway.

cell phone service is needlessly expensive.

fucking amoral greedhead
http://www.thecompletepictureusa.com/images/nancy1.jpg

i do not miss that velcroed wall

Framing whatevs, I can dig why it would be $$$. What gets me is how much it costs to buy a pre-made canvas compared to the price of knocking one together yourself. And the canvases available at the one place that sells them here in town could not seem cheaper or shoddier in quality. I'll save $$ on the canvas & then cry when I got to get it framed.

if i didn't buy razor blade cartridges for six months i could probably use the money to frame a poster

stretching your own canvas is really satisfying once you get good at it. professional gift wrappers at the mall also know this joy, although they're limited to scotch tape while framers get to use a pneumatic staple gun.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21GrdRowR4L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Much much cheaper.

Framing is a scam, but how to get around it? It's a sellers market cause you already have the art... what the fuck else are you going to do with it? Blu-tack it to your wall? Also, what iiiijjjj said above – a good percentage of the customers are not very price-sensitive. And, the raw materials are very expensive for unclear reasons. The shop obviously has to keep a lot of stock on hand, which is inefficient.

my family thought about getting my diploma framed but after seeing the prices, no. I think it's currently rolled up bound with rubber bands sitting in some desk drawer at home.

yeah xposts cellphone service in canada is even more expensive than most places! it is dumb
i don't think cellphone and laptop batteries should be so $$ either

i got something framed for a christmas present a few months ago and was gen surprised at how cheap it was so maybe this is a US thing.

shampoo

Shampoo is $0.99 for a bottle of VO5. Not shampooing at all = freer and better for your hair in the long run.

not down w/ dirtbag style

I'd like to agree with the comments from '07 that printer cartridges are absurdly so

If you search ebay or amazon you can find refillable cartridges that match your printer, and they have chip overrides on them so you can refill until the end of time. I bought one two years ago -- it came with little CMYK refills bottles -- and have just now run out of ink. And now replacing everything will only be 10 bucks or so.

But yeah, the ink racket....sheesh!

ayo just use less shampoo afaik

The Rev. you have like no hair! How is shampoo a big expense? Are you like an Aveda groupie or summat?

I gave my upstairs neighbor whose hair is same length, etc., as yours 1/2 a bottle of shampoo (a small bottle) and it lasted him like 3 months before he asked me for more shampoo. (I am an Aveda groupie so I felt odd knowing this guy was using some girly-smelling shampoo. Also why was I giving this guy shampoo?)