Where to buy picture frames

Frames are sold by five quite different kinds of business, and the price for the same object varies by a factor of ten between them. Knowing which one to use for which job is most of the skill.

The options, compared

General retail

Supermarkets, homeware chains, discount stores. They stock 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 18x24 and 24x36, and essentially nothing else.

What they are for: you need a common size today, and cost matters more than anything else.

What to check: these frames vary enormously at similar prices. Glazing is frequently styrene rather than glass or acrylic — thin, wavy, scratches immediately and yellows within a few years. Backing is often flimsy card that lets the print bow. Corners are sometimes simply stapled.

A good general-retail frame exists; you have to look at it rather than at its price.

Craft stores

Wider range, including some non-standard sizes, plus ready-made mats, matboard, and often a mat-cutting service.

Their defining characteristic is aggressive and near-continuous discounting. Frames are frequently listed at a price nobody pays. Buying at full price in a craft store is essentially a choice, and waiting a week or two is usually rewarded.

What they are good at: buying a frame and a matching mat in one trip, and having a custom mat cut without going to a framing shop.

Online frame retailers

This is where the actual range is. Every standard size, many non-standard sizes, a genuine choice of mouldings and finishes, and custom sizing at prices well below a full framing service.

Advantages: selection that no physical shop can match; custom mats ordered to exact dimensions; better mouldings than general retail at similar prices; the odd sizes — 9x12, 12x16, 12x18, 20x28 — that nobody stocks.

Disadvantages: you cannot judge a finish from a photograph, colours differ from screen to delivery, and large frames carry oversize shipping charges that can rival the frame's price. Glass is rarely shipped; acrylic is the norm.

Practical tip: for anything where the finish matters, order one before ordering six.

Framing shops

Full service: any size, any moulding, custom mats, conservation glazing, and someone who knows what they are doing mounting the artwork.

Why it costs what it does. Custom framing is priced as labour, not materials. Cutting and joining a moulding, cutting a mat with a clean bevel, cutting glazing, hinging artwork correctly and fitting the whole thing is an hour or more of skilled work per piece. The materials are bought in small quantities at retail-adjacent prices. There is no hidden margin; it is genuinely that much work.

When it is worth it: original artwork, anything of real sentimental value, odd sizes where no standard frame comes close, and conservation framing where the glazing and mounting materially affect how long the piece survives.

When it is not: reproduction posters, prints you will replace, and anything where a standard frame and a custom mat would get you 90% of the result.

The middle option people miss: many framing shops will sell a chop — four cut and mitred lengths of your chosen moulding — or a join, the assembled empty frame. Either costs a fraction of full service and leaves you to fit the contents. If you are comfortable assembling a frame, ask about this; it is rarely advertised.

Secondhand

Thrift stores, charity shops, estate sales, flea markets and online marketplaces.

Old frames are frequently better made than cheap modern ones. Solid wood rather than MDF, real glass, proper joints. A frame bought for the price of a coffee can be worth stripping for its glass alone.

What to check before buying:

• Woodworm. Small round exit holes, and fine dust beneath. Do not bring it into a house with other wooden furniture.
• Corner joints. Press the frame diagonally. Movement means the joints have failed and will need re-gluing.
• Cracked glazing. Cheap to replace, but factor it in.
• Warping. Sight along each rail. A twisted frame will never sit flat against a wall.
• The finish. If it might be a genuine antique, do not strip it — see vintage and antique frames before doing anything irreversible.

What things actually cost, relatively

Rather than figures that date, here is the ratio between the options for the same 16x20 piece:

The interesting row is the third. A custom-cut mat inside an inexpensive standard frame is the single highest-value framing purchase available — it accounts for most of what makes a framed piece look professional, and it costs a small fraction of full service.

A working strategy

1. Standard size, ordinary artwork: general retail or craft store frame, with a ready-made mat.
2. Standard size, artwork you care about: decent frame plus a custom-cut mat and better glazing.
3. Odd size: nearest standard frame up, plus a custom mat cut to the artwork. See what size frame do I need.
4. Original artwork, or anything irreplaceable: framing shop, conservation materials, and let them mount it.
5. Building a gallery wall: buy all the frames in one order from one source so the finishes match.

Questions worth asking a framer

If you do use a framing shop, a few questions materially change what you get and what you pay.

• Can I supply my own frame or moulding? Many will, and it separates the cost of the frame from the cost of the work.
• Do you sell a chop or a join? Cheaper than full service if you can fit the contents yourself.
• Is the mat board acid-free? It should be, and on cheap jobs it sometimes is not.
• What is the glazing? Plain, UV or anti-reflective, and glass or acrylic. This is where the price differences hide.
• How is the artwork being mounted? Hinged with archival tape or photo corners, not glued or dry-mounted, unless you have agreed otherwise.