Got a great deal on an art piece on Ebay?  If you're looking to change out the frame that comes with your art or if your art is purchased unframed, your excitement about your victorious win will not last long, especially when you go to get it framed and face the prospect of having to pay $100's of dollars.

It is not an uncommon complaint that the cost of framing often exceeds the cost of the art being framed.  For those that have a DIY (do it yourself) spirit, you have several options for framing your prized art.  Without a doubt, the most expensive part of custom framing is the cost of the custom frame itself, so knowing your options can go a long way towards saving yourself a lot of money.

Option 1 (ready-mades):  If you are fortunate to have an art piece that is a popular size (i.e. 12x16, 16x20, 20x24, 24x36)  you can take comfort in knowing that you can purchase a ready made frame at the fraction of the cost of having a custom frame made for you at your local custom frame shop.  There are unfortunately four main downsides commonly faced with this option.  The first is the size itself.  You are out of luck unless you find a ready made frame that is of the exact size that you need.  The second is selection.  Even when you find a ready made frame that meets the size of your artwork, you will probably find that your selection is very limited.  The third is quality.  There are a number of ready made frames that are made from wood composite, or even worse, polystyrene, which is a plastic based substance used in frame moulds.  While some people may not care about what the frame is made of so long as it looks good, it really is not a good feeling to know that your art is framed in a cheap material.  Finally, the fouth main downside with this option is time.  Hunting for a ready made frame that suits your needs (both size and style) can be a time consuming prospect and often is more costly than the money you save once you do find a suitable frame.  Nevertheless, if you enjoy hunting and look to get a great deal, your best bet is to search discount stores that sell framed art (you can always replace the art with your own art) or look for some great finds at garage sales.

Option 2 (making your own frame):  Do it yourselfers (DIYs) intrinsicly love doing things themselves (hence the name).  The main driver behind it for most is savings, or shall I say, the perception of savings.  The following is a common thought that attracts many artists or art owners to attempt at making their own frames: "If I can buy moulding at $5 a foot and do the framing myself, then why would I want to pay a custom framing shop $30 to $60 a foot (i.e. Michaels) to make my frame".  The $ comparison is quite appealing towards making the frame yourself.  This is what I call the perception of savings, because unfortunately it is just that.  First, in order to buy length mouldings to make your custom frames from, you either would buy them directly from the manufacturer, which is by far the most affordable way of getting the moulding, except that wholesalers by law can only sell to businesses and not individuals, or you can buy it at retail source at an inflated cost.  If you are able of establishing yourself as a business, acquiring a certificate of resale, and successfully demonstrating that you are indeed running an active business in the trade, you can invest in purchasing length moulding in bulk at an attractive price per foot.  The main problem at this point is the significant up front cost and the storage space you would have to have to placing your length moulding.  Unless you want to make all frames of exactly the same style moulding, you would have to purchase varying styles, which means more investment and more storage room.  Unless you are going to be making a ton of frames, you probably would be better off purchasing smaller quantities at retail, even though it comes at a higher price.  Another big issue is that you have to invest in good quality tools to do framing (i.e. at minimum a high quality Chop saw and V-nailer).  Additionally, be prepared for a significant amount of waste when you do your own framing (i.e. when you cut the corner angles or when you are left with remainder length pieces of lengths not sufficient for your needs).  God forbid you make a mistake in measurement and your frame pieces are not totally square, as that will lend towards a lot more waste.  Lastly, if you believe (as you should) that time is money, the time you spend trying to save on doing it yourself will prove to be in the end quite costly.  Nevertheless, if you enjoy doing your own framing, then this may be an option you want to consider, but if your sole purpose is just to save money, think very hard before you go down this route.

Option 3 (ordering your custom frame online):  This is by far the best option for most people.  One of the main reasons that the cost of custom frames is so expensive is that there is a lot of cost involved for custom frame shop owners, including the lease payments for their storefront, utilities, hired labor, local advertising, not to mention that their potential customer pool is limited to their local geographical area and they are seldom facing a steady stream of customers.  You take all these factors out of the equation and you will find the cost of custom frames would drastically drop.  For this reason, your best bet are online sites that specialize in making custom frames.  They have less overhead and have a national reach.  You will find the pricing to be upwards of 70-80% lower than retail custom frame shops, and you can avoid all the pitfalls that come with making frames yourself.  A good site with regards to overall price/quality/service is CustomFrameSolutions.com.  They offer a wide selection of mouldings that you can browse online and all of them are made from solid wood.  Your custom frame is made to your specified dimenions and their pricing is near wholesale, with custom frame costs starting at $0.29 per inch (cost varies depending on the style and width of moulding selected).  Your custom frame is made the same day the order is placed and is shipped out to you the next day via FedEx (with free shipping in most cases).  They are one of the best for overall value for custom frames, but you can google for alternative websites and shop around.  Be aware that some sites sell frames made from polystyrene, so be sure to read the fine print.

Knowing your custom frame options is the best means of keeping victorious feeling after winning your prized art on ebay.