Nederlands 
"Why is custom glass often more expensive than you would expect?"
Custom glass products are often compared to standard glass products. But there is a very big difference in this.
Of course you can buy standard sizes of mirrors and glass plates in the store at sometimes attractive prices. But these standard products are often made in editions of 10,000 pieces or more, are often produced in "low-wage countries", are in stock and are distributed in the same way as, for example, a sink or faucet. You cannot compare this with 1 piece of glassware, which is custom-made for you in the Netherlands and delivered to your home with special transport.
We will try to explain things so that you get more insight into what is involved when you order custom glass or mirrors.
Website and configurator
It starts with ordering your glass or mirror product. On a webshop with standard products it is quite easy via a standard webshop. You select your product, put it in the shopping cart, pay and you're done. The webshop transfers the order to the order pick or supplier and it is sent by parcel post. Now customization:
The website will have to be developed so that you can choose different models, enter your own dimensions, choose edge finishes, rounded corners and possibly. accessories and/or mounting materials. The webshop will have to make a considerable investment for this because this is not a standard webshop functionality. After the webshop has received the order, the production and planning process starts...
Order control
Many things can be limited and set in the webshop so that you can only put together combinations that can also be produced technically. But excluding all exceptions is almost impossible. A good webshop checks the order carefully, whether the chosen mounting set and glass type fit together, whether the customer has entered the wrong size or has chosen a glass type that may not have been chosen correctly. This extra attention prevents suffering and discussion afterwards, but it does cost extra time.
Production
After checking the webshop, the order will be processed further and will be added to the production planning. This department ensures optimal use of production capacity and increasing cutting efficiency. Orders are collected so that a number of orders can be cut at once. This means that 1 large glass plate of 600 x 321 cm can be placed on the cutting table and cut to size.
After cutting, the glass is broken on the cutting line and taken to the processing stations. Holes are drilled there, grinding edges are applied, rounded corners are made, etc. etc.
With (rounded) models or special shapes, the glass is cut and processed on a CNC cutting table. This is a very expensive machine that can easily cost € 250,000.
If glass needs to be tempered, it will end up in a tempering oven after the entire production process. This oven is very expensive (costs more than € 500,000) and consumes a lot of energy. Here too, different orders are combined with each other, sorted by glass thickness. 4 mm glass needs to be heated for less time than 10 mm thick glass. You can therefore put different glass thicknesses in the same room at the same time.
Quality control
If the product does not pass the quality control, everything has been for nothing and everything can be made again. Customization is very close and glass is a fragile product.
Transport
Custom-made glass is then transported with special glass transport. We do not want and cannot ship this with a standard parcel service. Most parcel companies throw their parcels around, parcels sometimes fall off the conveyor belt in a distribution center or heavier parcels are stacked on top. In addition, you will not often see a box deliverer walking around with a glass plate of 1 x 2 meters to deliver it to you.
With special glass transport, approx. 10 - 15 addresses are visited per day, which is approx. 10 times less than a normal parcel service delivers in one day. They often do 100-150 packages a day. Transport is of course also a lot more expensive.
Can't this be cheaper?
Sure, everything can always be cheaper. But then you have a bad website, there is no check on your order, there is no check on the quality of your glass and you bear the risk of good and undamaged delivery. And if you have questions? Then no one is available, you cannot ask technical questions, you will not receive advice. And if you then claim a warranty on something after six months, there is a good chance that the webshop no longer exists and you will eventually have a bad product without a warranty.
Just put all the craziness away; we do everything we can to ask for the fairest possible price for the products we sell. Customization simply takes a lot more effort and attention, every order again. And every order is slightly different, is a different customer and has different specifications. Your custom order requires a custom treatment on our side every time.
In addition, you also take it for granted that we are easily accessible, can advise you, prepare non-binding quotes, offer a beautiful and complete website and handle any complaints properly. And everything in it (unfortunately) has a small contribution to the total price tag.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about this, we are happy to help you!