Now I know why artists are starving; They pay through the nose for custom framing.
Yeah, getting borders and some glass for your art is expensive but it's an investment. And I'm not in college anymore so poster putty ain't gonna cut it. We had a total of four pieces done: an original canvas on acid-free matting framed with glass, and matte laminate for three art prints. Wow. They make our humble apartment look like the Louvre. (OK, not quite but much better than my college dorm room.)
Don't let the old-timer's biker threads and handlebar 'stache fool you. He's been doing this for a while and he knows his art from his elbow. He'll make good suggestions about frame type and matting without a whiff of pretension or snobbery. And he's fast too. Bring him your art and you'll get it back within a week.