It doesn't really have to cost that much. You're mostly paying real estate and a professional waiting for business. Framing material, UV glass, and acid free paper are quite cheap. Anti-glare Tru Vue museum glass costs maybe a couple hundred dollars for a medium sized work, but a lot of museums don't even use it because art framers mark it up like crazy.
>You're mostly paying real estate and a professional waiting for business.
Are these optional? If not, I don't see how this makes sense:
>It doesn't really have to cost that much.
Gallerists always act like having a professional framer is given, but maybe their typical clientele are rich enough to just treat that as a mandatory tax. I framed my art with a diy LevelFrames kit for 10x cheaper which took less than an hour. The frame itself isn't particularly good quality, so for now, boutique framers have a strictly superior product, but this advantage could easily be commoditized away.
Bro, you're not a museum who's invested thousands or more into a single piece. Paying $2000 for the framing service to be done right is worth it when you're protecting a big investment.