Decisions, decisions......

[Frank Fusco]

I'm a big boy, over 21 (several times over ) but, still there are times I, and I'm sure others, face a conundrum.
I have been asked to place turnings in a very large, and very prestigious art museum. They want primarily pens for the gift shop and gallery. (I'm really wanting to get away from pens. Oh, well. Whatever pays.)
The hang-up is whether to place them on consignment or require they purchase outright. I do not want to do consignment. I have too much experience with this arrangement, from both sides. Inventory invariably disappears without getting sold. It is just the nature of the beast. Increasing price to cover losses might put my stuff out of the reach of the market. Heck (can I say "heck" here? ) If I could raise prices and still sell I would do it without the consignment issue being a factor.
What would y'all do?

 

[Jonathan Shively]

I prefer to sell outright. Even if I reduce my price a little. No one takes care of your stuff like you take care of your own stuff. So, by selling them the pens outright, the pens are then their stuff and bet the keep a better eye on them!

 

[Jim Burr]

Outright would be my preference...I gave the gallery I work with in Washington a choice...pens they buy outright, art pieces are photographed and signed for on delivery. If they come up missing...I get 60% of the sale price...their store, they are responsible for it, same as if I borrow your...claw hammer. I'm to new at this part to say for sure if it works, but we'll see

 

[Rob Keeble]

Frank i am with you on the outright aspect especially for a small item like a pen that can have legs of its own. However if you do decide to do consignment and it is forced upon you as a last resort get a signed shifting and acceptance of responsibility on the part of a suitably responsible person.

Coming back to the sale, I would suggest you take a moment to make a point to the buyer. Create clear awareness as to the fact that you a small time operator and pensioner and cashflow is essential for you to be able to keep doing what you do. Explain your past experiences just in case the person has not had the same experience. This is all part of negotiating the deal you want. The more you can bring the othe person to your point the better off you will be in getting your way.

Remeber........CASH IS KING...take the money and run. Tell them you have to eat too. And your grandchildren expect wheels on that soapbox you building.

Then if all else fails and it has to come down to consignment given you taking all of the retail risk barring inventory management, you should get a big hand in determinning the selling price such that the consignment inventory is priced at a level that you now will allow for sales. And i would in my agreement of consignment document that they need to show proof of selling price. You can agree what margin they get to keep and will have to be fair with them, but you dont want them gouging and not caring if they make the sale or not. Given cash registers today there is no reason they cannot provide such proof of sale and its price with almost zero effort.
Best of luck.

 

[allen levine]

I have never dealt with a gallery with any of my work, but I have given artwork to a gallery on consignment.
How on earth if something dissapears from their gallery are you responsible?
If its on the list of what they took from you and it doesnt come back to you, they owe you money. If someone stole it from them, they sold it, you get paid.

 

[Frank Fusco]

The gallery has the upper hand, no doubt. The ones I have dealt with in the past simply would not suffer the loss, it was all on the artist. Not fair but that is business.
At this point I am inclined to not participate if they require consignment sales only.
I can't eat prestige. Maybe later I would do it with larger items.

 

[allen levine]

Im sorry Frank. I dont understand. I never did business that way.

 

[Paul Downes]

Frank, I haven't yet put anything in Consignment with a seller. I have thought about this though and I figure that if I do, I will make a lock display case for starters. My thought is too offer a limited time arrangement of maybe a couple of months and if the sales are there, then they will have to purchase inventory in the future. I guess the point is that if it helps get my foot in the door then it is worth the original pain of selling on Consignment.

 

[Frank Fusco]

Frank, I haven't yet put anything in Consignment with a seller. I have thought about this though and I figure that if I do, I will make a lock display case for starters. My thought is too offer a limited time arrangement of maybe a couple of months and if the sales are there, then they will have to purchase inventory in the future. I guess the point is that if it helps get my foot in the door then it is worth the original pain of selling on Consignment.

Paul, there is a lot to consider. Many craftsmen and artists just get overjoyed at the thought of their creations being offered for sale in a store. They never consider the business side, and related risk, to selling on consignment.
As I said, I have been on both sides of this issue. A craftsman must also consider who else has merchandise for sale in the store and what it is.
When I owned my clothing store in Indiana I got requests to put consignment displays in the store. Invariably this was merchandise that competed with what I already had in inventory that I had paid for.
Nevertheless, I always took it into the store. My reasoning was, if it was in my store it wasn't in someone else's and couldn't be competition for me. And, if I did sell an item of it I still made some money. But, I instructed my employees to avoid selling the consignment stuff. My objective was simply to keep it out of the competitions store. Dirty pool? Maybe.
But, the potential craftsman/seller should also get assurances the store he is placing in is really interested in selling his stuff. After all, the store has nothing to lose if the merchandise just sets there collecting dust or gets shop lifted.