Glass Tips from Verrier: Galleries

Showing posts with label Galleries. Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 March 2021

Craft and Wholesale Pricing

Craft fair pricing

Image credit: craftprofessional.com

An important element to be considered in setting prices for pieces at a craft fair that are also consigned to a shop, is that the price the shop is selling your item at, is also the price you should be asking at craft fairs. Without doing this you risk losing the consignment arrangement with shops and stores.

Also remember that when attending craft fairs or pop up shops, you are doing the setup, travel, marketing, sales, etc., that the shop is doing in a commission arrangement. That cost needs to be reflected in your price for the item at a craft fair, even if different work is being offered. Especially if the craft fair is in the region of any of the shops or galleries you have placed similar items, you need to be fair to the shops in your pricing to be able to continue supplying them. The same principle should apply to your online sales.

Some people solve this problem by having a craft fair range and a consignment range. The craft fair items can be offered at a slightly lower price, if you must. But remember to factor in the costs of craft fair and pop-up shops even when pricing craft fair lines.

Wholesale pricing

Image credit: erplain.com

Also note that your price on consignment needs to be high enough that you can take wholesale orders without losing money. Wholesale orders are where the buyer pays you for the work in advance or upon delivery without taking a commission. They normally expect to buy at a lower than commission price and multiples of the work you are offering.

Maybe you feel you do not want to do wholesale work. Stop a moment to consider that instinctive reaction. Wholesale means you have made the sale already without having to wait for the ultimate sale to occur, as you would on consignment. You do not have the administration of keeping track of stock in various galleries. You have certain, and almost immediate income. All these things make wholesale attractive.

It is the expectation that the wholesale price will be half or less of the retail price. To make the piece affordable to the wholesaler and for you to still make a profit, you need to add something to the consignment price to enable the items to be sold by the wholesaler and the consignee at similar prices. This is most often less than the full difference between wholesale and consignment prices because you receive the money up front. Cash can mean quite a lot. You also need to have enough cushion to be able to give a discount on orders for multiples of the piece. And that means you need to set the minimum order number to get that discount.

The bottom line (as they say in accountancy circles) is that you need to set the wholesale price first and then work back to the consignment price and retail price.

The wholesale price should be about 10% above the absolute minimum price where you can make the desired profit. This enables you to offer that amount of discount for orders of multiples of your work. This then implies the retail price is twice the wholesale plus taxes. The consignment price will be about 70% to 60% of the retail price (based on 30%-40% commission levels). More realistically, you can visualise the consignment price to be 10% to 20% higher than the wholesale price, leaving the shop to add their percentage on top of your price.

Image credit: seobook.com

Selection of a gallery or shop in which to place your work is a complex interaction of commission levels; the value you place on your time in preparing for and attending craft fairs or putting your work online; the perceived prestige of the shop/gallery; the potential relationship between you and the outlet; and the relationship of the consignment, wholesale and retail prices.

Wednesday, 24 February 2021

Maintaining Consignment Relationships

Stay in communication. There are several ways to do this.

photo credit: Careers in Sport

Get on their newsletter list and put them on yours.

Check with them occasionally as a reminder you are around. Some pretexts for making contact are: you may need to be paid or want to know what is selling or not; to check on stock levels; you may also offer promotional opportunities and want to know what they would like to be put forward. But do this remotely (email, telephone, etc). An in-person visit should be done by appointment.

Make sure you can restock when the shop needs it. And inquire regularly if more stock is needed. Find out their delivery hours and stick to them. Restocking requires an inventory list. This is also the time to bring any new lines you have developed. Ask if it is OK to bring it before visiting.

Remove old stock. Placing new or seasonal items in the shop can help with sales. You can get advice from the shop.

Promote the shop. Use your social media, include them in your list of outlets. This mutual promotion gives rewards of increased visibility and with determination, sales.

Be inventive. Create ways of communicating your continuing interest in the mutual business benefit both parties receive. Use anniversaries, local events, things unique to their business, etc., as occasions to be in touch without any commercial objective. There are lots of creative ways to be in touch.

An important element of maintaining relationships with your galleries is keeping in contact, being interested in how their business is, and responding to their communications.

Wednesday, 6 January 2021

Consignment Venues

Credit: getlstd-property-photo

Finding suitable shops and outlets

Shops and galleries want stock that meet or exceed their customer expectations of quality, style, function and price. In other words, they are looking for work that will fit with the other products already on show. These shops generally will be those that already sell hand crafted work. You need to show how your work fits with or adds to the retail premises. As you are selling handmade items, you also will be looking for shops with higher price levels to be able to sell to the shop at a reasonable profit.

You need to do your research.

What do you know about the gallery/shop?

What is its perceived standing? Is it a “go to” shop? Does it get discussed in media? Is it talked about in craft circles? What does its online presence look like?
Location. Where is it? Is it in a prestigious area? Is it unobtrusive?
Will there be, or is there already, a good footfall? Who are its customers? Who does the shop target as their clientele?
What is the fit between the shop and your pieces? Will your pieces fit in with the existing items? Will they stand out well, or seem odd?
Will the shop advise on the prices they expect to get? Can the shop get you higher prices?
Does the shop have promotional events that you could participate in?

Visit the store/shop as though a customer first to assess the venue. If the shop is too far away to visit in person, look online to get a sense of the business. This will show how the shop fits with your products – style, kind, price levels. Also take note of the presentation of the store internally and externally.

Even after visiting in person, an internet search will be useful, especially to find out about their submission policies and forms. Look at what internet profile they have. And do they have good online reviews? Also enquire around from people you know about the venue, and contact any local crafts organisation for more information.

Local vs regional/national

Should you be looking at local shops or be more ambitious and look at a wider area. If you are willing to travel some distances for craft fairs, pop-up shops, etc., you may find expanding your search area to regional and multiple outlets a worthwhile activity. You could take an extra day to investigate shops in the area or meet with the owners.

Some considerations in favour of starting local:

Low cost shipping. If your work is large or difficult to post, you can hand deliver.
Local helps to start small and get experience for larger volumes, more stores.
Local builds an audience for your work near your studio.
Getting featured in local press is easier that regional national.
Local allows for a more intimate relationship to be developed.
Starting local allows you to learn how to build up the volume of your work.

Assessment

Arranging a visit to the short list of shops is the next step. After those meetings there is a further assessment of the venue to be done. These are the same questions you looked at in your preliminary research about each shop:

What is its perceived standing? How do they perceive themselves?
What is their media presence? What is the customer perception?
Location in shopping terms.
What is the customer base and how does your work fit with that group of prospective purchasers?
How will your works fit with the shop and its presentation?
What advice is available on the prices they can get for your items?
What promotional activities are presented?
What are the consignment commission rates?

Since these are the questions you will be basing your decisions upon, they are the ones you should be asking during the appointment, if not already discovered from your prior investigations. Assess how you feel about the responses you received after the conclusion of the meeting. Do not make on the spot decisions.