Selling online

Credit: 48HoursLogo.com

Once you have achieved a lot of visits to your website, you need to convert the visits to sales. 

The first thing you need to do is consider your products.  Craft products are more difficult to sell online than mass manufactured items that are completely standard and so have known quality.

Is your product suitable for online selling?

·        The general case is that lower priced gift items are easier to sell than expensive ones. 

·        Is delivery expensive relative to the cost of the item? 

·        Do the items have to be sized, e.g., rings?

·        Are the items easy to post safely without breakage?

·        How much packaging will be necessary?

If the answers are that what you sell is expensive to buy or deliver, must made to a size, or are difficult to post, you may have difficulties in generating sales.  If you have items that are likely to sell less well online, consider the other ways you can sell them – trade events, galleries, shops, wholesale.  Also think about making items that are easier to sell online, but still fall within your style.  This approach will help support your more difficult to deliver or more expensive items that won’t sell well online.

Then

Online selling techniques are not so different from in-person selling, except that you have to rely on text and images to do the selling.  This puts more emphasis on words and images and getting your personality into those two things.

The basics are:

Get the viewer’s attention

Stimulate their interest

Develop their desire for the object

Convert these elements into the purchase.

There are many things that can create these three pre-requisites for a purchase.  

Images

The quality of images is extremely important.  Photographs must be sharp, focused, and with lots of light.  They must be taken to show the quality of craftsmanship.  Multiple pictures of the item help to give a better feeling of the object.  They should be taken from various angles, including the unseen backs of items to show the craftsmanship and help promote the assurance of quality. Lifestyle images bring items to life, but have to be carefully arranged.  This is often done best by a professional photographer.

Get and maintain interest

What you do must be apparent immediately.  Do you have recognisable work or style? Is your business name memorable?  An explanation of what you do and why it is unique is important to maintain interest.  Links from these explanations to relevant individual items or product groups are appropriate to keeping people engaged.

It is important to maintain interest after the initial contact.  Make it easy to find other relevant items. Use links, buttons, suggestions, etc., liberally.

Keep the site alive with case studies. These can be the background to your workday, or events in your business life.   Inside views of the development of new lines shows how you progress from idea to finished work.  You have interesting ways of working, that many people are interested in knowing about. Show your working practices, tell them the story of making.

You need to keep in touch with potential and existing clients.  Direct posts to those you have contact details for, with information on developments keeps you and what you do in customers’ minds.  These must not be direct sales pitches.  You can ask questions of these people to keep them engaged. They may also tell others about you and your work.  General posts to targeted audiences can help spread the word too.  Some paid promotion on social media can help, if targeted to the right people.

Provide information

Explain the potential questions about each item that client may have.  Think about the kinds of questions you ask about non-glass craft products. Use those approaches in stating and answering these questions.

Make the explanations personal and consistent with your site and the glass products you are offering.  In many cases, it is desirable to establish a FAQ section, including terms and conditions.  This can help maintain confidence of the buyer in your ability to make and supply the work.

Purchase

What’s for sale

You need to overcome any difficulties that the client might face in coming to the buying decision.  The website should be immediately clear about what you do and for whom.  Price levels need to be clear, possibly by grouping or sorting. Images need to connect with client desires.  This is where lifestyle images are useful.  Do remember that first impressions are all important.

Develop trust

Development of, or appearance of trustworthiness is essential to buying.  People buy from those they know, like and trust.  Development of this is essential for consistent online sales, as well as anywhere else.  This can be promoted by your presence on a group of platforms that you link between. Good descriptions of products and about yourself are important to maintaining the trust of the client.  Testimonials, if you have them, are useful. 

The website must appear professional.  Knowledge of your location is important to developing confidence in your work. Knowing where else your work is available is also important in validating confidence in your business.  Knowledge of where else your work can be purchased gives creditability to your standing within the craft  buying community. This can include your attendance at craft and trade fairs, as well as any awards or press mentions.

Buying and delivery

Make it easy to purchase.  One-click links can help ease the customer into buying. Use of a known payment provider increases confidence that the purchased item will be delivered and that there is a mechanism to get money back if not.  Make sure you explain about postage and packaging, unless you have included it in the in price.  If P&P is included, make sure that you are clear in the text accompanying the image and description.  If you don’t do that, the price comparisons with those that don’t include P&P are skewed against you.  Include plain English terms and conditions, to engender trust if something were to go wrong.

But

Don’t rely exclusively on online sales. There is enormous competition online, even though it is a means to get your work known to a wide range of people Importantly, it is a way to get year-round sales rather than the summer and autumn craft circuit.  Other sources for consistent sales - without you being present all the time - are galleries, shops and wholesalers.

Think about combining online sales with craft fairs and other selling events.  These face to face events give you the opportunity of getting direct feedback on your work, which will help develop what you do.  Promote your attendance at events on the website and tell about your website at events.  Blog about the events before and after their occurrence on your website and social media.  Tell stories from the events on your social media and in the website, too.

Selling online requires getting attention, stimulating interest and promoting desire to buy.  Some of the things you can do are noted.  But do not put all your effort into online.  You can gain a lot of information by attending face to face selling events.

Getting Relevant People to Your Website

Credit: Visual Capitalist

Using your website to sell requires you to get relevant people to visit as a prerequisite.  But how can you get people to view your website?  And it needs to be relevant people - those who are potential buyers.

These are some suggestions on ways to attract visitors.

Keywords in the meta descriptions and in the text are important.  These are not just products, colours and other aspects of the work, although essential.  They are why people are buying.  Elements of this are buying gifts, e.g.:

• Holidays
• Celebrations
• Awareness days and weeks (Mother’s Day, birdwatch month, Gardening week, etc).

These need to be detailed in specific terms to bring people who are buying for birthdays, aniverseries, weddings, etc.

They may be buying for a purpose:

• Windows, 
• Kitchens,
• Decorative,
• Functional,
• Garden

Again, these need to be described in specific terms, e.g., splashbacks, dinner sets, wall art, etc.

Use the specific terms in your titles and early in the descriptions of each item.  This process is not easy, and you may want to enlist help from friends and family to get the right terms.  SEO is not the complete answer to getting visits, though.  There are other things you need to do

Categorise your pages with specific names rather than generic ones such as collection or portfolio. Use names such as splashback, tiles, birds, bowls, etc.  Leave the mention of glass to the description of each item. It doesn't really have a place in the title for your pieces.

Promote your social media and site at every opportunity. If you have been mentioned somewhere, let everyone know.  Use specific links to the work relevant to any communication within the post. All your printed material needs to have the addresses of your site and social media, also as part of the signature of your email address.  Link between all your social media platforms, your website and any selling sites you participate in.  

But it is not only your own site that you need to promote.  In promoting other sites that you are associated with, you spread the knowledge of what you do.  By linking and liking sites or businesses that have been useful to you, you may also get reciprocal mentions.  These all spread knowledge of what you do to a wider audience. 

Share

Make it easy for people to share the content of your site.  Have buttons and links that viewers can click on with no extra effort. Share links to other articles that you have found interesting.  The readers of those articles will pick up on your links.   Include internal links to other works on your website and any other selling platform in which you participate.

Update your website.

Updating the website is time away from making.  But it is essential to the selling of what you make.  Of course, you update your site every time you complete a piece of work - don't you?  You let people know of developments in your business life at they happen, surely.  This refreshing helps the indexing web crawlers to recognise a site that is current and so index the new stuff. By using all the specific terms in describing things, you will provide human browsers with the terms to direct them to you.

Respond to current matters

React to timely and trending topics.  These can be relevant general news items, upcoming events that are relevant to your potential customers, awareness days relevant to you and your work, etc.  What is happening in the craft world, or your section of it is of general interest.  It helps develop the audience for craft, which in turn, gives you a bigger audience.  Not everything needs to be about you. 

Write about your customers’ questions.  Give information about the questions and the background to them along with the response.  Use the customers’ language.  By doing this you are making use of the search terms used by your potential customers.  You don't get questions on your site?  There are other sources.  

• Keep track of the questions you are asked at craft and trade fairs and use them. 
• Use the questions you have of other crafts and craft workers, adjusted for your own work. 
• You can develop questions by googling for answers to your own questions and see how they are phrased.  Then use that kind of approach in outlining responses to the questions.

Use case studies in your updates and posts.  Providing in-depth descriptions of a commission or development of a product goes a long way to giving an insight to how you work and about your values.  These are interesting things for prospective buyers. And it engenders confidence in your approach to your work - your ethos.

Write for other sites that are relevant to your customers.  There are websites and blogs that publish guest articles.  You will need to develop a relevant pitch for each of the ones of interest.  Do only one pitch at a time to ensure you are not overwhelmed.

These suggestions are not exhaustive, of course.  It may seem like a lot of effort for uncertain results.  As you become practiced, you will find it easy to add a few paragraphs each day to one of your online presences.  These entries will provide the entry points for potential customers and develop the personality of your business.

Contacting the Wholesaler

Credit: lunchshow.co.uk

Preparation

Whether preparing for a trade show or direct approach to a wholesaler, you need to get things to a good standard before making contact.

This can be a lot of work, but it will benefit your sales across all the venues you have work placed.  Wholesale gets your work out to multiple locations, develops your relations with shops and, by extension, to communities and to customers that you would not be able to reach by yourself.

Presentation materials

You need to have a clear identity to your work – something which binds the separate pieces together, making it clear that it is your sensibility that runs through the works.

You need to have a pricing strategy that runs through your range of products.  This will be connected to the target market that you have identified.  This is important to getting your work taken up by wholesalers and stores.

Excellent photographs of your work are needed in all the literature you produce for the buyers. Photography can make all the difference. Include photos that highlight your story and integrate with your products.  These should be consistent across all your materials.  They should have a unity of style whether shot on models, on background (normally plain white or black), and with props that support the story of your work.

Line sheets

credit: sewport.com

Line sheets are simple listings of each of your products with a code, title, sizes, and prices with each product line and variation on its own line on the paper. Create simple, readable line sheets with clear instructions on how to order, minimum order levels for discounts, and all your contact and banking details. If you have a required means to get in touch, make sure that is included on the line sheet.  The line sheet is essentially an order form which each of you will have a copy, and from which you will create the invoice.  The agreed payment terms, including supply dates should be written on the line sheet when agreed.

Information on product and maker

Write the material for promotion of your work and yourself clearly and concisely.  Start with the most important information about the business and products. Details and methods should come much later.

Be consistent in the way you describe your products.  Always consider the target market.  The wholesaler will be much more dispassionate about the products than the ultimate buyer will be. The descriptions show the trade what your target customer is like and so they can see what the fit between your work and the shop’s offering is.  Use the concepts and words that are familiar to the ultimate customer. 

Review your literature many times, proofread, and finally get a friend to look over the materials for style, spelling, consistency and accuracy.

Your complete contact information is required on every piece of printed material.  It also is needed on all online and email communications.

The meeting

Do the work to know who you are contacting by name and job title.  Use the person(s)’ names, refer to the business, store or shop, indicate you have followed any blog or social media postings, and if relevant, be knowledgeable about the local area.

Be selective in what of your work you present to the buyer. You don’t have to have all your lines of work in shops.  You probably could not cope if you did.  Consider what you can supply in quantity that will fit with the shop’s offering.  This will relate to the materials you can source in bulk (for discounts), and what you can produce quickly and easily.  To offer the best prices at a profit, you will need to determine processes that can be streamlined; designs that can be simplified; processes that can be done by less skilled people.

Remember the buyer’s interests during the meeting

They are looking for a range of work that has wide appeal – to both/all genders.  A price range for different works to appeal to a range of customers is needed. 

You need to demonstrate you know what is going on in the design and crafts field and can respond, keeping your offerings fresh and contemporary. Colours, themes, shapes, interests change, and you need to show you are aware of current trends.

Owners are looking for exclusivity.  Store owners want to sell items that no other venue in their area has available.  It is arguable that the more of your work a shop sells, the more exclusive the two of you should become.

Part of the appeal for the shop is signed and dated pieces.  It adds to the caché of the work.  This should be done discretely to avoid distracting from the whole of the work. 

Often owners expect not only well-made items, but displays too.  At the least, you should have presentation boxes that show off your work well.

credit: theproductmart.com

Trade Shows

The alternative to trekking around shops is to attend trade shows.

Trade shows are a place to make contacts – shop owners, fellow crafts people, and representatives.  Yes, you are there to get orders, but the people you meet may be your future customers. Your contacts might help you understand the market better, or move your work in different directions.  It is a place to gauge how your work is perceived, and what you might change or re-enforce.

Networking can help you in gaining new contacts, and even friends in the crafting community.  Visit other stands and arrange to have a coffee break during the show with those you find compatible. You can compare notes on the show or general business stories with those who are not in direct competition.

Have your product display in evidence at the show.  If that is not possible for some reason, have photographs of it in your literature that you can hand over. This enables potential buyers to see how your work might be displayed in their shop.

Take material to the show that you can hand out to prospective purchasers or representatives.  This could be inexpensive samples, the essential business cards, literature, and of course, the line sheet that you complete with the orders at the show, or be taken away if you cannot get them to commit immediately.  Be sure you get material from them too and that you record what they were interested in, so you can contact them after the show.  A contacts book for you to keep information in is essential.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Other posts on consignment:

Consignment

Consignment Agreements

Consignment Rates

Consignment Venues

Consignment Terminology .

You need to communicate clearly, and in writing, with a consignment sales agreement to ensure the best chance of building a positive experience that works for you and the shop owner.  This means that you need to know the terminology used and required in consignment agreements.

Meet the taxation requirements

Make sure you have complied with the legal requirements in your jurisdiction for selling.  In the United States, for example, you need a tax identification number.  In the United Kingdom, you do not need anything other than your personal tax number, unless you are selling so much that you are employing other people.

Written contract

You need more than a verbal agreement.  Ask for their consignment agreement and take it away to consider the terms.  It is not pushy to do this; the shop owner would do the same. If the gallery/shop does not have a standard contract, you need to develop one and negotiate it with the owner.  The important elements are the commission rate, payment terms and frequency, insurance, breakages & theft, inventory arrangements.

Commission rate

A direct sale to the shop is normally marked up 100% of your price plus taxes to give the retail price.  So, the commission taken should be less that than that.  If the shop wants 50% commission, counter with direct sale at that level of commission.  It would be exceptional circumstances only that 50% commission would be acceptable to you.  30% - 40% is more usual.  The agreed rate should be written in the contract.

Payment terms

How frequently will you be paid for the work sold?  This needs to be included in the agreement.  Associated with this is inventory.

Inventory

You need to provide an item and price list for the gallery and one for yourself.  It should state the name of the parties at the head. It is essential to list the date delivered, the number and description of the items. Each line of work needs to have the item price to the gallery and the total price for each line. This list gives the sums you expect to receive upon their sale.  It is possible you will want to include, by agreement,  their commission and the retail price, although the gallery may change the retail price at any time.  If they want to reduce the price, that will come from their commission.  The price on the consignment form is not to be reduced, even though they ask for it. If they want to increase the price, they will keep the additional sums – in which case, of course, you should be thinking about increasing your price to them.

Exclusivity

What about choosing between galleries with different commission levels when you would like to be in both?  How do you choose?

Generally, shops and galleries expect to have an exclusive arrangement for their area.  This means that you can’t have your items in different outlets in a defined area.  What is that area?  If you are comfortable with the area restrictions, you then can approach the decision about commission levels.

Suppose you have different shops offering to take your work, but at different commission levels.  What do you do?

First, you do not reduce your price to the higher commission place.  You set a fair price for your work in the items.  That is a price at which you can make a profit.  That is what you deserve.  So, you place the items in either place at your single, set price. That may make your product more expensive in one shop than another.  That is not your problem. That is the owner’s decision.  You can see everywhere that there are different prices for the same product.  Usually, there is a perceived difference in quality, service, prestige, etc., between the places.

Reporting

The reciprocal of this is the listing by the shop of items sold and resulting sums due.  The frequency of this reporting needs to be in the agreement. 

Loss, theft, breakage

The fact that the work on consignment remains your property until sold needs to be in the written contract.  This may affect who insures your work in case of breakage or theft.  The division of responsibility needs to be written in the agreement.

Management of stock

The shop should have a system to keep track of sales and stock. Ask about it.

Stocking

Agree restocking arrangements to be responsive to sales. An agreement on removing items due to lack of sales, or your requirement to have the item in your possession is needed.

Promotion

You hope and expect the retailer to promote your works, but you must also promote the retailer in your social media and your direct selling venues.  Participating in events related to your work is one of the ways to assist in promotion too.  Some element of this needs to be included in the contract.

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.

Other posts on consignment:

Consignment

Consignment Agreements

Consignment Rates

Consignment Venues

Consignment – meeting the owner/buyer

When approaching the retailer keep several things in mind:

Prepare for the meeting

• Make an appointment, as the retailers’ focus is on selling. Buying is done in down time from the sales.
• Explain how you came to select the shop – this can include recommendations from people already represented by the store.
• Provide a brief description of the kind of work you do.  If you sell at other locations – craft shows, online, etc. – include that and be prepared to say how well they sell.
• Be prepared to talk about the inspirations behind your work.
• Prepare yourself with the points you want to make about your work and its relation to the shop’s offerings.
• Remember that you are providing retailers with unique items that fit with their customers interests and needs.
• Be prepared with suggested retail price ranges for each line, remembering the commission the shop takes.
• During the meeting, the retailer will be assessing both your work and the potential working relationship.
• Be prepared for the retailer to ask for time to consider whether to stock your work.

Bring a range of materials to support your presentation.

• Take a small but representative sample set of your work in its packaging.
• Back up the samples with good photographs, which are essential, especially if the pieces are too large for practical transport.
• Bring business cards, a resume relevant to the shop, marketing materials, photographs, and samples you are prepared to leave with the shop if asked.

Presentation

• Dress to make a good impression. You are presenting yourself as well as your work.  You don’t need to be super smart.  Dress neatly in a way that suits your personality.
•  Present your work at its best along with its packaging.

Follow up

Follow up is essential. A week or so after the meeting contact the premises with further information or even questions.  If the response is to decline to carry your work, ask for feedback about your work and its relation to the shop’s offerings. This will assist your future presentations.

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.

Other posts on consignment:

Consignment

Consignment Agreements

Consignment Rates

Consignment Venues

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.

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.

Other posts on consignment:

Consignment

Consignment Agreements

Consignment Rates

Consignment Venues