Questions > Does anyone have experience...

From reading online I know they usually take a percentage cut & its on a sale or return basis but are they usually a casual or formal arrangement?
are there contracts?
what happens if they item gets stolen or ruined in the shop?
Can you sell the same item that is consigned to the shop elsewhere at the same time?

I've been asked by a few places recently (yay!) but realised I don't know these small details which could be quite important in the long run so any help will be great!

Littleclouds ~ I've had some experience in the past with consignment. I decided against it because my inventory had to be so high, as well as the big chunk it took out of my sales. I try to keep my prices reasonable as I live in a fairly depressed area.

I usually used the store contract, but many folks have their own. It just depends. Usually the store disclaims any responsibility for stolen or damaged goods, but it depends on the store. Some store will ask you not to sell your product in another shop within a certain area (mileage wise), but some don't care as long as it's the same price in the other shop.

Many shops also require you to give them their commission on any sales that may result from the exposure from their shop i.e. custom orders, future purchases directly from you, etc.

It's a nice way to get yourself out there and recognized.

Good luck.
Lori

On the risk of sounding stoopid :) can anyone explain what consignment is? I mean, English is not my mother tongue so im a bit confused as to what it implies.
Thanks!

Florcita - Not silly at all to ask! It's when a boutique (online & in real life) sell your items on your behalf on a sale or return basis, they usually take percentage (10-50% to them!!) which you can price appropriately to & are usually good because they reach an audience who might not of ever come across you otherwise.

brandybrookdesigns - Wow if they required me to give them commission on items I sold on my own I'd give them the finger! I can't believe the cheek of that!

Will just have to see what their T&C are!

Anyone else with tips & tales?

AaAh! ok! Thanks for that littleclouds! Get it now!

I agree that it's a great way to get out there... provided the shop is a fairly successful one and the salespersons are energetic and not just waiting for the sales to happen— otherwise, it's just a not-so-great way for your items to become dusty.

I had a great experience with a body jewellery shop, and not so great ones with second-hand cum Indie design shops.

The contracts can be fairly simple and second-hand shops are ready with them.

There was that one shop that simply doubled my price (and sold nothing), and another one that added 50 % and sold a little...
The body jewellery shop added 20 % and sold loads!

In my experience in Melbourne the shops will pay for damaged/stolen goods - I like to make sure I have something in writing whether it's on paper or over e-mail confirming how many of my pieces they have, what the wholesale price is and what the retail price is.

I generally just avoid shops that have lots of guidelines like the ones Lori mentioned about comission & being the only shop within a certain area - if it's getting difficult like that I'd rather not do it.

I think as long as you can find shops that have a reputation for being good with payments and you're comfortable with the terms they offer it's good to try leaving a few things with them to see how it goes :)

Hi littleclouds congratulations on that =P
You might just ask them what the conditions are so that you could make a good decision but sounds good . =P
* * *

ahh I just realised it wholesale not consignment (unless she got mixed up) so any experience with that?!

How much do you drop your prices to?

pocketcarnival - how much they would mark my item up is something I'd like to know but assumed it's not something you find out so thats good to know that its possible.
I agree something like that ends up too much trouble then what it's worth, I don't think I would bother. I actually find it slightly offensive! I mean just because you sell a few things through them doesn't mean they own you!!

Personally Littleclouds, I'd rather do wholesale. You should be pricing your items so that if someone wanted to buy say...$300.00 worth, then you could give them a discount of %30 or %40 off of the "retail" price.

It's just like if you buy gemstones or metal in greater quantity, you get a discount.

Wholesale means that you get your money up front and there's no fussing with inventory, commissions, etc. You get your money... and it's a great day!

Lori

Hi! I've had 2 fantastic consignment arrangements so far and 1 nightmare (where the woman's shop closed, she never told her consigned crafters, she has not returned the items, or paid us for them) After many emails promising me that she's sending out my items, or she just has to find them in her garage, etc etc,

I've finally just sent her a paypal invoice for the amount owed to me. And I'm going to keep reminding her until I get my items back.

So please be careful, make sure you keep in close contact with the shop owner, visit your items if possible and have a clear protocol to cover what happens if your items do not sell or the store closes.

I've been selling books by consignment for ages and I hate it, such a fuss and hassle (even with distributors or other intermediaries). So when it comes to jewelry I prefer to sell my items to shops at discount prices, but that's it, they're sold and off my hands. Usually I have to aggree not to sell the same items to shops nearby, but since most of my items are completely unique that's not a problem.

When it comes to online shops I just stick to the Ebay or DaWanda type system, where everything is automatic, percentages are low and you can control your own sales. I would consider other possible arrangements online, as long as I don't have to physically send them my stock.

wholesale is SO much easier than consignment.

as for how much the stores will mark up - it depends on the individual stores! some stores will always only mark up by a certain percentage, whereas others will mark up as they choose. it's worth finding out from them how much they mark up by, but to give you an idea i have some items i only sell online which i sell at pretty much a wholesale price, whereas other items i sell online + to shops i sell online at my retail price.

this was a problem for me when i first started consigning & wholesaling as i found i really needed to reassess what i could wholesale for (your wholesale prices need to be reasonable enough so that if a shop is marking up 50% your items won't be too high).

phew!

I agree, wholesale does seem to be a better option, with consignment it would worry me to recieve back my item 3months later in bad conditions etc

I've been working out my costs to come up with my wholesale prices & it's not as bad as I thought. My wholesale price doesn't quite cover my time making them though but I think that for now I am quite happy, simply with the idea of a cool shop in another country shelving my items for sale, afterall it will be a form of advertisment for me & I get to recoup my material costs etc