ClayCoyote@aol.com on fri 17 jan 97
This request is for a friend potter, Wally Wold, in Door County, WI who is
looking at working with a rep for sale of his work. His question to me, and
mine to the list, is, what are the industry common terms in working with
reps?
I understand the standard commission is 15%. What about payment terms, on
first orders, on repeat orders? Is shipping like other wholesale? ie the
gallery/shop pays? I assume the commission is not applied to shipping. Is
rep legally responsible for payment or is that between the shop and the
potter?
Other than selling the work and handling orders, is the rep really
responsible for other details?
Any other questsions that I don't know enough to ask about? Any caveats?
Thanks in advance for any info and advice.
Tom Wirt
Clay Coyote Pottery
Hutchinson, MN
ClayCoyote@aol.com
Emily Pearlman on sat 18 jan 97
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>This request is for a friend potter, Wally Wold, in Door County, WI who is
>looking at working with a rep for sale of his work. His question to me, and
>mine to the list, is, what are the industry common terms in working with
>reps?
>
>I understand the standard commission is 15%. What about payment terms, on
>first orders, on repeat orders? Is shipping like other wholesale? ie the
>gallery/shop pays? I assume the commission is not applied to shipping. Is
>rep legally responsible for payment or is that between the shop and the
>potter?
>
>Other than selling the work and handling orders, is the rep really
>responsible for other details?
>
>Any other questsions that I don't know enough to ask about? Any caveats?
>
>Thanks in advance for any info and advice.
>
>
>Tom Wirt
>Clay Coyote Pottery
>Hutchinson, MN
>ClayCoyote@aol.com
Hi Tom:
I have (and have had) several reps and the commission has always been 15%.
Shipping is like wholesale (store/gallery pays), and terms are similar ie
COD first order, then net 30, unless they have credit references or the rep
knows them well and tells me that net 30 is ok. The commission is just on
the wholesale price, not the shipping. Payment is between me and the
store, but if I hae trouble collecting I let my rep know and they usually
help. I have had very little trouble over the years.
As for anything else, my attitude has been that the orders the reps get are
that many more orders then I would have gotten without them, so whatever
they do is great. Some have done better then others and have been very
helpful with suggestions and who to sell the work. It really depends on
the individual.
Emily
Emily Pearlman-Pottery (clayfeat@echonyc.com)
http://humanarts.com/emilypearlman
http://www.craftweb.com/org/pearlman/pearlman.htm
(in NYC)
Dennis McAvoy on sun 19 jan 97
After several years of working with reps we do the following:
a. We pay 15% on the value of the product shipped.
b. First orders are COD unless they give us a credit sheet which we may or
may not investigate.
c. We don"t pay the rep until we are payed. If the account becomes more than
90 days past due the rep forfeits his/her commission. We do let the rep know
on a monthly basis the payment status of his/her accounts.
d. When we turn over a territory to a rep we will retain certain accounts as
house accounts if they are major accounts we have been servicing for some
time.
e. When we give reps customer lists for a territory we will not pay
commission on any orders from that customer until the rep actually writes the
first order for that customer. Then we will pay commission on following
orders if even if they are phoned, faxed or mailed in.
f. We retain the right to do trade shows in the reps territory at our expense
and none of the orders are subject to commission to the rep.
g. When reps do trade shows we will give them 20% commission on orders they
write to help defray the show expenses. We will not pay a portion of their
booth expenses directly.
h. We provide sales materials/literature free of charge.
i. We memo invoice for samples at 80% of whsl. value. When we part company we
get the samples back or withhold commissions to pay for the samples.
I hope this is helpful. I'd like to here what others are doing.
Dennis
Margaret Arial on mon 20 jan 97
Thanks for the info on Sales Rep terms
I have some additional questions if I may indulge you further
Who pays for shipping?
What about client satisfaction? Can the account place orders on approval?
What happens if on receipt the wholesale buyer doesn't like it
What liability do you maintain with a retail customer for a product?
Do accounts want to see print literature, photos, slides or other technology?
What is range of minimum or maximum orders that are practical?
I am 55 and on an early retirement have a marketing background but not in
clayart
and have the opportunity to travel around the country
My wife is a potter and I do woodworking and I am looking at the
possibilities of doing some sales rep work
David Arial
Joan Drizin on mon 20 jan 97
How do you go about finding a good rep? Is there a list that you can get?
Is it geographic at all, or based on what you make?
Thanks.
Joanie in Indy
Dennis McAvoy on tue 21 jan 97
In my opinion 20% of the reps out there do 80% of the business and those 20%
are hard to find. It is very important to have a rep that markets lines
compatible or complementary to your own products. You don't want someone
selling souvenirs to be selling your fine craft work. I don't have any sure
fire method to find good reps but talking to fellow craftpersons who use reps
and are happy with them is as good a recommendation as you can get.
Dennis
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