stacey ballard on tue 30 dec 03
Hi everyone,
Since we are talking about consignment I thought I might bring up a question that has just come up for me. I have always had my work on consignment and have not experienced any big problems. But recently, someone saw my work in a shop up here (South Lake Tahoe, CA.) and would like to sell it in her store (Kansas) I have not talked to her yet, I wanted to get some feed back first. Does anyone ever consider doing long distance consignment? How do I find out if she is a reputable business owner? Thanks for your help.
Stacey Ballard
http://www.basicelements.biz
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John Rodgers on tue 30 dec 03
Hi Stacey.
To me, in general, consignment is not worth the bother. ButI make my
living as a full time clayartist - principally pottery but I also do
other things . As narrow as the margin is between floating as a potter
or sinking like a pot with a hole in it, I cannot, do not, do
consignment. I cannot afford to stock someone elses shop for them.
That being said, others have had success with consignment, and obviously
so far it's worked for you.
Problem: The further away from home the consignment goes the less
control you have. You may never have a problem with this new account, tu
if you do, and you are having to deal long distance, and profits you
ever realize or hoped to, will evaporate like the dew in the morning
sun, and so will a great deal of other money, time and effort, not to
mention a lot of angst.
If you pursue this course, make sure the state in which the new account
is located has a "consignment trust" law in place which protects
artists. Without that, I don't think I would touch the new account. It
is to easy for shops to fold up over night and disappear into the
ether!!! In which case you won't get your stuff back. Plus you have had
it tied up for a time when you might have sold it elsewhere.
Just a caution.
Regards,
John Rodgers
Chelsea, AL
stacey ballard wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>Since we are talking about consignment I thought I might bring up a question that has just come up for me. I have always had my work on consignment and have not experienced any big problems. But recently, someone saw my work in a shop up here (South Lake Tahoe, CA.) and would like to sell it in her store (Kansas) I have not talked to her yet, I wanted to get some feed back first. Does anyone ever consider doing long distance consignment? How do I find out if she is a reputable business owner? Thanks for your help.
>Stacey Ballard
>http://www.basicelements.biz
>
>
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L. P. Skeen on tue 30 dec 03
Stacey, this question comes up on a regular basis, so you can find some
responses in the archives, but here is my take. I do not do long distance
consignment any more because of my bad experience with a gallery in Atlanta.
(that story is DEFINITELY in the archives, somewhere...) Basically gallery
owner din't have my work for sale in the gallery, sent it back poorly
packaged so I lost over half the batch, and she kept the insurance $ for
over a year - I had to track her down after she closed in order to get it
from her. That's the short version.
If you choose to do business with this woman, I would be up front with her
and say that I had serious misgivings about long-distance consignment. If
she won't buy at wholesale, you want the names and contact info of at least
5 of her artists, especially at least one who is doing long-distance
consignment w/ her. Contact all of them and ask (bottom line) if she pays
as agreed, on time. Also find out if they like the layout of her store,
location, etc. (She will TELL you it's all fabulous, but since you live in
Tahoe, how will you know for sure?)
Get in writing who's paying for shipping to AND from, and a consignment
contract that states she has insurance and the consignment %. I can send
you a copy of mine if you're interested. Also, unless you're just in love
with consignment, try to arrange it so that if your work sells well for her,
she buys the next batch at wholesale.
Best of all, find a Clayarter who lives nearby and ask them to check her out
if they have time. I don't mind asking others to do that for me, since I'd
be willing to do it for them as well.
Good luck!
L
----- Original Message -----
From: "stacey ballard"
recently, someone saw my work in a shop up here (South Lake Tahoe, CA.) and
would like to sell it in her store (Kansas) Does anyone ever consider doing
long distance consignment? How do I find out if she is a reputable business
owner?
Maid O'Mud on tue 30 dec 03
Been there, been burnt.
Learn from my mistake.
If the person really wants your stuff,
let them send you a cheque, wait til it clears,
then ship your work.
This weeds out the bad galleries immediately,
leaving you with no life lesson to pass on
Sam - Maid O'Mud Pottery
Melbourne, Ontario CANADA
"First, the clay told me what to do.
Then, I told the clay what to do.
Now, we co-operate."
sam 1994
http://www.ody.ca/~scuttell/
----- Original Message -----
From: "stacey ballard"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2003 12:13 PM
Subject: Long distance consignment
> Hi everyone,
> Since we are talking about consignment I thought I might bring up a
question that has just come up for me. I have always had my work on
consignment and have not experienced any big problems. But recently,
someone saw my work in a shop up here (South Lake Tahoe, CA.) and would like
to sell it in her store (Kansas) I have not talked to her yet, I wanted to
get some feed back first. Does anyone ever consider doing long distance
consignment? How do I find out if she is a reputable business owner? Thanks
for your help.
> Stacey Ballard
> http://www.basicelements.biz
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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> Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard
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>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Kathi LeSueur on wed 31 dec 03
Like John Rodgers, I don't consign. Most of my pots are wholesaled to
stores. I have a one exception. I sell to a store thirty miles away.
They've always been reliable and have become good friends as well as
customers. I do very few shows, so at certain times of the year I'll
give them one of a kind pieces that haven't moved at shows. If they
sell, fine. If they don't, they return them in time for me to take them
to the next show.
Consignment is a problem locally often. But especially long distance. I
used to consign to a local arts organization. When I moved to Texas they
wanted to still carry my work. This seemed ok since I returned to Ann
Arbor three times a year for shows. Ok until the day I got a letter from
them. They had three pieces left of mine and wanted me to "come take
them a week" since they already been in the gallery 90 days. It wasn't
like they didn't know that I lived in Texas, that's where they sent the
letter. They value of the pots was less than $50. They were small and
could have been sent back to me. When I called them the gallery director
said they had a new policy and that anything that hadn't sold in 90 days
was to be picked up by the artist. Not "returned" but "picked up". I
told her that it wasn't worth the expense to drive from Texas to Ann
Arbor to pickup those pots so why didn't she just dispose of them in any
way she saw fit.
Since my return to Ann Arbor many years ago gallery directors from that
organization have asked me about selling in their gallery. I have always
declined. My experience with them left a bad taste in my mouth and there
are other places to sell pots.
When you sell consignment long distance you lose all control over your
work. I wouldn't do it.
Kathi
Snail Scott on wed 31 dec 03
At 09:13 AM 12/30/03 -0800, you wrote:
>...someone saw my work in a shop up here (South Lake Tahoe, CA.) and would
like to sell it in her store (Kansas)...
I'd skip it. Shipping costs can kill you. There
are so many potential retailers within driving
distance of you that I wouldn't start consigning
further afield.
Also, you won't be able to check up on this shop.
They may be honest and have good references from
other artists who consign with them (ask for those
if you decide to go ahead), but you won't be able
to see how your is work displayed. You'll have paid
to ship it, so you're out of pocket, but they're
not. Will they give it good space, or leave it in
the storeroom, forgotten? If your stuff is good,
you might think they'd be motivated to show it and
collect their percentage on sales, but it doesn't
always work that way. And if stuff doesn't sell,
will they ship it back, (packed properly?) or just
leave it to gather dust so they don't have to deal
with it? And if they're not strictly ethical, you
won't be able to informally 'check up' to see that
what you've been paid for is everything that was
sold. Plenty of shops 'float' payments to artists,
pretending that things sold a month or two later
than they did (or never). And will they ever pay
for breakage, if you're not there to notice it's
missing? And you can't check their prices, either.
If they think their local market will support
prices 30% higher than yours will, thay may not
tell you. They may just jack up the retail price
and pocket the extra without telling you. Or jack
it up anyway and sell less because of it. Or
discount without permission. Local shops aren't
free of these questionable practices, but at least
you'll have an easier time checking on them.
Most shops and galleries are run by decent, well-
intentioned, and occasionally even altruistic
people, but you don't know which ones aren't, and
it's hard to keep 'em honest from 1000 miles away.
And you're still out of pocket for the shipping.
-Snail
william schran on wed 31 dec 03
Stacey wrote:>But recently, someone saw my work in a shop up here
(South Lake Tahoe, CA.) and would like to sell it in her store
(Kansas)<
Many folks have gotten burned on long distance consignment. I
personally wouldn't do it unless the shop was within an hour's drive.
At the least, I would ask her to send you a copy of the consignment
contract & references from other folks who consign with the shop.
Bill
Earl Brunner on wed 31 dec 03
It's even possible that they don't even HAVE a shop in Kansas. With a
computer and a printer, you can make all kinds of business looking
cards, letterhead, etc. Maybe they are just collecting souvenirs and
paying for their trip. How could you possible know?
Don't make the mistake of making a bad business decision, because you
are flattered or "need" it. There are people out there that can SMELL
sucker and know just how to suck you in. And that's just the worst
aspect of it, and I can think of a number of less bad, but still bad
aspects. I can't think of any advantages. Keep your market close to
home where you can keep an eye on it. If you insist on doing it, make
them pay wholesale up front, DON"T consign over that distance, it's a
recipe for disaster.
-----Original Message-----
From: Clayart [mailto:CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG] On Behalf Of william
schran
Sent: Wednesday, December 31, 2003 9:47 AM
To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
Subject: Re: Long distance consignment
Stacey wrote:>But recently, someone saw my work in a shop up here
(South Lake Tahoe, CA.) and would like to sell it in her store
(Kansas)<
Eleanora Eden on thu 1 jan 04
Hi Stacey and all,
I concur with all who recommend staying away from long-distance
consignment. I would be even more careful, however. I don't touch
out-of-state consignment. Here where I am NH is very close, so is MA,
NY.....many of us live where out-of-state is not long-distance. It is
easy, having the policy in place I can just tell them I don't do
out-of-state consignment and so if they want it they buy it. It is a legal
nightmare even in-state to collect on consignment non-payment or loss of
work. In somebody else's state it is just way over the top. That is even
before you thinnk about trying to deal with checking up on inventory, etc.
Eleanora
At 09:13 AM 12/30/03 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>Since we are talking about consignment I thought I might bring up a
>question that has just come up for me. I have always had my work on
>consignment and have not experienced any big problems. But recently,
>someone saw my work in a shop up here (South Lake Tahoe, CA.) and would
>like to sell it in her store (Kansas) I have not talked to her yet, I
>wanted to get some feed back first. Does anyone ever consider doing long
>distance consignment? How do I find out if she is a reputable business
>owner? Thanks for your help.
>Stacey Ballard
>http://www.basicelements.biz
>
>
>---------------------------------
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.
Eleanora Eden 802 869-2003
Paradise Hill Road eeden@vermontel.net
Bellows Falls, VT 05101 www.eleanoraeden.com
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