[Jewelry making - Article 00430] - Re: [Orchid] Artist Internet Sales - Poll/Opinion

[James Binnion]

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>         I am in this same retail/wholesale boat and am trying to
>     figure out how to address it. At a recent event, I spoke with some
>     gallery owners and was surprised to hear what they had to say. Many
>     said that they wouldn't deal with an artist who sold over the
>     internet. Period. It seems as if there is an anecdotal fear of all
>     gallery customers now buying everything direct over the internet in
>     order to avoid the galleries and get a better deal by going
>     directly to the artist. This fear seems to be heightened by the
>     hard times many galleries have had over the past few years. What
>     I'm trying to understand is whether this fear is real, or just a
>     knee-jerk reaction to something new? 

    Change causes fear, the internet is a big change in the way goods
    are sold. 

    What right does a gallery owner have to tell you how you can make a
    living? If they don't want to buy your work so be it but if they
    feel your work is a good fit for their customer base and are any
    good at their job (selling jewelry) they will not have any problem
    with selling your work in their store as long as you do not under
    price them. This is the single most important thing if you are going
    to sell both wholesale and retail you must be able to sell your work
    to the retailer for at least a keystone discount. If you cannot make
    money on each item at keystone than you need to rethink your prices.
    You may want to think about even having a sightly greater than
    keystone discount built into your pricing structure as many
    retailers are finding that they need to mark up at greater than
    keystone but keystone is still the "standard" 

    Many people want to hold the work before they buy, if you have all
    your retail locations listed on your website many will go to the
    store to look at and buy the work. As long as your prices are not
    undercutting the retail store your website is another source of
    customers (free advertising for the gallery) for the store. If there
    is an occasional lost sale well then there is still most likely a
    net gain in sales for the store if your site is sending people to it
    and once they are in the store then they may buy other work as well. 

Jim Binnion

James Binnion Metal Arts
Phone (360) 756-6550
Toll Free (877) 408 7287
Fax (360) 756-2160
http://www.mokume-gane.com
jbin AT mokume-gane.com
Member of the Better Business Bureau

 
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