[Jewelry making - Article 00816] - Re: [Orchid] Wholesaling one-offs

[Richard Hart]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

Lisa,

>         I believe you have just succeeded in making all of the points
>     that some of us were attempting to make in recommending others
>     never to consign their work. In fact, you have absolutely cemented
>     the very just prejudice to consignment that I had already developed
>     over years of experience. 

    I am glad I was able to be of service. 

    The rest of this might just be a lot of "blah blah blah". Evidently
    we have quite different points of view about this subject. I feel
    that some other gallery or store owners would not appreciate some of
    your opinions expressed in reply to my post. 

    I would like to make the point that depending on the type of work
    you do has bearing on who you try to sell or consign to. Someone
    doing boutiques and "craft stores" and shows would attract a
    different type of venue to wholesale to than say, Michael Zobel,
    Harold O'Connor, Jeff and Susan Wise, Michael Boyd, Susan Hemlich
    wholesale to. 

    Look up Mobilia, Patina, Aaron Faber. Those galleries are high end
    craft galleries, and if you wanted to sell there, you would be doing
    consignment if your work was of the caliber to be in those
    galleries. That opens the door for more visibility for an artist to
    have access to collectors of high end work. Reality of that world,
    and if you wanted to play there, you would be doing it their way.
    Seems to be how you get the big bucks for high end pieces. Bringing
    Michael Zobel's work in through customs from Germany for a show at
    Patina cost $20,000! If you know the parameters, you would know if
    you can met them or not, and accept your (our) limitations. 

    If I have four artists in my store that consign, I believe I have
    more experience in representing and selling artists work and I pose
    that I have a more objective overview on retail and consignment. You
    sound like a you have had some bad experiences, and I am sorry that
    you went through that. Your experience is not indicative of what
    someone else would go through. I know people who have bad
    experiences occasionally, but I know more about successes where they
    have made their living for years by consigning. 

    I am in my 14th year of retail, and I am not bragging, but as a mom
    and pop operation with one full time and one part time employee, we
    do over $250,000 gross a year, 80% sterling silver jewelry. 

    Now, you mention some stores sell your work within a few weeks of
    getting it, so I wonder, if you gave them twice as much as they
    ordered, half on consignment, might you possibly sell more in the
    same amount of time? If you had stores selling your work faster than
    others, seems like it would make sense to supply them with more than
    they bought if the object is to sell more work, if you can produce
    enough. You can be as adamant as you need to be, what I do works for
    me, and my consignees, and my store, and my customers and that is
    what matters. Your opinions limit you more they affect me. 

    The vision of my wife and I was to create an environment to show
    work where the customer feels comfortable shopping, and that is what
    we created. We are complimented often as to price and/or selection
    and/or quality, and how comfortable it is to shop there. Men tell us
    frequently that we make it easy for them to be successful in picking
    out something for their wife. Our employees are really happy working
    for us. "Best job I've ever had." 

    And someone we buy from, upon seeing our selection of merchandise
    told us he was honored to have his jewelry in our store. So the point
    you might be getting might not be the point I be making. And I
    believe lol is "lots of luck", and my definition of luck is
    knowledge and skill applied. 

Richard Hart

____________________________________________________________________
T h e   O r c h i d   L i s t
Open Electronic Forum for Jewelry Manufacturing Methods and Procedures
____________________________________________________________________
Orchid FAQ:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/faq.htm
Orchid Archives:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/archive
Orchid Galleries:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/gallery.htm
Invite a Friend:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm
____________________________________________________________________
Tips From The Jeweler's Bench - Article Archive
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/tip_sear.htm
The Jeweler's Selected Bibliography List
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/jewelry-books
Buy Orchid Jewelry:
~ http://www.ganoksin.com/shop
____________________________________________________________________
-Unsubscribe:
-Email: orchid-request AT ganoksin.com Body=unsubscribe subject=blank
____________________________________________________________________