[Jewelry making - Article 00946] - Re: [Orchid] Wholesaling one-offs

[Daniel Spirer]

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    So after reading all these postings (and having had experience on
    all ends of this) allow me to stick my nose in and summarize a few
    things before adding a few comments: 

        1) There are good galleries to consign to.
        2) There are bad galleries to consign to.
        3) It is good for some people to consign their work.
        4) It is bad for other people to consign their work.
        5) You can make money consigning your work.
        6) You can lose money consigning your work.
        7) You can make money selling consigned work.
        8) You can lose money selling consigned work.

    That seems to about sum it up, right? So what's my point? There are
    certain times in all of our lives when a certain means of making
    money is appropriate. When someone is starting out, has no
    recognizable name, does not have the means (or desire) to open their
    own retail store, and is desperate for income, the ability to consign
    their work, whether it is one-offs or production work, is often to
    their advantage. They get exposure, they get their work in a bunch of
    places where it may sell (and if it's weird work that no one would
    normally buy because it won't turn fast enough than just having it
    someplace where it may sell is a plus) and there is a possibility
    they can make some good connections that will ultimately turn into
    accounts who will buy outright. On the other hand when someone has
    reached James Binnion's (or some of you other more experienced
    jeweler's) level then you can call more of the shots and insist that
    stores buy your work. But what you can't forget here is that you need
    to have developed that level of maturity in your work, established
    yourself as a known jeweler (at least within the community you are
    selling, if not nationally), and your work MUST be in demand. If that
    isn't the case then why would a retail outlet want to buy your stuff
    outright? 

    As for the question of your lending a store money by consigning your
    work everyone has to remember that there are costs on both sides of
    the equation. If you CHOOSE not to open your own retail store to sell
    your product then you have to accept the costs incurred by a store to
    sell your product. This includes, but is not limited to, original
    buildout costs, the rent on a retail location, advertising,
    merchandising, sales help, store managers, bookkeepers, percentages
    paid to mall owners, heat, electricity, customer amenities (gift
    wrapping, coffee, etc.), charitable contributions, etc. Your cost is
    somewhat more limited to the production of your work and the value of
    the materials (unless you have employees). So are you lending them
    money?? Well...yes, but if you wanted to do it yourself you would
    have to go out and borrow a couple of hundred thousand dollars to
    open your own store (and how many of you are there out there who
    would actually take that risk?) and that would be far more costly to
    you then lending some stores some of your merchandise so they could
    sell it.

    Have some people been screwed by unscrupulous retailers? Sure. Have
    some retailers been screwed by unscrupulous artists? Sure. But then
    this is true in any business. You just have to make sure that you do
    all your homework when working with anyone. Don't trust anyone fully
    who you haven't already done business with. Check out everyone's
    credit worthiness. Talk to other artists represented in galleries
    about their experiences. Make sure you visit the galleries regularly
    to check on how stuff is displayed and doing. Don't expect someone
    else to do this for you. It's all part of being in business. Screw me
    once, shame on you. Screw me twice, shame on me. 

Daniel R. Spirer, G.G.
Daniel R. Spirer Jewelers, LLC
1780 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
daniel AT spirerjewelers.com
www.spirerjewelers.com

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