[Jewelry making - Article 00953] - Re: [Orchid] Wholesaling one-offs

[Richard Hart]

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Kennedi,

>     But your original post made it sound like that is the industry
>     norm and is a slap to the face to those who have had a not so
>     splendid time with it. You also make it sound like we are all
>     spoiled little artists who overvalue our art.' 

    I would take responsibility and apologize if what you wrote was what
    I wrote, but you have greatly misunderstood my posts to the point
    that I wonder if English is your first language. Quote me directly,
    please so I have a clue of what you are referring to. That you have
    had a not so splendid time with it has no bearing on whether it is a
    industry norm or not. 

    If you read my post and understood it, you would have read that I
    have other artists in my store, that do consignment on a regular
    basis with several other venues and are NOT having problems. It is
    the norm for these artists and these are the ones I have direct
    contact with.. But since we are on the subject, what percentage of
    work carried in galleries do you think is consignment? 

    And I too happen to be a spoiled little artist. I am developing a
    line, and the sole purpose of that line, is be be consignment. I can
    afford to do that, I can produce quantity, I can price it right, and
    I feel my line will be strong enough that I will sell enough fast
    enough to make it pay doing it that way. If I can do 30-60, I would
    do that. I believe I am strong enough in skill and knowledge to make
    it work. Is it a risk, yes, but to me it is about developing a
    niche, and mining that. I did it many years ago with leather work.
    (When I was a young hippie.) I know there are a lot of good people
    out there, and I am going to meet them. Might I have problems?, yes,
    but I believe I can handle them and come out ahead (now that I am an
    old hippie). Now, let's get real for a minute. If you can sell all
    the work you produce, and get the price you want, then you would not
    have to consider doing consignment. If you are not selling all your
    work, and need income from work that you have produced, you either
    do shows, or consign. I am not interested in doing shows, and I would
    rather take the risk by consigning than the work it takes to do
    shows. 

    The below is not my post: 

>     Forclosure/ bankruptsy. I've dealt with consignment galleries
>     before opening my own. When they went bankrupt, all the artists
>     were informed to pick up their work that the store was closing. If
>     you were stupid enough to not comply, I guess you'd lose your work,
>     but that would be your fault, not the fault of the gallery. Let me
>     also add... Just because someone thinks their art is GREAT doesn't
>     mean it will sell (anywhere) And while consigning in a gallery,
>     you're not paying fees to show your work for more than a weekend -
>     consigning contracts are generally for 6 weeks or more. There is NO
>     COST to the artists - unless of course, they are involved in a coop
>     consignment gallery - that's a horse of a different color. 

    And for the rest of your post, too much to respond to, but I was
    responding to posts that I thought were not broad in scope as to
    positive and negative, and I was providing information from the
    perspective of how it can be, and can work in the artists favor.
    There is such a thing. It exists. Finding out what to look for might
    be a benefit for some who read these posts. Knowing the pitfalls is
    valuable also, but when I am going to fly on a plane, I am not as
    interested in the planes that crashed as I am in the ones that
    landed safely. 

    When you are consigning, there are things you have no control over,
    and there are things you do have control over. It is your job to
    know which is which, and do all you can to protect yourself. 

    I hope this thread educates people what to look for and helps them
    develop a smell for when it ain't right and it is time to pick up
    and move on. I hope it provides info for newbies to know options and
    helps people develop a business plan. 

    There are people who do shows that suck. There is no recourse for
    when the promoter makes money and you don't. Not all of us can sell
    outright, not all of us can do shows, and not all of us can do
    consignment. 

    When people have bad experiences, it can have a financial impact,
    and it has an emotional impact. I believe knowing how to take care
    of yourself involves getting support for how to deal with each. 

    So, if you had an artists who said they wanted a written consignment
    contract, you'd still work with them? 

    Not only would I, I use the contract that was posted from an artist
    on this forum. I believe it provides maximum protection for the
    artist. 

>     there are retailers and galleries that really take advantage of
>     their consignment artists and their products. 

    I also know galleries that promoted and got recognition for an
    artist, and then got crapped on by the artist when they got more
    well known!!!! Not all one sided is it? 

    "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." Someone
    said consignment is like a marriage, and sometimes you need to know
    when to get out and cut loses. However, most of us stay too long,
    hoping something will change without us having to be proactive and
    take responsibility. Definition of insanity is when you keep doing
    the same thing over and over and expect the results to be different.
    I cannot change anyone elses behavior, I either have to change my
    behavior, or change my expectation. Providing info on when to know
    when consignment is going bad or how to take care of yourself is
    different than judgment blame and criticism of stores and galleries
    that don't take care of the artists that do consignment with them. 

    1 a.m. and I hope I have been somewhat coherent.

Richard Hart

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