[Jewelry making - Article 01032] - Re: [Orchid] Wholesaling one-offs

[Freak Style]

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    Several years ago I worked for a family member who is an
    optometrist. He sold frames that he had bought wholesale and
    consignment frames. Most of the frames he bought wholesale were at a
    large discount because he tended to buy end-of-line frames. For
    several reasons he always steered customers away from consignment
    frames and rarely sold any. His reason were these - the demographic
    of the area - a lot of pensioners who didn't care about the latest
    fashion trends but did have to spend their money carefully - he could
    give them an excellent price on his discounted end-of-line frames. He
    could also make a very tidy profit on these items even giving the
    customer a price about half that of his competitors. The other
    reason was that he needed to keep track of consignment stock - if it
    wasn't moving then it wasn't hard to track. (He didn't keep track of
    his own stock). 

    I have never considered selling jewellery on consignment because I
    saw how the process worked in that shop - the reps worked very hard -
    rotated their stock regularly and tried to maintain a good
    relationship with the optometrist but they still could not sell any
    reasonable amount of stock in that store. Also, their stock was put
    into the furtherest darkest corner of the shop, all together, so that
    a customer could be shepherded away from all consignment stock in one
    easy movement - they were also "warned" about those frames if they
    showed an interest - told that they were made from inferior
    components or "made in china" (like everything else wasn't). 

    I know spectacles aren't jewellery... but I can't see any reason to
    expect that the concept is not the same.... 

    I am easily intimidated and often screwed over so I really feel that
    the consignment path would be too much of an ordeal for me... I am
    guessing whether this sort of arrangement suits certain people
    probably has at least a little to do with their personality and
    people skills. I think there's a lot that can go wrong with
    consignment particularly from the artists' side... but, I also am
    aware that I am keeping a lot of doors closed to myself by not giving
    consignment a go - I think if I wasn't so spineless and had some idea
    of my rights if I were to consign I would give it a go. My advice to
    newbies would be to research how consignment works before jumping
    right in... be careful about where you put your work - be a customer
    before you approach a store... know the way they treat their
    customers before deciding if it is the right place for your work...
    expect to make mistakes and lose out occassionally while you learn
    the ropes. Also, if you are a member of an arts organisation that can
    give you access to free legal advice take advantage of it. 

Couldn't resist adding my 2 cents
R.R. Jackson



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