What to charge for consignment pieces?

Hello to everyone,

A store that I have some consignment pieces in approached me the
other day with a proposition and I am not sure what to charge.

They have bags and bags of old vintage beads they would like me to
"do something with" so they can put them in their store for sale.
(i.e. bracelets and necklaces)

So my question is, do I charge by the hour to go through, pick out,
design and then put together…or do I charge a flat fee for my
"design"…

It will be fun to tackle this project and “play” while making money
but I want to be fair to them and especially to me.

Any comments or suggestions will be of great help.

Thanks,
Laurie

I would charge an hourly rate for sorting them cleaning them and
doing the designs and then a standard stringing fee.

Teri
Silver & Cameo Heritage Jewelry
www.corneliusspick.com

A store that I have some consignment pieces in approached me the
other day with a proposition and I am not sure what to charge. 

I can’t say what you should charge, but I want to urge you to make
the terms absolutely clear. Find out what value they put on the
beads, as compared to the value of your work, and–most important–
settle the question of who owns the resulting pieces. If they do, be
sure you are well-paid for this work-for-hire. Avoid a situation
where they think the beads are the value, and your work is of lower
worth. If they want someone to just string their beads for nothing,
they can hire a 10-year-old. If, on the other hand, they respect
what you do and see a synergy, it could be great. Just don’t leap
before you look carefully.

Good luck!
Noel

Laurie;

I think, that if they want you to do work for them they should pay
you for your time and your creativity. Since you are using their
stones, but your creativity, that should be factored in as well. You
should also consider that since they are going to be selling goods
that they own they may be less likely to push your consignment
goods, which could cut into your bottom line. So you should consider
negotiating for them to buy all of work. If they think enough of your
work to hire you, they should consider buying all of your work
outright.

Now, can you afford to loose the difference between consignment
price and wholesale? Have you been pricing yourself well enough to
accomodate the difference? So many questions, I know, but they all
need to be considered. You are in business after all.

I have no idea what you feel that your time is worth only you can
answer that.

Good luck, Dennis

Hello Laurie,

Your situation:

They have bags and bags of old vintage beads they would like me to
"do something with" so they can put them in their store for sale.
(i.e. bracelets and necklaces) So my question is, do I charge by
the hour to go through, pick out, design and then put
together....or do I charge a flat fee for my "design"... 

Unless you’ve seen the beads and know that they are good quality,
with “stringable” holes, you may find yourself spending more time
than you want sorting. If the store wants to sell you the beads, and
you want to buy them, then you can consign the designs as usual.
That’s probably the easiest thing… IF you want to buy their beads.
I’d look over the beads pretty carefully before agreeing to anything.
Let us know what happens.

Judy in Kansas

Think about this possibility…the finished pieces never sell. You
have X hours in them. The gallery does something else with them or
they just sit in a box. Then what?

Personally, I wouldn’t work on speculation,(particularly on
distressed goods) unless I owned the material and would have the
right to liquidate the materials, at least softening the economic
blow. See if they will just pay you for the work, then the risk is
theirs.

If you do decide to do the work on consignment and wait for the
money, I think you deserve a higher rate.