Do You Have This Gallery Experience?

[clay lover]

I have work in a gallery that I can't decide works for me or not.  The gallery is well located and well established.  good looking, well staffed.  they keep good records and checks come when they are supposed to.

My problem is, to have any sales at all, I have to have a huge volume  of work there.  The store is packed with pots, stacked , my bowls in other bowls, my trays holding someone' else's soaps, or candles, a commercial potter with 100's of pieces gets front and center, everything else is piled.  When I commit 100's of $s of work , I will get a check most months, but a very small % of the total stock I have  there.

What would be your feelings about this sort of arrangement ?  I can't help but wondering if my total income from that work would be better at 2 samller places?   Do you keep a high volume of your total work in a gallery to generate sales ?   When I have sales for a couple of months, even tho I have MANY pieces in this place, my sales stop until I take in another 2-3 cases of work.

[Guest JBaymore]

What you are effectively doing is giving that place an unsecured loan, bearing no interest, for the total dollar value (wholesale price......or whatever you want to call the piece that you get of the sale) of all the work you have in the place for however long you have it there.

 

If you might actually have a written consignment contract (and an enforceable one) then that changes that situation to that of a secured (you'll get you work back) no interest bearing loan.  (So if they have theft or breakage of your work while in the store... how does you contract specify they handle that?)

 

What a stellar "racket" consignment galleries are.  They get to finance the stock in their business at absolutely no risk or cost to them.  Not many other businesses that you can get THAT deal on.

 

So let's frame this differently.

 

I have a business idea.  I need some money to get it running.  Would you please loan me some money to help with that.  I won't pay you any interest on that money, and I don't know how long I'll keep it, but if the business is successful....... I'll pay you back.  I probably will pay you back in little drips and drabs now and then.... but I don't know when or how often or how much those payments will be.  Do we have a deal?

 

best,

 

.......................john

 

PS:  My guess (and it is a guess.....but "typical") is that maybe that "commercial potter"'s work has been bought outright at wholesale.  It is likely front and center because the store has an actual cash investment in that work (as opposed to yours) and needs to turn that stock to make money off if it.  Your pieces (and lots of other folks) are free "window dressing" to make the place 'look good'.

[TJR]

This is the sad truth about consignment. This gallery can go bust and the bank will own your work. I would pull out and look for a wholesale arangement as John suggests.

Many of us have horror stories like this.

I had work in the local craft shop. They used a bowl of mine at the door to catch dead flies. Yup! She showed it to me.

When I went to England, I had work in three consignment shops. All went bust. For years I would see my work floating by in other venues. I no longer owned it, as I was out of the country and was not notified of their bankruptcy.

One time I was eating Sunday dinner at my parents' place. Got a call from a gallery. They were going bust on Monday. I had to get there and box everything up.

We have a gallery here in a very touristy area. They pile up all their stuff and have no display sense. I don't sell there.

I don't sell anywhere on consignment other than our provincial art gallery. I don't think they will go bankrupt.

Thanks for letting me vent.

TJR.

[bciskepottery]

I have work in a gallery that I can't decide works for me or not.  The gallery is well located and well established.  good looking, well staffed.  they keep good records and checks come when they are supposed to.

My problem is, to have any sales at all, I have to have a huge volume  of work there.  The store is packed with pots, stacked , my bowls in other bowls, my trays holding someone' else's soaps, or candles, a commercial potter with 100's of pieces gets front and center, everything else is piled.  When I commit 100's of $s of work , I will get a check most months, but a very small % of the total stock I have  there.

What would be your feelings about this sort of arrangement ?  I can't help but wondering if my total income from that work would be better at 2 samller places?   Do you keep a high volume of your total work in a gallery to generate sales ?   When I have sales for a couple of months, even tho I have MANY pieces in this place, my sales stop until I take in another 2-3 cases of work.

Two issues jump out at me. First, your work seems to be lost among the "pots, stacked, my bowls in other bowls" and second, your work being used to promote others -- "my trays holding someone else's soaps, or candles." The commercial potter, on the other hand, due to the large volume of work, likely has a dedicated or focal point where you can look at his/her work -- not a mix of several work. I've found that in the stores/galleries I have work, people like to buy/come back to buy an individual's work they like. And, they are not likely to want to have to look all over the store to find that work because its in various places, doing various things (like selling someone's soap or candles). You might generate more sales with a larger presence in the one gallery; you might also generate more sales if you had work in multiple locations (providing the stores allow you to have work in more than one location). From your description, it sound more like a merchandising and display issue.

 

You could talk to the owners and suggest having a one month feature of your work; you'll bring in a boat load of works and they feature them; then see how the sales go. Maybe suggest doing such a feature twice a year. That would allow you to manage the volume of work at the gallery.

 

Consignment stores/galleries are unfortunately the only outlet for most potters. And, if your work is recognized to command a wholesale approach, relationship with a gallery owner, and sales prices, then you probably are not working with a consignment gallery. I have work in three consignment galleries; a fourth -- the one where I did the best volume recently closed (and they notified us ahead of time to pick up our wares). I do not keep a large volume at any of them, sometimes due to space limitations that the owners place, sometimes because I'm not sure how well sales will go. Most of my sales come from craft fairs and similar events; I keep the bulk of my wares for those sales opportunities.

[clay lover]

Bciskepottery , are you satisfied with the 3 galleries that you have a consignment relationship with?

[Mark C.]

I always have done better in a shop with just a few potters or work that's way different than mine.

Your shop sounds to be a poor match for your work.

I have 3 consignment shops myself

One has two potters another has just me the 3rd has about 4

I would look for another shop or at least do what Bciskepottery suggests and see if that helps.

I also sell outright to a few shops

Mark

[bciskepottery]

Bciskepottery , are you satisfied with the 3 galleries that you have a consignment relationship with?

The three galleries/shops are still in the "probationary" period -- one is just nearing the end of the first year, the other two are on the front end of the first year. So, I've really not had enough experience to make a judgment. All three are dependent on tourist trade and sales were brutalized over the long winter months. Because of that dependency, I don't have high expectations.

 

When working with consignment shops, remember that since the inventory does not cost the seller anything, he/she may overload/overcommit on pottery or other types of work because the makers approach him/her. At one venue, I just offer vases, ikebana vases, and other flower-related wares; the shop is part of a horticultural association with a limited focus clientele -- an example of what Mark mentioned about matching your work to the customer base.

 

Mark had a another good point . . . your work needs to be different enough (quality, color, forms, etc.) to stand out from the others. Developing a palette is key . . . nothing worse that seeing work by different artists using the same glazes and glaze combos from the local community studio being sold in the same store or craft fair.

 

When I am selling at craft fairs, every sales gets a slip of paper that lists both future craft fairs I'll be at and the names and addresses of the three outlets where I have a selection of work available. I've had return customers who come to fairs because of that slip of paper and I've had them go to the stores. The fairs and store outlets are also listed on my website. So, you need to help make the relationship work on your end by making your customers from other outlets aware of where your work can be found.

[clay lover]

Thanks for your suggestions.  I do the slip with info at my craft sales also, it really does bring buyers into the galleries where my work is.

I have not been happy with the feeling that my work is lost in the mass of pottery.  I have my eye on a small, well located gallery that offers only handmade works and no pottery as of yet.  I'm visiting it next week to have a look see and will go from there.

[Mark C.]

When you are the only potter you always will do better and if there a few potters who work is far different from yours you will also do well.
I will add that after many years of doing this I can now ask for for more display space or better locations  within the shop as I'm usually the best seller for them and am downsizing my output and they all know this.

Money talks and great sales gives you have the power-this will take time and it pays to be one of a few vs one of many as your shop has so much pottery-I have stayed out of that situation for many years now as I learned that early on the hard way as you are doing now.

Try to always be one of a few.

Mark

[clay lover]

You have all told me what I figured.  time to move on. 

[Chris Campbell]

I often find the need to jump in to say that there are some good consignment galleries ... few and far between to be sure ... but there are some who treat the artists well. They make up for not being able to buy wholesale by representing their artists very well. Good display, knowledgeable staff and prompt payment.

 

BUT ... They are scarce so beware and DO NOT leave any work without a signed contact no matter how nice the owners are.

 

One important clause states that YOU own your work until it is sold and paid for .... This prevents the bank from appropriating it in a bankruptcy proceeding.

[Guest JBaymore]

BUT ... They are scarce so beware and DO NOT leave any work without a signed contact no matter how nice the owners are.

 

One important clause states that YOU own your work until it is sold and paid for .... This prevents the bank from appropriating it in a bankruptcy proceeding.

 

That's the key stuff.

 

best,

 

................john

[clay lover]

If you own your work until it is bought and paid for, does that absolve the gallery of responsibility if it is broken in their store?

[Guest JBaymore]

If you own your work until it is bought and paid for, does that absolve the gallery of responsibility if it is broken in their store?

 

You need the contract to specify exactly how stolen or broken or "shopworn" items are handled.

 

best,

 

......................john

[Chris Campbell]

This is an excerpt from my website ....

Look in "Potttery business advice" sub title "Working with Galleries"

 

If they want CONSIGNMENT,

make sure you get a SIGNED agreement that specifies:

What pieces you left with them.

The retail price of the pieces.

The % of the sale price you receive.

The exact dates on which this will be paid.

They are responsible for loss, damage or theft.

How long the work may be kept.

They pay to ship it back to you.

The work is your property until sold.

 

If they do not agree to a signed contract, take your work home …

even if they are “Nice†people.

 

In a friendly way, drop in from time to time to make sure they are

still solvent and your work is on display ... not sitting in the back room.

[Chris Campbell]

For several years, I wrote a Business Advice column for Pottery Making Illustrated and not many basics have changed. You could run those same articles year after year and the basics stay valid whether you sell in the 1800's or on the Internet.

The predators are still circling and the artists are still trying to stay alive in those waters.

The pitfalls are the same, the effort and hard work it takes to succeed has not changed.

Fortunately the good, honest people are still there as well. You can spot them either by the length of time they have been in business or by how well thought of they are by other artists. But, to find them you have to do some homework.

They are out there running good Galleries, and sponsoring good shows.