Group Sale - software for sales

[Min]

I'm participating in a 1 month Christmas gallery sale where there are multiple vendors (approx 45). The gallery manager used QuickBooks last year but found it too time consuming to enter the sales data for each of the vendors. They are trying Square this year,  but are looking for other options going forward if Square doesn't work out. Basically they need to be able to upload our inventory sheets and keep track of the sales for each vendor. Does anyone have any alternate recommendations for accounts software? 

[oldlady]

the gallery in frederick, md has used square for years.  recently got a new terminal because the old one was unreliable.   even i can use it now.   

our members are "categories"  and their inventory lists are varied.  some potters number every single pot with a brief description.  their numbers range into the thousands.   i was advised to list my items by price, calling the first one 001 and its price, going upward from there.  i have 21 price points and i do not feel the need to identify things more closely.  

some have a group of pots identified by price and  color.   tags read  Initials of the potter, inventory number 22 C  to indicate the price and the color.  that way, they can list 10 items as bowls at $35 and this one is green.  letter D might be for brown.   saves the cashier time searching for that particular item at sale time.   to work the tags must be correct.

the only problem i know of is the initials of the potter, they must be distinct so checks can be mailed to the correct person.  (i have never seen as many AB names in my life!!)

i could use some actual training on using it's features more efficiently but it seems to do the job very well.

[Min]

Thanks OldLady, I should have been more clear in my post. Tags and inventory on a spreadsheet isn't a problem, it's the time the staff at the gallery need to spend getting the sales to the correct vendors that's the bottleneck. 

[Callie Beller Diesel]

If you're using Square, use it as the till system it is. Enter each artist's items, and enter their name under the "category" section. Then you can look up sales by category over your preferred time frame from the dashboard, and you can tell at a glance who sold what. It's a bit of data entry to get it set up, but it makes it way easier in the end. Someone familiar with Square should be able to set something like that up in an afternoon.

Edited to add:

We used this exact setup when we were working with about 60 different artists at a small one week show. The accounting at the end was very straightforward.

added again: the only other software I have used myself would be designed for consignment situations, and it's more suitable for a permanent setup due to the initial software purchase and a bit of a steeper learning curve because it's got more functions you can get confused by.

[Min]

I was wondering about barcoded labels, each vendor getting a supply of those with their pricepoints. Gallery scanning the codes at POS so the customer can get out the door quickly then scanned barcodes getting directly put in software file for each vendor. An app for smartphones that can scan barcodes maybe? Does a system like this exist?

[Callie Beller Diesel]

Probably not for free and/or cheap. Is there a budget you have to work with?

[Callie Beller Diesel]

@Min Square does sell a barcode reader it integrates with. It runs about $150 online, shipping time 5-7 days. I believe you need the stand and an Ipad as well, for another $200 for the stand and whatever the ipad runs for if you don't already own one. Barcode generation software is easy to come by, and I did find some of that for free. So not exorbitant, as far as till systems go, but it depends on wether it will be used again, or for how much volume as to wether or not something like that is cost effective.

[Min]

7 hours ago, Callie Beller Diesel said:

Square does sell a barcode reader it integrates with. It runs about $150 online, shipping time 5-7 days. I believe you need the stand and an Ipad as well, for another $200 for the stand and whatever the ipad runs for if you don't already own one. Barcode generation software is easy to come by, and I did find some of that for free.

Perfect! I sent the info along to the gallery manager, much appreciated. The only hurdle I can see is getting vendors to print the barcoded price stickers but I'll let the gallery figure that one out. I think the worst case scenario is the gallery prints them off for vendors who can't do it themselves, which should be doable. 

[Rae Reich]

On 10/17/2019 at 5:02 PM, Min said:

 the gallery prints them off for vendors who can't do it themselves, which should be doable. 

This is what the Art A Fair in Laguna did with everyone the year I was there. You told them how many you needed at which prices, then they  printed them for you. With a large number of participants, this would assure consistency of printing.