Chris Campbell Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 Mea asked for more discussion on wholesale so I will start. First and biggest and best tip ever for anyone wanting to make a living wholesaling or retailing their work is to take a two day workshop from the Arts Business Institute. These two days of intensive business information will save you years of mistakes. If you visit their website you will find articles on almost all areas of craft sales. Sign up for their mailings. http://www.artsbusinessinstitute.org/ This is an article I have written from my website ... it is by no means complete but I hope it raises more questions and leads to a lively discussion. The longer article is on my site. http://www.ccpottery.com/wholesale.html SELLING POTTERY WHOLESALE Wholesale is a great way to sell your work if you are ready. Here are some of the pros and cons to help you decide. PROS You get to control your income because you set your price. You do not have to bother with one-time retail sales unless you choose to. You can plan your work schedule rather than being at the mercy of crafts fair judges, bad weather and fickle crowds. You get paid for your work ... usually within 30 days. CONS You have to know enough about your costs to set a price for your work that gives you a profit and giving the gallery enough room to price it for their profit. You have a produce a solid LINE of work that hits key price points. You have to guarantee a consistent level of quality. You have to deliver what you promised, when you promised to. Now to the MYTHS about wholesale. 1. “I loose 50% of the price if I don’t sell it myself.†No, you make 100% of your asking price. This price should cover your costs and leave room for profit. The Gallery’s asking price covers the costs of selling the work, which is something you don’t have to do anymore. 2. “Still, when I sell retail I get to keep all of the money.†Unless you live in a situation where someone else pays all the utility and rent bills and is kind enough to pay for your computer, your car, your booth fees, your set up …etc …. you are never keeping all of the money. Selling your own work costs money. 3. “I don’t make enough work to consider wholesale.†Remember where I wrote that you have to deliver what you promised, when you promised it … well, that can be 20 pots or 200 pots. You are in charge. So, lets say you decide to take the plunge. What do you need to do? Decide on your line of work covering some price points. A LINE OF WORK: These are pieces that you do well. They are well designed and are shapes that you could stand to make over and over again. Shapes you can explore and progress with. This line of work should look good together on a shelf. PRICE POINTS: Your work should cover at least a couple price points so your Gallery can sell it to different customers. Galleries are more than happy to tell you the price points that sell best for them since they indeed do want to make sales. What else?? You need to price your work before you contact Galleries because price will be their first question. Other questions might be … “What is your minimum order?†“What are your credit terms?†“How long would it take to get more?†“Who else do you sell to in the area?†“What is your best seller?†“What other colors does it come in?†“Do you accept special orders?†“Do you make all your own work?†“What are your guarantees on this pottery?†“What else do you make?†“Do you sell online or from your own studio?†“How long have you been in business?†“Will you send us samples?†http://www.ccpottery.com/wholesale.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 CONS (You have to know enough about your costs to set a price for your work that gives you a profit and giving the gallery enough room to price it for their profit. You have a produce a solid LINE of work that hits key price points. You have to guarantee a consistent level of quality. You have to deliver what you promised, when you promised to.) Some other cons are you never get feedback from your end customers on design and function or price If you never sell direct to customers then the above can be a setback. That said I have 4 wholesale outlets myself. I feel the biggest issue with potters is knowing how much you can produce.Only take on outlets that you can cover the orders well for. I only have 4 as I do not want more than I can produce well for.-You need to know your limits. This is the hardest lesson if you are doing other sales as well. I like a mix of incomes and suggest this to those starting out. Wholesale is the smallest part of my income pie but seems to be getting larger at least this year. I also have 3 consignment shops and do 7 art shows and one personal x-mas sale. I turn down lots of of offers these days-from wholesale to consignment to shows. Know your limits. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted November 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 I agree Mark ... The more varied your income the less likely you are to be impacted by changes. Tony Clennell always said he had to support himself on a three legged stool ... Wholesale, retail, teaching. Even superstars can't hold the limelight forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 For me there are only two PROS: Some of my wholesale accounts are reputable enough that they increase my credibility. I am proud to say "you can find my work at .... " And some of my gallery accounts are in areas that are too far for me to travel for a show, therefore they reach audiences that I can't reach myself. The CON of doing wholesale is that it's less profitable. I used to do 50% wholesale and 50% retail. After I did my year-long analysis of my hourly earnings, and figured out how much more I was earning at art festivals, I changed that ratio to 20% wholesale and 80% retail. I increased my income by 40% (as of last year, this year will improve on that) while also decreasing my work hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEP Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 Wholesaling is beneficial to any artist who hates doing art festivals. There are plenty of artists who hate them, and there's nothing wrong with that. But still it's important to be realistic that you ARE forfeiting potential income by wholesaling. If that trade-off is worth it to you, then it's not the wrong decision. For people like me who like doing art festivals, and can make the most of them, selling retail is a better choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebekah Krieger Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 would any of you like to speak about how you find wholesale work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted November 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Wholesale accounts with a capital "W" ... In other words full time ... are found at the big trade shows like the Rosen Show and the ACC show. This is where Galleries travel to look at and buy new work. But ... More and more galleries are finding they don't have to travel to get new work. They get almost daily online submissions from artists or they can go to a site like wholesalecrafts.com and find work in the comfort of their own homes. So you can design a complete presentation to e-mail to Galleries, you can approach nearby galleries in person or you can join a group website. Another one of my pesky 'it all depends ...." answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebekah Krieger Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 Thanks! It is something I would Like to do someday with my beer cups and breakfast sets so I can have base sales out of the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark C. Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 My wholesale outlets came to me like this Rebekah 1-I approached my friend who owned two bagel shops years ago-this is a special fixed cost per mug aggreement where I get a very good piece of all sales-I can pm you the details but would like them not posted to the world-we both do very well with sales here. 2 I was asked by another potter if I could suppy some items to a gallery he did business with a few years ago 3 I changed a consignment gallery to a you buy it gallery or I'm out-they choose to buy it-two years ago-in this wholesale I get almost my full price as he sells them for top dollar. 4 I wholesale some small forms to a outlet that carries a large consignment assortment already.I always had this setup for past 20 years at this spot.I did not want to sell little items for much less so I sold them outright at 10% less. In most cases I am losing about 10 to 30% over my retail price -in some forms its just a dollar less-like sponge holders. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebekah Krieger Posted November 18, 2014 Report Share Posted November 18, 2014 thank you Mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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