Guess you could say I opened my big mouth again. My wife had to stop by a consignment shop to pick up a gift so I wait and wait and wait. Can't stand it so go in and bang this idea hit me. Why not set up a booth for some of the turning club and share expenses? I promote it to some close by club members and got 4 or 5 interested. So I have shelving , just needs sanding and varnish. Sooooo I am doing all this work setting up and maybe this is coming together. Funny thing the lady at the shop coached us on prices as to basically set price high enough to cover rent and 15% commission , also we can always lower but not raise price (bad mojo).

    So now we have pricing to consider and then what to put in . My main basis for doing this is to promote the club so I have made a new club brochure. Oh and there will be two of us entering the items in store computer for inventory and label printing. Cost per month each about 15 plus total of 12 hours per month cleanup(to be split).

    How many of you have tried this route to sell your wares? And how well did it work?

A little different situation, for me. 

 

I got talked into putting my rolling pins in an artist co-op in Lexington VA. There was no costs up front (other than shipping from PA to VA) but they took 30% off of any sales. I figured what price I needed to cover my expenses and make a few buck and then added their commission. I sold one rolling pin. The co-op went belly up so I had to pay to have the unsold stuff sent back.

 

A different scenario is from an artist friend of my wife. The artist has a similar setup as what you describe, however, she gets her "space rent" paid for by helping in the shop with other sales, cleanup and general duties for a couple of days a week.

 

Hope this wasn't too negative.Try it and see how it goes.  

Edited February 28, 20188 yr by lew

I have some items in a couple shops but not doing anything close to what you are. When I was at Marc Adams last fall there was a guy in the class who opened his own store to do just what you're talking about. He also said he was teaching out of the location. Have no idea how successful he has been it seemed a good idea when he was talking about it.

 

Steve

My experience with this is when my wife was doing victorian lampshades she rented a space in an antique mall. Seems like the only ones making money were the owners of the building. What she did sell the owners took a high percentage and several shades were stolen , or sold with no record of sale , plus the space rent ,she went behind on it. Also she had to wait at least a month to get paid , and keep really good records and inventory records .

 

I hope yours go better , Gerald. Seems like you are doing the majority of the work,right now, I hope all the effort you put into it pays off. I don't wasnt to seem negative just a little warning what to look out for.

Herb

sounds like work.

 

in a related note, i sent a friend a little bowl i made as a house warming gift to him some time ago.  he got it. loved it.  yay.

 

today, a large box arrives......hmmm....i didn't order anything from Williams Sonoma.  it was a gift box (fruit and chocolates) from him as a thank you.

 

i'm constantly amazed at the generosity of people.

 

as for the above idea:  pass.

Consignment shops are very risky. A few actually sell enough to make a profit, most are hobbies. Since the shop doesn't have thereThere are a couple of legal things to consider. Without a signed agreement as to who owns the product while it is on consignment it is subject to confiscation by anyone the shop owes and has not paid. Even with that agreement you may have to go to court to claim your product. You loose either way.  30% is on the low end of commissions. Antique malls are no better. An artist coop has some advantages. Group cooperation and control. They usually require quite a bit of time because members baby sit the shop during operating hours. People still working only have weekends and not many want to give up their days off. Friction soon develops because not all members will contribute to the success or often failure. They can work sort of but don't plan on a lot of profits.  My sister has an artist gallery in a good location. She owns the building and the gallery is run as a coop. (more of a social club actually) Each member pays a monthly fee to belong and I think 20% on sales. She makes her $ by renting out studios, gallery rent and an apartment. She gets a downtown apartment and a garage!

Several years ago, when I was welding for a living, a friend and I decided to build a few Franklin stoves. He kept one, I kept one and we built 2 more to be sold in consignment. Had a great store front display. A few weeks later, the store was closed, couldn't contact the owners and our stoves were gone. So much for consignment stores! Be sure you know who you are dealing with. Signed papers mean nothing when the people you deal with disappear.