Selling Consignment?

[Former_Member]

Has anyone had any experience selling consignment?

What did you think - was it worth it?

Did you raise your prices in order to make up for the seller's cut?

[Former_Member]

anyone?

[Former_Member]

I'm no help, but I'll bump this for you so maybe someone will answer :s

[crowinghenfarm]

I sell consignment through a local shop. Mostly around Christmas time.

Actually, I started out by selling consignment, the Etsy shop came much, much later.

The things I like best: I don't have to spend much time directly interacting with customers. I am shy by nature and find this part to be the most difficult aspect of selling anything. There is so much more free time for crafting, you don't have to stress about getting back to people within so many hours... stuff like that.

The parts I don't like: you don't get to hear first hand how much the customers like your stuff or see how many repeat customers you have.

There is also the issue of the consignment fee. It's usually 40:60. You have to be careful not to undersell the shop that is carrying your goods. If you cannot make a profit at 60% of your product price, you may need to reassess your pricing. (perhaps someone with more coffee in their system can explain this part better)

[Former_Member]

I've has great luck with it!

Just keep a thorough inventory sheet.

[beevintageredux]

It's a wonderful thing, once you find the right fit! I do consignment both locally and nationally, and have had positive experiences. Just do your research- if there are other Etsy sellers that the shop(s) carry, don't hesitate to contact them and ask them about their experiences with the shop owner and selling. Most are be more than willing to help!

And definitely make an inventory sheet for both you and the seller. Most ask for your product to be tagged with your name and price, and a code (usually made up by you!) to correspond to the item on your inventory sheet. I always take a picture of what I hand over to shops with the code/tag prominently displayed, and attatch it to the inventory sheet I keep for my records.
Just do your research, ask any questions you have, and go with your gut. Good luck!

[Former_Member]

If you have similar items listed on Etsy that you sell consignment, do you raise your consignment prices at all from your Etsy prices, since those are taking a cut?

[KittenKabooses]

I sell consignment in several shops and boutiques. A few of the shops have agreements with me that I need a certain price for the items and they set the prices to make their cut. Other shops take a percentage of the price I set.

You really have to pick and choose good locations. Some craft consignment shops are a complete waste of time while the right shop could keep your business flowing.

I love the fact that I just drop my stuff off and they do all the work for me! Some of my best clients come from high end salon / boutiques.

[CharmingLifeJewelry]

The thing that's holding me back from consignment is the shop-lifting factor. Do you have an agreement with the shop that they pay you for items that are shop lifted, or is that just the cost of doing business? I have 1 boutique that I sell wholesale to, but I just can't bring myself to take stuff to another shop that just charges a very low yearly fee, and no consignment fee. I feel like I would need to display about $400 worth of jewelry in her store to make it worth my while because it's a small lake resort about 60 miles away.

[Former_Member]

I like consignment. You do have to find the right fit for what you are selling. I have learned my lesson and never give a shop too many items at first. One woman had a shop that was just opening, she took twenty of my items, signed a contract with me and then took off. Actually, when I called to see when the grand opening was, she kept putting it off. After three months of her putting it off, I found out she was open for two weeks and decided it wasn't for her. She asked me to meet her at her other job to pick up my work (which is weird, why not have me pick it up where I dropped it off) and when I showed up when and where she asked me to, she did not show up. There was another artist there waiting for her too. We waited for forty minutes, at her job and she NEVER showed up. She stopped answering phone calls..... She sucks. BUT, I have stuff in many other little shops in Austin and Dayton and I really like it. The nice thing is, you make your items, drop them off and then they do all of the work. It gives you time to make more!

[Former_Member]

I do raise my prices, esp. with shops that take a high percentage (50%). I think people are willing to pay a bit more for the convienence, instant gratification, and knowing exactly what they are getting parts of shopping in person. Also, they don't have to pay shipping, so you can easily up the price by that amount! Shoppers also get a box or wrapping at some shops, which the shop owners are paying for in my experience.

[Babiease]

I worked with two shops for about two years. I never found it to be very profitable. They worked 60% take in and 70% take in. I was able to make about equal, maybe a bit more, to my etsy prices. Unfortunately, neither of the shops did sell enough to make it worth my time taking my items in. I pulled all of my items this past December because I was expecting twins and knew I wouldn't be able to keep consigning. HTH!

[Former_Member]

I have had great luck selling consignment. I do not raise my prices. I figure the 40% is the price I pay to have more exposure. Everything is clearly labeled with my website, which leads back to Etsy, so I can continue to attract customers here. I have found shop owners much more willing to do things on consignment (even shops that had never done it before), since there is no risk to them. My issue with wholesale has been shop owners not doing the greatest job (I felt) displaying merchandise, and me feeling like I can't say anything since they already bought it.

[TheMagnificentMagnet]

Very valuable advice, everyone!

We have been doing consignment for 20 years now, both locally and around the country. One of our shops has been with us for 16 years and is still selling magnets every month. That one is one of our success stories, but we have also had shops close with no notice and take off with our inventory. It is the price that you will pay for consigning. So follow the advice given above...don't give them too much inventory...it's a mistake we made early on. Better to ship or drop off items to them every month or two based on sales rather than keeping high inventory. That will help your cash flow as well because when you do consignment with a lot of shops, you are laying out the cost of materials and labor up front.

I'd like to add two important suggestions. Keep in touch, keep in touch, keep in touch with the shop! Sometimes they don't sell something for a month or two, but I or one of my staff try to give a call anyway. This accomplishes two things...you can hear from conversation how they are doing, (I always ask casually...are they selling things but not selling my magnets?) and you can establish a relationship so that they are less likely to close and not be in touch with you. The second suggestion is to ask them for their personal information...home address, phone number, where they work. This can be asked initially as part of your consignment agreement form or casually in conversation after you are a vendor in the store.

Fredda
The Magnificent Magnet
http://www.themagnificentmagnet.etsy.com

[Former_Member]

i am so glad to read this post! I am a several month newbie and I have just made my first consignment agreement with a new on-line children's clothing design company for their holiday gift boutique. At first I was thrilled, because their site looks pretty classy and very professional. Then I was not so thrilled when they offered a 40/60 split (I get 40) and they want to offer my product at a lower retail price than I do (which means a rather measly 40% for me) In the end I decided to offer a "special edition doll" for them, cheaper to produce, and agreed to do it for a small number of dolls. I just decided that if I did not do it, I would always wonder what could have been. Or I will learn via my own mistake:)
@ Heather: Suggestions about inventory sheet and tagging items with codes was super helpful! Thanks!!