Need advice on selling pens, etc.

[Badabing]

I have some very good news! I may be able to sell some pens and bottle stoppers to help pay for treatment of my advanced WGD :-D

The short story is this: I have a friend that owns a retail store and is willing to display some of my work for sale. I also found another store owner that liked my pens and bottle stoppers and is willing to sell them too.

So my questions are: what is a fair arrangement with the store owners? I have a good idea on pricing but I have no idea how this type of selling arrangement works. What is a fair split with the store owner? Should they pay me for the inventory up front or should I only collect as items are sold? Do we need a written agreement (contract) signed by both parties?

If anyone has experience with this type of deal and can offer some wisdom I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks!!!

 

[WoodWrangler]

No idea on the details of how to do this 'legally', but things to consider:

- A fair deal for both of you will keep you both happy and in business. Don't short yourself, don't short them.
- Remember about taxes. You could go "under the table", but if it gets kickin' you'll have to report those danged taxes.

 

[DaveO]

There are three ways of selling any item. Wholesale - where you're selling item directly to the retailer and they then own the product. This method will gain you the least money but has the least hassles. The retailer will mark up the item to their selling price and you usually get about 50% of that price. Consignment - where you allow the retailer to sell your product but keep ownership of the item. This will generally get a bit more money, often up to 75% of the retailer's price. But you have more hassles, you have to keep an eye on the items, and visit regularly to collect the proceeds of what was sold. Often the items aren't "protected" if they sprout legs and walk away. Retail - you are the outright seller of the item, you get 100% of the sale price but you have to do all the leg work for the sale and are 100% responsible for the sale (and marketing). I have sold pens in all ways, personally I like the wholesale method because I get the cash in hand and I don't have to worry about anything else. Consignment can be easy if the retailer is close by and you have a good relationship and a high level of trust.
How ever you do it, a written agreement is very important and will head off any issues before they happen. I would inquire as to how they normally deal with item, and see what they can offer.
The best advice I can offer is to not sell yourself short, it's very difficult to go up on a price, going down is easy.
Good luck, selling pens can be a fun and profitable enterprise, and sure helps to support the habit :-D

Dave

 

[Makinsawdust]

Dave is pretty much on the money with his info. and I agree that wholesale is the least amount of agravation, therefore I like it the best. I generally don't discount more than 20-30% to my wholesale accounts. They can double my price if they want it's their merchandise when they buy it. You need to have writen wholesale policies in place when selling this way covering min. order amounts, shipping details, returned merchandise, etc.. Also, you need a tax exempt form on file for the company you are selling to, to sale without collecting sales tax.

The one thing I want to point out is that with the consignment arrangement you ultimately set the selling price. Sure the store gets ~30% but you can raise the price some to off set it helping net you a little bit better. Course you can't raise prices higher than the market will stand and sell any product. The store collects and files the sales tax.

One other way to sell is by renting space within a store such as an emporium. You pay a monthly rental fee and usually 10% of sales to the store. Again you set the selling price and you stock the store and maintain it. Lot's of folks don't seem to like this arrangement but my experience has been about the same net result as any other method. Just be careful not to sign too long of least incase sales are not happening. These stores also collect and file the sales tax.

I've done/am doing all 4 of these methods just to maximize sales.

I wish you the best and hope you sell a lot.

Rob

 

[Badabing]

Excellent information! Thanks everyone :icon_thum This will really help me out when I get an inventory made and start negotiating with the store owner. Who knows...if it goes well maybe I'll have to start worrying about taxes and contracts and etc...:drunken_s