Crafts Report: Public Opinion

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?

Each month, The Crafts Report invites readers to respond to the Public Opinion question. Responses are published in the magazine.

This month’s question is: Show promoters: Why do you have non-refundable application fees?

Please respond by June. 8, 2002. Responses to this question will appear in the August 2002 issue.

E-mail:
publicopinion@craftsreport.com; or CLICK HERE

Send responses to: “Public Opinion,” The Crafts Report, 300 Water St., Wilmington, DE 19801; fax: (302) 656-4894.

Anonymous responses will no longer be published.

Each case is different. If I have introduced the artist and their work and have asked them to be exclusive to my gallery or region, then I would be very upset and no longer carry their work. Some artists I represent create a particular item or style only for me and they do not sell that on their sites. If they receive a request for that type or style item, they are referred to me as their representative. Some artists create one-of-a-kind work, and if I represent them and sell their work (either through representation and promotion of specially consigned items or outright purchase) and the works are not similar, it does not matter, because most artists, crafters, artisans, etc. cannot make a living having only one venue to show their work. There are many other situations, but as I have mentioned, each one is an individual and treated in a manner that is equitable and fair to all involved and in the best interest of both the artist and the gallery.

I really don’t mind as long as the artist is at least doubling the wholesale price and adding packing/shipping. That’s basically what galleries have to do and most customers quickly realize that they aren’t really saving any money. They may be able to buy a wider variety of the artist’s work, which I can’t afford to keep in stock. However, they can’t see, touch or get it gift-wrapped. I believe most of our customers appreciate the service we offer and wouldn’t go to the Web site unless I was unable to get the item for them.

However, if artists are under-cutting gallery prices on the Web sites, then that becomes a different story. (Especially if they charge me 6 percent packing plus freight but don’t add that to their retail prices!) I think most artists selling wholesale realize that this would cause them to lose their gallery accounts.

Artists who think they are selling “retail” through their sites may not be charging what their galleries charge for their work. There are a number of reasons for a gallery to do more than keystone, and when an artist marks their work up less than the galleries who represent them, a Pandora’s box is opened: The customer who discovers a price discrepancy loses trust in both the gallery and the artist. Neither party will make a sale to this person.

To protect ourselves, all Web references are removed from work in our gallery.

I have no problem with artists/craftspeople selling directly over the Internet. There’s plenty of room for everybody and the name of the game is success. Doing what we have to do, if we do it with kindness and morality, is how we make our businesses succeed. I love to congratulate someone for being successful. It means they’ve been working very hard!