In my last entry, I promised all of you that I’d tell you about the gems of information my sister and I obtained during our trip to the Visiting Artists’ Program at the Philadelphia Buyer’s Market last month.
For those of you that don’t know, the Philadelphia Buyer’s Market (Buyer's Market of American Craft) is one of the largest wholesale marketplaces for fine craftsmen (if you are a: potter, sculptor, woodworker, bagmaker, fine textile, jewelry designer, etc., this market is for you). The Visiting Artists’ Program is a series of workshops set up so artists can learn the ins-and-outs of wholesale to determine whether or not the wholesale market is appropriate for them.
The first workshop in the series was “Wholesale 101,” presented by Bruce Baker, who is an industry leader in the field of jewelry. Bruce owns a gallery with his wife, and has successfully participated in wholesale markets as a jewelry designer for over 25 years.
The workshop began with a list of questions to help determine whether or not the artist is actually ready to present work to the wholesale marketplace. You may be ready for wholesale if:
- You can make your work faster than you can sell it
- You deliver work by a specific date requested by the customer.
- You have a business background, or a partner/team that can handle the technical side of your business.
- You have an original, marketable brand that is saleable to stores and galleries.
- You keep up with the strains of your retail accounts and custom order customers.
- You live in a seasonal area, where wholesale shows can help you level out your sales for the year.
- You have easy access to materials to make your work.
On the opposite hand, you are most likely not ready for wholesale if:
- You cannot keep up with your retail demands.
- You are not making a profit from your work (operative words: wholesale is not retail minus 50%.... the formula for
determining your rate is a LOT more complicated, and will be the subject of a future blog entry)
- Your line markets only one-of-a-kind work (it limits your sales potential, and buyer’s will likely not purchase from you)
Your entry into wholesale all starts with your brand. Even if you have a fantastic product, the marketability of that product is what's going to make you money. Most of all, IT IS IMPERATIVE TO REMEMBER THAT YOUR ART/DESIGN IS A BUSINESS, AND YOU ARE IN IT TO MAKE MONEY DOING SOMETHING THAT YOU LOVE.
If you look historically at gimmicky products that sell very well (but do not necessarily work very well, or have a long working-life), it’s easy to see that a good brand can be built with a bad product (think of all of the poorly constructed items you’ve seen and have said to yourself, “I don’t know how they do so well.”). These designers most likely had a good team of people around them that helped them with press opportunities, marketing opportunities, and help them to integrate their brand into the marketplace.
On the other hand, you’ll go to a store or gallery and see a wonderfully made, quality item by an extraordinarily talented artist that does not sell well, wholesale or retail. A large part of the lack of success may be the result of the Artist's actions, directly. For example, maybe because the artist is an introvert, and does not work well in the selling arena (and like a retail craft show, you still have to sell at a wholesale show, even if the work is good enough to sell itself. You must remember, galleries and boutiques are buying a relationship with the artist as much as their purchasing the product. A bad vibe may be all it takes not to get a sale). Or, maybe the artist does not know how to properly market his or her art.... Maybe the artist overprices or underprices his or her work. All of these things, together, tells you that you must be prepared on the business end of things in order to make selling your art a success.
When you decide to go into the wholesale arena, you must be ready to break away from making all of your work yourself. Production and production costs can make or break a business. One of the first steps you must take is determining how fast you can make each product in your line. Take a calendar, and mark off how many of each product you can make on a given day. Then, when you start to sell wholesale, you can simply mark off the amount of days it will take to fulfill an order (because you will already know how long it takes you to produce your products).
Another key to having a successful wholesale business is letting go of having every item "entirely handmade" by you. Again, cost and production time is key to a successful business. Most successful wholesale artists have always used an assistant or team to help create and develop their products. On the other side, many artists choose to outsource a lot of their work, while still retaining ownership rights to the product by being the creator of the general design, and working on certain key elements of the piece. In wholesaling, your time is essential, and the longer it takes you to make a piece, the less amount of time you have to sell it…. And selling the piece is what it’s all about.
The bottom line for Part 1 - make sure you have the business aspect covered (whether by you or a team), and know your production schedule like the back of your hand. These two elements will give you a good start in the wholesale game.
In the next blog, we’ll discuss store markups, volume control, wholesale “language," where to purchase your products and how to properly price your pieces for the wholesale market.
Until next time, Creative People....
