how much of the final price should i give the retailer?

[dee_liteful]

Just a quick one guys, as i have never sold any of my items in the shops i was just wondering how much shall i give away of my profits to the retailer?

And how do they normally work? I had an offer once from a lady but she wanted to take 50%!

I can barely cover my fabric costs let alone labor etc....
Do you suggest bumping up my prices for the shop?

Thankyou in advance!!!!

[Peter]

I did 60/40 and felt I'd been stung!

[dee_liteful]

i could see how it would! I wouldnt mind 95/5 my way to be honest!!!!

[nattynetty]

Do you suggest bumping up my prices for the shop?

Take a look at the price of bags in other shops and boutiques to get an idea but I'd be inclined to up your prices, after all you're selling a designer product. The other way around it is to give the shop your wholesale prices and let them price it up in the shop at whatever price/profit they want. Think a few members on here do it this way round, I may be wrong but have a feeling Swirlyarts is one so perhaps she could help.

[dee_liteful]

Thankyou, i will have a look around at the weekend. The shop that i am hoping to sell some items too has some other bags for £100! So maybe i could up the prices!!!

[auntynet]

I work out what I want for the item then add on the percentage that the buyer wants out of it.

EG - If I want £30 for something and the buyer wants 30% then I would add on another £9. I would use this formula if we had a "sale or return" basis.

The other way of doing it is to say to her "I want £30 then the item is yours to charge whatever you want". The downside to this method is that you get £30 and she could be selling for something like £50, £60 or even more and there's nothing you can do about it cos she bought the item from you so its hers to sell at whatever price she wants.

The idea is to make money by selling your things and from what you say about the shop, then I think you should up your prices. If some of the things she already sells are a bit expensive then it seems that the lady will "bump up" the retail price of your bags anyway so you need to be clear as to what kind of contract you enter into.

[silvermaid]

One thing to remember is that if you bump up the prices for her you will have to bump up the prices for the ones you are selling direct - it is not good business practice to undercut others who are selling for you. One way round this is to make an 'exclusive line' for her with different styles or materials and sell the others yourself cheaper. Though you would have to make sure that hers look more expensive - even if they aren't more expensive to make.
As to the % of profit she takes, there are a lot more costs with running a shop so she has to make enough to cover her overheads and if she helps you sell more direct at a better price then that is a bonus for you.

Melanie

[Delta]

I have never done it where I have sold the stuff directly to the retailer, at present I am experiencing my first go at sale or return. I just stated a price that I wanted to receive for each item and let them get on with it. From the percentage stated (and it's too early for me to remember), I think that we are both asking customers for roughly the same price. Plus what I have on sale or return I don't have for my website or craft stall, and we are far enough away from each other to not be competing for the same customers.

I guess the trick is to make sure that you are getting what you are happy with.

[dee_liteful]

Thankyou I think the sale or return basis is a good idea. I will first ask the lady in the shop what she wants and have a few ideas in mind. I was hopefully going to have certain designs off my site in the shop and then put on my site available at (wherever the shop is), possibly offer her link from my site also?

Am not really sure at the moment to be honest just asking for advice!

Thanks again xxxx

[AniccaJewellery]

Hiya, I mainly sell wholesale to shops, and it is difficult pricing your items.

I ended up working out what my cost of materials x 2 + my time @ £7 per hour. That gives you your wholesale price. Really you should not then sell your work direct to the public at anything below double your wholesale price (I hope this makes sense).

I only do sale or return with one gallery, and they take 50%, which i think is quite normal (or maybe I am being riped off!)

Any way email me if you want more info on wholesaling.

anicca

[Ger]

OMG Annica I think you might be!!! up here I charge 20% in the gallery and even the posher one's round me only charge 30%, I'd phone around some around you to see what they charge hun

[auntynet]

Anicca, you are definitely being ripped off! I used to pay 30% when I rented cabinet space and I thought that was the top that anyone should pay.

I now sell (or rather try to) a few jewellery items for a few people and I add 20% onto their asking price which everyone seems to think is very fair.

Just out of interest, do you have many sales - 50% is rather a lot so if your items aren't selling then maybe you should shop around.

[Chris W]

Sale or Return

As a retailer I would like to add a few comments to give a different perspective. I sometimes accept sale or return items for my gift shop from personal friends or regular customers. I keep one third of the sale price which is set by whoever leaves the item. This is the going rate in my area and everyone is happy to agree to it. This is less profitable for me than selling items I have made myself or bought it and I am not that keen on doing it because if items get damaged or stolen I could end up making a loss and it worries me. Also it is difficult keeping track of all the different items that have been sold if the shop is busy or if someone other than myself is standing in for me.
A shop keeper has many running costs, shop keepers insurance is expensive, banking expenses cut into profit and then of course you could have rent, rates, telephone, electricity all of which cut deeply into the profit margin.
What I am trying to put across is that if the shop owner makes a profit on the items sold on your behalf at the end of the day it will be considerably less than 30 per cent.
Probably the best approach is to decide how much you want for your product, I would think a mark up between 25 and 35 per cent is very fair, 50 per cent may be fair if the shop is in a prime position as running costs could be very high.

[rhulme]

hi i do as delta does i sell it in my shop what i would normally then they sell it at whatever my skin cream in my shop is 4.50 per 50ml she sells at 5.50 or 6.50 then she comes to realised if she buys directly not sale or return she will get more of a discount this is the line i perfer especially as i am only open a year and still pouring money into the business so its hard waiting for her money to come in