Price for consignment?

[Zlatan Vuckovic]

I have a friend with an embroidery store in a strip mall next to grocery store, not a lot of traffic, what is a reasonable price for selling stuff from there? She said she marks up 20% for her fee.

[Chuck Stone]

If that's ok with her, I'd be happy with it.
Usually if I set the price, they pay me 70% of that. I keep them
supplied, come in and restock when necessary, change out stock
that isn't moving etc.

One mistake I often see people make .. they leave the merchandise
but are still responsible for it. I won't do that, ever.
Think of consignment items as being sold already.. they just haven't
paid you yet. They can pay you after they sell it, lose it, break it..
but if it isn't in the store any more, they owe you for it. No ifs, ands
or buts. Next time you go to the store, they pay you for whatever
stock isn't there, and you replace/restock what they need. You are
NOT responsible for them breaking merchandise, employees taking
'freebies' for themselves, their friends, customers shoplifting etc.
They should understand that with no problem.. their other vendors
don't give them free merchandise when something gets lost or
broken in the store.

[Douglas J Miller]

Locally (Northern Indiana) it's usually between 20 and 30 percent that they keep. Chuck has some good advice!

[Joe Pelonio]

Go for it, I have paid 30-40% at galleries.

[Anthony Scira]

Heck my local one is at 50%.......but with handmade items they will work with you.

[Zlatan Vuckovic]

Thanks, I just made some samples of glasses, frames, pens and mugs at the store and people can put in orders to have it engraved, no inventory left at the store so not a big investment, I get paid when the order gets delivered. I gave her a price sheet of what I was going to sell for and she said she will mark it up for her cut, I guess that sounds reasonable as long as the markup isn't too high and nothing sells. It's a start to get some practice on the machine and earn a little.

[Mike Null]

I have a different and quite negative view of consignments. All the risk is yours; the retailer has no "skin in the game", therefore little interest in selling the item. They are far more interested in turning their own dollars at higher margins (50% or more) than they are in selling your stuff. Since these consignment deals are usually pretty casual your stuff is likely to gather dust, be put in a less than desirable location, come up missing or damaged.

Incidentally, to a retailer a 50% mark up is double the cost.

I wouldn't consider it at all.

[Richard Rumancik]

. . I just made some samples of glasses, frames, pens and mugs at the store and people can put in orders to have it engraved, no inventory left at the store so not a big investment, I get paid when the order gets delivered. . . .

That is not really consignment in the normal sense; she is acting like a sales rep for you. I think 20% is a good deal for that. I tried consignment myself - I got plaques back that were shopworn and scratched. And one airport shop charged me 50%. I have since stopped doing any consignment but have considered the "sales rep" idea you are using. It only takes a small space for them (in some cases photos may even suffice.)

[Michael Hunter]

Mike Null is right - they will only sell your stuff actively if there is money in for them.

If you allow for a 40 or 50% markup (commission, whatever) then there is much more incentive for the shop to sell your stuff.
It also gives enough "overhead" to allow slow moving things to be sold at a discount ("spring sale") without anyone making a loss.

[Don Williamson]

I have a different and quite negative view of consignments. All the risk is yours; the retailer has no "skin in the game", therefore little interest in selling the item. They are far more interested in turning their own dollars at higher margins (50% or more) than they are in selling your stuff. Since these consignment deals are usually pretty casual your stuff is likely to gather dust, be put in a less than desirable location, come up missing or damaged.

Incidentally, to a retailer a 50% mark up is double the cost.

I wouldn't consider it at all.

New here. I agree in general. I have had some bad dealings with sending consignment (slow pay, slow return, dirty returned product) so now only send product out with a couple of vendors. These are shows, short term consignment.

My deal is I ship to vendor at my expense. They take 25%, I get 75% (occasionally I have product to give them a higher margin) They pay to return to me. The vendor must sell at my prices. (and I have "spies")

My stuff usually sells well, but if they have a bad show, I sit on it or have to try to sell on the web. There is a risk, but if you know the vendor well it will minimize the risk (or possibly ruin a good friendship).

I don't go on the road much anymore so I'd rather send a single box of product and make less than make many small sales and pay eBay, PayPal, and Etsy fees. In many cases, it takes longer to package and print labels on a single item than make the product.

This looks like an interesting group. Still poking around.