K. A. Mace Jewelry Consignment Series Continues!

For those of you who have been following my series on consignment, thank you for your wonderful input, experiences and feedback! And, yes, I am continuing on, for those of you out there who have emailed me asking for the series to continue!


Next up...How does the boutique/retailer market YOU and YOUR MERCHANDISE?

Yes, even on consignment, this is a great question to ask a boutique/retailer. And, of course, you have your side of the marketing equation to cover as well. Here are some great ideas that you can share with the buyer/owner to drive your sales, and truly the overall sales of that boutique!


Will they work with you on a trunk show, or special in-store event? Many boutiques LOVE trunk shows! YOU show up with inventory, THEY sell it, you BOTH profit. They do not take the risk on the inventory, and you get to sell your goods to their customer base, plus those you invite. The best way to do this is to ask the boutique if they have a mailing list or email list that you can communicate with.

You can very easily, and inexpensively, produce great postcards to announce your trunk show to their customers, and your own that may be in that city. Often, the boutique will even split the cost of the postcards, and/or the postage as they are driving traffic as well. I highly recommend Overnight Prints or Modern Postcard. They are both very, very easy to work with, you can easily upload graphics and information and design your own postcard, and they arrive in literally days!


You can also create a professional enewsletter or e-vite for their email list, combining it with your email list as well. Ensure that you are capturing all emails from your website, and you can easily create an opt-in box on your website or blog to ensure that anyone who visits gets the opportunity to join your email list. You can also use Constant Contact, iContact and other online services that help you create mailing lists and have wonderful templates to create e-newsletters.

Some boutiques will also enter into co-op advertising with their designers. In this case, you will pay a small amount to be included in a print or online ad with your business name, possibly even a piece of your jewelry, included in the ad. Please note, being that it is "co-op" you have to remember that other designers may also be involved in this advertising. I have found this to be really beneficial when it comes to the major jewelry-selling holidays only, however. Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, and the Holidays are perfect times to partner with a retailer on such an ad. I would steer clear of other times of the year, unless they are having a special Anniversary Sale or another type of meaningful sales event that is specific to that community. For example, is there a major local parade or holiday that brings a lot of traffic and tourists to the area?


Also, do they market and sale off of their website? This is a wonderful way to basically enter into not so much of a "consignment" relationship, but a "drop ship" arrangement. The difference? Well, with consignment, you do run the risk of jewelry being lost, stolen, broken, sold and accidently credited to another artist, etc. With a drop ship arrangement, they put images of your work on their website, item description, price and when they receive an order, the alert you and YOU actually fulfill that order. They may ask you to send to them, and they send out to the customer. They may require you to directly ship to the customer yourself. Either way, make sure that you understand their expectation for shipping methods, packing, invoicing, and insurance. All of that the customer will pay for, however, understanding those expectations is key to a successful drop ship relationship.

If you are going to be featured on their website, inquire about how they market the designers. Is there a "Designer of the Month", "Spotlight Designer"? Do they market special gemstones for special events, like "Gemstone of the Month" or "Birthstone Specials"? Bring some ideas to the table for the boutique, you just might find your jewelry, your art, on their homepage! Blog about your jewelry and products on their website, send the link to your email list, and make sure that the entire world knows that they can buy YOUR jewelry on THEIR website! The more traffic, the more sales!


One caveat: Ensure you understand their expectation of the artists they feature on their website. They will most likely ask you to not have those same items on your website or blog for sale, unless you are solely directing that traffic to them.

One key tip: Developing a relationship with the staff is truly key. They are selling your product day in and day out. Ask if you can have some time to meet with their sales staff to present the key selling points of your work. Drop in, introduce yourself, ask if they have any questions, and thank them for their hard work. Some boutiques will allow you to give small gifts to their associates; I often provided jewelry for them to wear. It became an inexpensive way to encourage that associate to sell even more of your jewelry! Just check first, they may have conflict of interest policies for their associates.


Love the rings featured? Go to K. A. Mace Jewelry to view more of the K. A. Mace Jewelry Ring Collection and many more designs!

Consignment Series Marches On!

The next "Big Question" to ask for a consigment relationship with a boutique/retailer is "Do you have references, such as other designers or artists that I can contact?".


I do ensure that I pose it as other artists to speak with, as I have been given a reference list that included a landlord, a utility company, and friends/colleagues of the owner. For me, it is great to know that they pay their rent or electric bill on time, absolutely! However, I tend to want to know how other designers/artists rate the boutique and how the owner interacts with that designer.

Asking for references is a question that you can always ask before you even meet with them. If they wish to not provide references, that can be red flag. With that said, they can state that their designer/artist list is private, or that they do not allow any sharing of such information to "third parties", which would be you! That technically, could be true, and I myself would respect that. Even with my jewelry design business, K. A. Mace Jewelry, I keep my client list private, as my clients may not wish to be contacted and inadvertently (or deliberately!) put onto other mailing lists. However, I do ask customers and my boutiques/retailers if they will allow me to offer their information as a reference, and I have yet to be told "No!"! So, that kind of transparency is important in today's business world.


One pretty easy way around that is to visit the boutique, take note of the designers/artists represented and later contact them. Of course, you run the risk of the boutique owner/manager finding out that you did that "behind the scenes" research! However, it is up to that designer/artist to disclose their input and opinion to you. Some may tell you that they want to discuss your request with the owner/manager first. Some may talk your ear off without hesitation!

Also, most boutiques have an online presence, and you can always check their website to find out what other artists are carried in that boutique and contact the artists to ask them about their experiences. Ensure that you are upfront about your intentions, let the artist know that you may have your designs carried in Boutique A, you noticed that they also work with Boutique A's online storefront, and you were simply wondering if they had a moment or two to discuss their experience.

Remember that you are going to be asking questions that need to remain professional, and that have less to do with opinion and more to do with facts. I know designers that have been caught "gossiping" about boutiques, and that in one case an owner actually decided to stop doing business with both of those designers! This is not so much about, "What do you think of the owner?" and more about "Do they pay their invoices on time?"! Remember, how you conduct yourself in this industry does and will get around. It is a big world, but you will find a lot of people know one another and also network via trade shows and online forums. You are building a brand, and your level of professionalism factors into that brand statement, not just your designs!


Most of my questions are along the lines of:

Are invoices paid on time?
Are you happy with your sales at this location (brick and mortar or online)? (remember, sales are proprietary, so don't expect any specifics!)
How long have you worked with this boutique?
I see that you are online, are you also represented in the boutique? If not, can you share with me why?
I see that you are in the boutique, but not online, can you share with me why?
Has the boutique adhered to the contract that you signed?
Would you recommend this boutique to a friend or colleague?

If you do hear negative information, put it into proper context. If a couple of references tell you that they are not paid on time, you will most likely not be paid on time. Easy math! If one tells you that they were not paid on time, the rest state that they were, you have to weight that out. And, remember, if the boutique does offer references, the likelihood is that they will be positive, that owner/manager is savvy enough to make sure that references will put a positive light on the boutique!

Please feel free to contact me via email at kelly@kamacejewelry.com with any questions.

Next post: PRICING! (Let's get to the big $$$ question, right?!)