WarmGlass.com

My question concerns shipping costs when a gallery wants to carry your work. Do most of you add the shipping to your wholesale price of each piece, or is the gallery expected to pay for the shipping from your studio?

Thanks in advance,
Pat

Normally, shipping to the gallery is your responsibility, and if the piece languishes at the gallery and is eventually returned, the gallery pays to return it to you. It's quite a scam really, we supply the work at no cost to the gallery and we pay to get it there. Try and get the gallery to pay half the shipping both ways. Good luck getting them to go along with that!

Brock

Yes, I add it in along with the cost of building the crate. These are operating costs you have to incure, part of your overhead.

Amy

It is standard business practice (at least in the US) to add shipping and handling cost to the invoice when sending work to a gallery.... or to a retail customer for that matter. I charge 5% of the order for shipping and handling and have not had any complaints. On large orders where 5% is WAYYYYYY above the actual cost, I discount. One needs to be reasonable.

Packing and shipping cost you time and money. If you don't recoup those expenses then your bottom line will suffer. Galleries understand this. Some people add the expenses into their wholesale prices but I find it simpler to list it as shipping and handling.

When YOU buy something from a catalog or website YOU are paying the shipping even if you order wholesale; galleries expect to pay it as well.

On the other hand, if you sell via consignment then you pay shipping and they pay if they return the work to you.

Perhaps it varies with the type of work you sell. I sell mostly jewelry but I have discussed shipping issues with many craft artists on CraftsReport.com and charging for shipping appears to be the industry standard.

~Nancy

http://www.GlassOrchids.com