WarmGlass.com

ive never heard of a collectors discount,,,,,if they are a collector of the person whos work they are seeing,,,maybe,,but if they say, "oh i got billy jilley and jo mo at home, im a collector",,,well, so what

but then again, it could be that 85% of somthin is better than a 100% of nothin,,,,but for sure it should be the decision of the artist,,,but if the dealer wishes to give up the % from their share, sure, why not, i think you have a pretty good dealer,,,,

as long as everyone is in agreement, why not,,,but for the artist to get a suprise at the next meeting,,,nah,,that aint right

rodney

Rodney, I am pretty sure that a 10% collector's discount is fairly standard at most of the top notch galleries. However, as I stated before, that's not Marty's problem to deal with. I don't see how it benefits him in a retail/show setting the same way it would a gallery, unless of course it is a collector of HIS work specifically.

Jackie Beckman wrote:Rodney, I am pretty sure that a 10% collector's discount is fairly standard at most of the top notch galleries. However, as I stated before, that's not Marty's problem to deal with. I don't see how it benefits him in a retail/show setting the same way it would a gallery, unless of course it is a collector of HIS work specifically.

i never heard of a gallery giving a collectors discount,,,,,but if its customary, fine,,,, the artist shouldnt get stuck with anything of a suprise,,,,if the artist is fully aware of this discount then thats fine, but the artist doesnt deserve to be surprised by things that were not explained fully at the beginning,,,,

becky, i saw your things in the new bullseye catalog,,,,very nice,,,some good PR there,,,,,

Well I lied, about my last word.

If the gallery wants to give a discount, and you really need the money, remind the gallery, that the discount comes out of their share, as well as yours. That should keep the discounts in line, unless the gallery is scraping to pay the gas bill.

I do agree that, Comes out of the galleries cut, should be the first option.

Have confidence in your work. Or don't do it.

My work is worth X, and you will pay X, unless you are a dear client, or I'm trying to pay an electric bill that is X + 100. If you are a gallery, that I know and trust, whose checks don't bounce, then you might get a discount(as the gallery).


RANT WARNING, and this does not apply, as far as I can tell, to the people involved in this thread.

If you can't afford a 10% discount, you shouldn't be in this as a business. Or you need to re-jigger your prices. A 10% discount on WHOLESALE, is another story.

If your client/gallery cannot afford 10% more (let's get real, that's $10 whole dollars, on a $100 dollar piece) Then maybe you need new clients/galleries. IF 10% is a problem I would wonder what OTHER Problems exist there.

If you are scrapeing sooo Hard, that 10% means Rice and Beans, Think hard about your career choices.

End Rant

Greg

It is one thing to say you won't give a discount, or the gallery should but you won't, and it is quite another to stand up to an established, insistent gallery owner. You want that owner to want to sell your work. Most of us, (I, for sure), should be so lucky. Like it or not it has become a standard practice in the major galleries and among the major collectors. There was a discussion of this at the GAS conference in Brooklyn and the word from the gallery owners was "get used to it." Michael (?) Heller in particular insisted that it is the way the art world works. If you want to get your work into his gallery you should assume that you are going to be asked to give discounts.

http://www.hellergallery.com/frm_ar.htm

The fact that a certain collector has bought one of your pieces can allow you to double your prices. Collectors are often the gateways to museums, as they have access to curators who want them to donate their collections. A smart collector understands he benefits from promoting your work because it raises the value if other collectors or museums follow his lead.

It's a give and take world. You have to work with people.

ch

The fact that a certain collector has bought one of your pieces can allow you to double your prices. Collectors are often the gateways to museums, as they have access to curators who want them to donate their collections. A smart collector understands he benefits from promoting your work because it raises the value if other collectors or museums follow his lead.

It's a give and take world. You have to work with people.

I'd like to think that was true, Charlie, but I haven't seen a whole lot of evidence. I have seen peoples careers take off because of the way their work was received at the Pilchuck Auction. I'm gonna keep my hard line on this, discounts are an agreement between the buyer and the seller. The gallery (seller) already has your work on display at no cost to them (!) and now, the coming trend is, we, the weakest link in this financial chain are supposed to give up another 5 to 10 percent! Not from me. Brock

Most of us are not dealing with Heller Gallery. If you are, by all means, work with whatever they suggest. I saw Holsten Gallery boost the price of a Thomas Patti fused and blown float glass sculpture, the size of my fist to $30,000 a decade ago. If giving a collector a discount works for them, let em go for it.

If you are dealing with a craft store and your margins are to the bone, don't.

Discounting your price is poor business strategy. If you're willing to cut it a little, why not cut it a lot?

It's a slippery slope on which you should never step.

i read the comments of brock and bert,,,,,i agree with them,,,rodney

Bert (and others)-- when I showed at Heller (I now do private commissions and don't show in commercial galleries), they never asked me to share a collector's discount; they assumed the whole burden of any discounts. In fact, once they misquoted a price to a collector (lower than the real price I had set) and they apologized to me and sent me the money due me for the higher price. Always good people to deal with! A class act.

Holsten, in my experience, had a different way of setting prices and discounts. They'd agree to pay the artist what he/she asked for -- when the sale took place -- but often set much higher "list prices" which they then could discount to particular collectors, still coming out ahead (over 50% commission). This is another marketing method and believe it or not, is a legitimate one. Sort of like the fictional "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price" on DVD players.

I've somehow bypassed the craft fair experience which many of you anecdotally related. But I've had studio visits by collectors who just love to bargain. It's the nature of the market experience for many buyers. Don't resent them for it. But be ready to deal with it in your variable"list prices" and your pleasant, friendly, but dignified refusals and counter-offers.

Wouldn't it be great just to create the artwork and not have to go out there and sell it too? But selling is what those important galleries do, and they do earn their large commissions by putting up with the vagaries, temper tantrums, indecisiveness, cupidity and avariciousness of collectors. (Note to collectors: most of you are really nice people and you know I didn't mean YOU!)

Carol
http://www.carolcohen.com

Marty wrote:I just started coming up against this recently: at retail shows buyers are asking for The Discount, not just "can you do any better?" but "can I have a collectors' discount?

First they tell me about their Chihuly, their Moje, their John Kuhn, and then we discuss the work in front of them, and then they ask.

At the galleries, they've become accustomed to getting 10-15% or even more just for asking, and they're carrying it over to direct purchases from the artists.

The obvious answer is to inflate prices at the shows by 15% and just give everyone the discount. That doesn't deal with the problem. If I sell to a gallery, my price is set (it's a wholesale deal and I get paid) and the markup (and subsequent discount) is out of my control. Consigning to a gallery, however, is problematic; I set the retail price and we're back where we started, except now I have a partner in the deal. 5% off my share, 5% off the gallery's? Or should the gallery take the entire hit?
Or should I just go back to the obvious and raise prices, possibly pushing my prices just a little higher than I want them to be?

The few galleries I complained to also bemoaned the situation but seem helpless to do anything about it.

Any thoughts?

My view is that selling the work is most important

It is a business

I have had this discount thing some 20 years now

Sometimes I share it sometimes not



I also give 10 % off to my galleries that pay B4 30 days

Marty

Few things U could do

Get the coustomer 2 sign a contract of there choosing

1) 10% of there bedroom space

2) 10% of future sale price in prepetuity, paid 2 U or ur surviving relatives ( suggest ur son like, a pay back time 4 him )

3) 10% cash back


payable 2 Marty Kramer every year at Christmas

Brian