Editors Journal by Bernadette Finnerty

As the general public grows more appreciative of fine craft, opportunity grows for people outside the crafts field to find ways to profit from the trends created here.

An example of this is illustrated in the ongoing litigation against the Target department store chain (see National Discount Chain is Target of Lawsuit"). The suit, filed in federal court in February by the Made in the USA Foundation, alleges that Target copied the designs of several craft artists, had the designs cheaply reproduced in China, and has sold them at discounted prices. A recent lawsuit filed against catalog giant Two's Company by a small candlemaking studio in North Carolina was recently settled out of court.

One craft artist recently told me that a rep from another catalog company asked to buy some of her samples at a wholesale market in order to have them considered for inclusion in their catalog. The craft artist would have no way of knowing what the catalog would do with her samples, or whether they would ever place an order. The catalog representative didn't even have a printed copy of the catalog!

The artist declined the sale because she felt something just didn't seem right. In light of the aforementioned litigation against some deep-pocketed copy artists, I'd say she made the right decision. The message here is that craft artists should constantly be aware of who is observing their work, asking to photograph it, asking to purchase samples of it, etc.

The Internet influence
We get news releases and phone calls every month from CraftThis.com and CraftThat.com who want publicity for being the first, the only, the best craft-related Web enterprise in existence. The fact that many are professionally designed, feature beautiful work and send expensive-looking promotional materials indicates that there is a significant amount of money being invested in craft-related Internet ventures.

But they all seem quite similar to me. What many have in common is that they are selling crafts and they're promoting heavily. What is unclear at this point is how much is actually being sold, and how much money craftspeople are making. As with most new industries, the market is being flooded, and only the strongest (and most ethical) swimmers will survive.

To help determine whether a Web site is one that will actually help your business grow, do some research about the people behind it. Ask for the names of the other artists they represent. Ask for their terms in writing. Don't violate your own minimum order policies by selling your samples to them. Look thoroughly through their site before you enter into any kind of agreement. Panelists at a recent Internet marketing seminar at the Rhode Island School of Design offered several other helpful tips for making online marketing decisions. Click here for the story.

Maintaining existing relationships
As you venture online, it's also important to consider how marketing on the Internet will affect your existing gallery relationships, if you do wholesale. I recently spoke with a few gallery owners who said that one of their criteria in working with an artist is how the artist markets his/her work on the Internet. If an artist's online pricing structure will undercut the gallery's pricing in any way, many gallery owners will look elsewhere. Increasingly, galleries are launching their own Web sites and would rather feature your work, and exchange links to your site.

Regardless of whether you sell through retail, wholesale or both, be sure to figure out exactly how the Internet can help your existing business, and continue to help you establish and maintain good relationships with your customers.

Bernadette Finnerty is editor of The Crafts Report.

MAY 2000: TABLE OF CONTENTS