by Barbara Brabec
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Finding and Selling through Online Galleries
by Barbara Brabec |
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TIPS ON WHOLESALING YOUR WORK TO GALLERIES |
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If you want to wholesale your work to galleries, real or virtual, here are a few tips from gallery owner Judy Harris: 1. Be prepared to do production work. 2. Don't bother to send slides or photos that are not professionally done, and never send them without first calling to ask what the gallery's clientele is like. 3. If you have a Web site, contact galleries by e-mail and invite them to browse your site. (Add your URL to your e-mail message so all they have to do is click on it to get to your page.) 4. Once you've contacted a gallery, give them at least two weeks to assess your work before you make a follow-up call. 5. If you sell the same products at fairs that you're wholesaling on the Internet, your retail prices at shows should be the same as prices on your work in shops and galleries. |
On the Internet, the word "gallery" is loosely defined, at best. When I began my research for this column, I got quite a shock when a search for "craft galleries" on the Web came back with a listing of more than eight million pages. "Art galleries" was even worse: more than 31 million pages. Obviously, this is not a practical way to find online galleries unless you have hours to spend checking out millions of Web sites.
So how do you turn up virtual galleries on the Web that can actually sell your work? As is true with finding good craft shows, the best way may be to network with fellow artisans at shows. To do this online, check out news groups and mailing lists such as Chris Maher's A-C_Online_Marketing, where a couple hundred craftspeople now trade information about their online marketing experiences. Maher hosts a Web site called "Selling Your Art Online."
As you will learn, there are several ways that you can get involved in selling your work on the Web. But before you jump in, arm yourself with knowledge. Ask a lot of questions and know your limits in terms of time and technical ability.
The first question is: Should you establish your own "gallery," or join an established site? Second, how do you know whether an established site is worthy of its claims to bring you more business?
To a large degree, Maher says, it depends on the expertise that the craftsperson has. With no online experience at all, joining an existing site would probably be more cost-effective. But the expenses of following either route vary so greatly (from no cost to sites that cost tens of thousands of dollars to build) that each opportunity needs to be evaluated individually.
Even if you decide to have another site host a page for you, it's a good idea to own your own domain name. You can build your presence on the Internet and always be found at the same address, no matter where your site is hosted.
How online galleries operate
Maher suggests that online galleries operate in two basic ways. One is that a gallery offers Web space to artists to show their work, and the gallery handles all sales, taking a commission accordingly. The second way is that a gallery may bring in several different artists and charge them a Web design fee, plus $10 to $30 a month for a "home page" that includes several photos and text (product information, bio, order form, etc.). Here, the craftsperson handles the sales.
"In the first method, there may be a small up-front cost to design the Web page," Maher explains. "If the gallery is not actually carrying any inventory, the sales commission is always lower than the traditional business markup -- usually around 20 percent. In theory, the gallery owner is motivated to build traffic to their site because they want to earn sales commissions."
Commissions are a great motivation for the online gallery to promote and sell your work, but the best promotion is often done by the craftspeople themselves. After all, no one knows your customers like you. And your current customer base is your best source of online sales. Both of these factors speak strongly for a fee-based rather than a commission-based site. This way, the host provides all of the technical help, while you take care of promotion and you don't have to pay anyone a commission.
But promotion is key. It is the single most critical factor in the success of your Web site. It is often overlooked. Maher makes the point that without prospective customers visiting your site, it doesn't matter what route you choose to get your work online.
Harris says she gets about one sale on the Web for every eight or 10 in the shop. "Often when a buyer likes the representative sampling we've given of a crafter's work, they will ask what else they have, and we send them a catalog if the craftsperson has given us a supply of them. We will also refer interested buyers to an individual seller's Web site," she adds, "but only if products are listed without prices and they aren't selling to individual buyers from that site."
Harris believes that if your primary goal is to sell wholesale, you should not try to use your Web site to attract retail sales as well. "Shops and galleries aren't interested in competing with craftspeople for online retail business," she says. "Simply showcase your products with code numbers and tell galleries to call you for prices."
RESOURCES |
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Chris Maher chris@1x.com www.1x.com/advisor/maher9.htm Judy Harris |
Drop-shipping orders
It also is common for online shops and galleries to buy products at wholesale, asking the artisan to drop-ship the products one item at a time as retail orders come in. While this is a nuisance for serious wholesalers who are accustomed to shipping large orders to one location, it's an inexpensive way for many sellers to get started on the Web. If you do this, however, be sure your drop-ship charges cover not just shipping but handling charges as well (i.e., cost of packing materials and labor to pack the order).
Again, Maher warns that artists should not expect online galleries or stores to operate like their brick-and-mortar counterparts. "To take any model that exists in the real world and transport it over to the new medium of the Internet is almost doomed to failure. Don't expect the two mediums to work the same."
Be selective
If you are approached by an online gallery that wants to sell your work, or if you are simply thinking about expanding your business on the Internet, Maher suggests you do your homework. "Choose an online gallery that shows work that appeals to your market. Be really specific, to the point of only showing a small subset of your work," he stresses. "Consider showing your bronze teapots on a site that has only teapots and your forged dinnerware on a site that has only high-end kitchen stuff. The Web is that specific, take advantage of it.
"Don't be fooled by the large number of 'hits' that many sites claim to have, as the term 'hits' is very misleading," he cautions. "What is much more accurate is a count of 'unique page views.'" How many people are actually visiting your page?
Maher adds that if you are approached by an online gallery, you should ask for a list of the craftspeople they currently represent and contact them to find out how successful they have been. Also, ask to see their Web server logs. These are records that every server makes of every visit to the site. Even if you don't have the expertise to evaluate them, their willingness to share them is a positive sign. "If they don't know what a Web server log is," says Maher, "you sure don't want them handling your work."
The indirect method to getting online
"If you have an existing relationship with a gallery that wants to put your work on the Web, that is a logical thing to do," says Maher. "I would recommend keeping the option to put your work up in many places, and not giving any one site an exclusive right to show your work."
"If a gallery owner likes your work, she may place three or four of your pieces on the gallery's Web site," says Judy Harris, owner of A Unique Presence gallery in Skokie, Ill. "The primary purpose in [our] being on the Web is not to sell directly to online buyers, but rather to encourage sales at the gallery itself. We don't stock merchandise for any of the products advertised on the Web. If a sale results, we simply ask the craftsperson to drop-ship the order."
At least once a month, Harris stops by the online wholesale Web site, www.wholesalecrafts.com (see "Web Sitings"), to see what's new. Nearly 200 artisans are offering their wares to some 1,500 retailers.
Advice from a gallery owner
Surprisingly, gallery owners often trade the names of good sellers. "We have our own network, and we're always bumping into one another at shows, talking about our latest finds. I get calls all the time from gallery owners in other areas who are interested in carrying the work of a particular artisan in our store," adds Harris. "I'm happy to put them in touch with that individual if they are a legitimate gallery owner and not just someone trying to buy directly from the artisan."
Barbara Brabec is the author of several small-business books, including "Creative Cash," "Handmade for Profit," and "The Crafts Business Answer Book."
OCTOBER 1999:
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