consignment advice

Hello all, I recently contacted a local coffee house/pub/music school, that is all under one roof. Looks pretty cool. I'll be meeting with one of the staff of instructors to show him some of my builds. He's excited to explore the possibility of teaching students how to play them and consigning them. Any advise you have would be great such as what is the typical percentage split. Should I leave one on loan to see if he can promote them?

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • Another option you could consider would be wholesale.  Just think what would your bottom dollar be that you could sell your CBGs at and you still make the money you want (provided they buy several (say 3-5+)). 

    Basically you could "cut him a deal" if he bought 3-5 (or more) that way you are able to make money and he is able to then upcharge, and sell the guitars to students at a rate he could also make money on.  You could also charge more a piece if he only buys 3, and charge slightly less a piece if he buys 5 or more. 

    I know this may sound complicated, but typically for most things your wholesale rate might be:
    parts + time x 2 = $

    Some people would rather buy outright, and then charge what they want, then have to keep up with consignment.

    • From a shop keepers perspective, (which I have been), I would much rather do consignment at first moving to wholesale after it becomes a proven seller. Consignment is risky for me because I am responsible for the item prior to sale but, I take a lot of burden off the guitar maker. For that, i get a decent cut of the sale.

  • Exposing a new group of people (i.e. the coffee house/pub/music school) is a good idea. More people see, more people want. Two considerations. First, many hands will be handling said instruments with questionable cleanliness and/or respect to the fact that the instrument is intended to incite education and potentially, a sale or two. Any instruments offered for "learning/promo" can likely be written off as a donation.

    Second, to the topic of "consignment" relative to my own experience. Before I found a proper way to sell my craft in building cbgs, I tried "consignment". I had net yet achieved any form of confidence in way I had built, and was too eager to bend over backwards just to make a sale. The average percentage that businesses wanted for consignment was 35%. When factoring in the cost of parts and my time, giving a stranger 35% of my sale was painful.

    Others may have had a different experience with consignment. My own opinion is that consignment is not a good choice. Exposing new people to cbgs IS a good choice. Best of luck.

This reply was deleted.