Consignment

[SoapyMimi]

I have been asked to put my soap into a consignment store, but will need to raise my price 25% due to their split. I sell my soap now for $3.00 per bar. Part of the consignment agreement is that my prices are the same no matter where I am selling. Has anyone else ever done this?

 

[krissy]

i wouldnt do it personally. you have to take the loss if the store allows the soaps to be damaged or dont sell for some reason. also, i don't know a lot about business stuff since i am not selling but i think that them asking you to keep your prices the same for every place is unreasonable. what if you find a high end store that wants to sell your soaps but you can get at least double what you are selling at now? why shouldn't you take advantage of that and increase your income? your income outside of the soaps they are selling is none of their business as far as i am concerned.

now if the store were to buy the soaps out right and you had certain scents ect that was only for them, then i just wouldnt offer those scents/scent names to any other company.

 

[Bigmoose]

I have tried 3 of them and will not do any more. I have done small ones and a large one and I broke even a few months and lost the rest of them. Theft was a problem.

Bruce

 

[Lotsofsuds]

I would not take a cut like that its not worth it. You are not selling used merchandise here. The fact that a store is concerned at what you are charging else where is strange to me. I guess if they are so worried about it they should be buying out right from you and then pricing them themselves. In my opinion it is better not to consign in large amounts because of the theft, and abuse your product maybe subject to that you have not control over. Leaving you at risk of loss, of money and product. Offer it better to offer wholesale, do on-line sales, craft fairs, etc.

 

[debbism]

My first reaction is no. A while back I did a net-30 with one boutique as an experiment. Epic fail. They experienced a lot of theft and damage and did not want to pay. They even proposed splitting the cost - excuse me? Never again. Net-due or pre-pay for local, pre-pay only for orders that ship.

It is the best way to protect yourself in cases where you have not yet established a good working relationship.

 

[busymakinsoap!]

Personally I think customers should be able to purchase directly from you at a cheaper price, and from a store for slightly more.

 

[paillo]

i have soap in one consignment store with a 60/40 split (i get 60). it does well, and it's a small store with good oversight, so theft is not a problem. but my prices do vary depending on where i sell -- i would not commit to keeping my price the same everywhere.

 

[JackiK]

Personally I think customers should be able to purchase directly from you at a cheaper price, and from a store for slightly more.

Ditto.

 

[carebear]

I don't undercut my stores. We sell at the same price that I recommend stores sell at. Should a boutique wish to increase the price that is their business.

I also, however, don't do consignment - only wholesale.

By the way, $3/bar of soap is pretty darned low. My 4.5 oz CP soaps sell for $6.

 

[paillo]

agree that $3 a bar is really low. like carebear, my 4.5 oz bars are $6 retail except in a few instances. don't undersell yourself -- if your soaps are high quality people expect to pay more than thrift store prices.

curious, for those who sell wholesale, what is the percentage you get? i love integral yoga because they give me more than 50 percent, but for the most part it's a 50/50 split with the retailer.

 

[carebear]

for resellers it's 50/50.
for others, like hotels, I charge 70% of retail value.