If you've been on my socials lately, you have probably read about a pivotal moment in my business. This is one the hardest decisions I've had to make, but I had to stick to my values.
Here's the story:
I was approached by some people at the Farmer’s Market in June about selling my jewelry at their new store that would have a lot of tourist traffic. I didn’t receive an email from them until last week. I set up a meeting with them to discuss the terms and to show them my jewelry. These folks presented as wanting to uplift artists and small businesses. They’re serial business people who own a bunch of stores, but this is the first time they are working with true local and small artists.
I was excited for this opportunity until they said their consignment rate is 40/60. So 40% to the artist and 60% to them….🚩🚩 They also needed my jewelry in less than a week since the store is opening soon. I also had to do all the backend work of adding the sku codes to each product. They also didn’t want me to raise my prices because they didn’t want any discrepancies between my website and their store.
I left the meeting feeling uneasy and uncomfortable. Something didn’t feel right in my gut.
After talking with Santi and other artists, I felt as if they were taking advantage of me and small artisans. I couldn’t accept 40% when I touch literally every piece of jewelry, so I emailed them asking for at least 50% or for me to raise my prices. I also stated how their values don’t align with how they are actually paying and treating artists in their terms.
They basically said I don’t know what I’m talking about since I’m a small business and that running a store in the airport is expensive. Plus, the exposure and volume will outweigh the 40% rate. And they said “don’t misconstrue our personal values for a business model.” They said they can’t adjust the rate.
Exposure doesn’t pay my bills.
I am bummed this opportunity didn’t work out, but at the same time, it feels as if these folks are taking advantage of small businesses who want to grow.
As artisans, we deserve to be paid a fair wage for our expertise and hard work. We can’t accept terms that don’t pay us fairly.