I’m considering applying to list my jewellery with “The Artful Home”
website, artfulhome.com in the retail range of $100 - $2000. Is there
anyone on Orchid who would care to share their experience with this
service?
I’m interested in hearing about the level of service you received,
how often you’ve made sales thru them, how much they marked up your
wholesale prices, and what fees you paid. What’s the community of
members like? Any unexpected problems or benefits?
I have no direct experience but a friend who is a textile artist has
been having a good experience selling wholesale through Artful Home -
professional, organized, straightforward.
Artful Home is a great marketing tool for jewelry artists. The
process is juried by Juried Art Services- one of the foremost
digital submissions services of its kind in the world- whose team is
led by Michael Monroe of the Renwick. Monthly meetings are held to
review new work including the artists corpus of work, and ability to
deliver on time and in quantity- realizing that some works are
one-off that is stated in the descriptions produced for your work
through Artful Home. Submissions open the 1st day of the month and
end the last- so each month allows for a fresh review of potential
artists submissions.
Guild (artful home’s choice of description for sourcers) Membership
works are then marketed to the trade : design professionals,
corporate clients, buyers etc on an e commerce platform globally and
through its printed sourcebook that is distributed free to designers
and industry related outlets- in a word a great marketing tool for
international exposure and sales without having to travel to shows.
The jury does however look at one’s resume and in fact it is required
to apply for inclusion as an Artful Home artist/guild member. If you
want to know more about applications etc. here’s the link that will
take you directly to the http://www.artfulhome.com
I encourage artists that are in North America, as it is limited to
producing artists in N. America only, to apply if you think this may
be a venue you’d like your work sold through. You set the wholesale
price and Artful Home sets the retail. You directly mail pieces to
the buyers, through an artful home UPS account.
You get paid monthly by artful home. There is a fee for jurying your
work of $35. 00 that has to be submitted with your application-
non-refundable of course!.. Artful home markets not only to
individuals through direct mail, but as I said, to the trade, and its
circulation is large and steady. The organization is good to deal
with:prompt, resolutions to any issues that arise are swift, and in
general- if you can deliver and have a contemporary appeal that is
translated through your work your target market will dramatically
increase with participation in Artful Home’s Artisan Guild. Remember
tothouroughly review your costs though before setting your pricing
structure- as they set the retail you often may think that giving
them a better price will help you get accepted, more orders, etc…
That is not the case. I urge you to consider all your costs, right
down to packaging to help you set up your pricing of your works
before typing a figure! particularly if you are new to the
retail/wholesale format.
And consider the metals market and that pricing may change
drastically and in your submission to them be certain you comment on
that issue somewhere in your application. It is hard to suck up a two
hundred dollars metals difference per piece if the market fluctuates
between the time you price a piece and the time it is sold. Silver
jewelry is a bit different and you should just go with the highest
market borne cost in your estimations to avoid any profit margin
errors after the price is published. All in all Artful Home is a
wonderful marketing tool for any independent metalsmith, or other
craft artisan.
Professionalism is expected and sought in the jurying process though
so insure good photography, etc. when applying. One recent
applicant’s work (in PMC!) was quite original, but on the website
there were photos of the pieces entirely on models. That person was
eliminated by the jury just on that point. One rule I learned long
ago is not to ever show work being worn- unless it’s an “a” list
celebrity wearing it, with the photo taken by a high caliber
photographer ! It just doesn’t look good : the piece is often lost to
the eye being drawn to the model’s idiosyncrasies. Keeping imaging
and pricing in mind I highly recommend Artful Home as a venue for
emerging talent (and established jewelers/designers) to open new
prospects for successful marketing to a larger audience than most
have experienced before. rer