Selling to Bergdorf Goodman

Jewelry Discussion
1

A friend of mine just got a meeting with a buyer at Bergdorf’s to
sell on consignment and we’re trying to price her work. Does anyone
know what their markup is, by any chance? Actually at this point I’m
not even sure if they want her wholesale price or if they want her to
provide a retail price and they’ll give her a cut. I’m sure we’ll get
this info eventually but we wanted to get a head start. Does anyone
have any experience with them?

Thanks so much!
Jessie Braden

2 
A friend of mine just got a meeting with a buyer at Bergdorf's to
sell on consignment and we're trying to price her work. Does anyone
know what their markup is, by any chance? Actually at this point
I'm not even sure if they want her wholesale price or if they want
her to provide a retail price and they'll give her a cut. I'm sure
we'll get this info eventually but we wanted to get a head start.
Does anyone have any experience with them?

BG’s markup is not your concern – you need to provide a wholesale
price that recognizes that you are financing the relationship. Your
buyer will then compute an appropriate retail sell price.

I suggest you establish a schedule for them to report sales and cut
checks – perhaps every 30 days. Our consignment terms are net on
delivery.

PK

3

Paul,

From your reply, I got the sense that you might have experience with
Bergdorf regarding your work.

My main goal in making my jewelry, is to sell to Neiman, Bergdorf or
any other companies of this genre. I am gearing a lot of what I do
towards this goal. I would like to know if you could direct me
towards any resource that could help me find a list of buyers from
these companies.

Thank you in advance for any info you would be willing to share,
Paula ~ Beadacious77

4

Jessica,

I did not work with B.G. But was a Marketing consultant for Neiman
Marcus, Precious Jewelry.

While with Neiman Marcus I discovered they ran the Precious Jewelry
Salon’s business on a very similar paradigm to B.G. Over 90% of the
merchandise in Neiman Marcus Precious Jewelry Salons, Bergdorf
Goodman, and Saks Fifth Ave. is all consigned to those retailers not
owned by them. Your friend may not be meeting with the buyer in order
to have their jewelry purchased, your friend maybe meeting with the
buyer to be asked to consign their jewelry.

PK is correct that their retail price is not your friends concern.
The buyer will determine how they want your friends goods to be
priced for retail. But more importantly “you need to provide a
wholesale price that recognizes that you are financing the
relationship.” If your friend is asked to consign make sure that her
costs to ship, insure, hire help to produce, and have the jewelry sit
for months unsold are covered in the wholesale price she establishes.
Even consignment with B.G. can be an excellent business opportunity,
(it has launched many careers) if your friend has the business skills
to make it work.

The Small Business Administration has workshops and advisors in most
major cities to help with starting up or growing a business. Art
councils in many cities will have business lawyers who work pro-bono
to help artisans with contracts and other related legal affairs. Good
Luck!

Nanz Aalund
Associate Editor / Art Jewelry magazine
21027 Crossroads Circle / Waukesha WI 53187-1612
262.796.8776 ext.228