WarmGlass.com

I was told that http://www.NJMgallery.com has added two of my older Ventana bowls to their sale pages. They bought 3 of them for (I think) $350 each about 3 years ago. I'm not going to go into the why's of why it took them so long to not sell (not tonight, at any rate) but I thought I'd throw the topic out for general mastication.

Obviously I'm in no hurry to sell to them again. They have never asked to exchange the work (which I would have done, even at this late date).

How do we feel in a situation like this? Does it devalue one's work or is it a minor blip? Is it worth contacting the gallery about? What, gentle fusers, would you do?

I offer a no questions asked return policy for everything I sell and make it explicity understood that I never want anything of mine to be sold at discount. I'll buy it back if necessary - and have done so when a shop went out of business.

Yes, I believe having your work sold at discount devalues it. If it was me, I'd DEFINITELY contact the gallery and ask why they never asked to exchange or return it.

Hi Marty,
I happened to see it and thought it did look tacky the way they did it. The graphics they used gave it sort of a blue light special look. Sorry it happened to you, your work deserves better than that.

hear hear!! to Els's remarks. the presentation is disgraceful.

Marty,
Contact the "gallery" and gently persuade them to let you buy them back. They're now classics.

I feel kind of ambivalent about this. The gallery bought the work, and now that they own it, I feel they have the right to mark it down, if they wish. I really don't see how it affects Marty's reputation, his work is selling well, he's having shows . . .

We don't have any control over the pricing of pieces that are bought for resale by galleries. I've heard lots of stories about pieces being marked UP above the normal amount. If this was to happen on a consignment piece, you may have some recourse, but not when the gallery buys.


The most interesting pricing anecdote I've ever heard was from Kathy Bunnell, one of the founders of the renaissance of American stained glass. When a piece of hers is sold by the owner, she gets 15% of the selling price. It's written into the contract when her work is commissioned.

Brock

Marty

I think you are better off in the long run to exchange the pieces. Particularly if you think there is a better market for them. If not, keep the money and run.

I know of a hot glass artist who had hard times this year and put some of his pieces out on Ebay to sell at closer to wholesale prices. It was this or go out of business as a hot glass shop burns lots of expensive natural gas every month. I don't blame him for doing what he had to do for survival, but I do think it hurts the retail galleries he depends on.

To skip the gories: I bought them back at wholesale (and asked that my name be removed from their artist list).
I understand very well about the lack of control in a situation like this, and all galleries get stuck with unsold or slow-selling merchandise but I think that the very public nature of the "sale" bothered me.