Sell by mail or travel?

Julie Deane · 08-13-2007, 06:07 PM

I have a gallery owner interested in a piece of mine. His gallery is about 8 hours away. The piece would probably not be a huge sale, but, assuming we agree on a price, what would you do:

- Arrange shipping after payment - and how does one go about that long distance anyway? )

- drive the art to the gallery, taking the opportunity to visit friends in the area even though it's a long drive?

Michele Rushworth · 08-13-2007, 07:22 PM

The main reason for driving there would be to establish or firm up a personal relationship with the gallery owner so it could possibly turn in to a much bigger long term relationship (ie regular solo shows for you, actively pursuing portrait commissions on your behalf, etc). Whether that's worthwhile would depend on the gallery.

Carlos Ygoa · 08-14-2007, 07:25 AM

Julie,

I have had to do this long distance thing a few times in the past (all transatlantic) and have had one bad experience. Payment had been made via wire plus the additional cost for shipping (I had sent the client a quote from the shipping company previously), so I proceeded to have the crate built for the painting (it was a large piece) and have all the documents for export ready (the piece was leaving Spain, and at the time the law was that all art pieces had to be cleared by the MInistry of Culture and Min. of Industry to make sure they are NOT part of national heritage). The shipping-courier company was one of the top ones internationally and I had asked for their speediest service (2 days). It took them 17 days in all while the client was emailing me (upset, of course) wondering where his painting was. It arrived finally but not without the headache of daily calls to the company by me and screaming matches on the phone. I eventually filed a complaint, had a hearing after a year in front of a judge and was reimbursed the full amount. So I am now traumatized by this method, although in hindsight, I should have gone to a specialist company that deals with transporting only artwork.

One bad experience should not, of course, close our minds to this method.

I have also had to rent vans and transport paintings myself driving many hours, and I would still choose this method whenever possible since I am in control of the delivery and, as Michelle says, there is always the plus of establishing better relationship with the client, and is more personal.

Chris Saper · 08-14-2007, 09:47 AM

If you haven't seen the gallery in person, or met the owner, I think it would be worth the trip. Plus, your frineds will need to drop in from time to time to see that your work is displayed

Julie Deane · 08-14-2007, 02:30 PM

Thanks, Michelle, Carlos and Chris -

Assuming the person is still interested after prices are haggled, I am now leaning a bit more in the direction of taking it down personally.

However, I would like to know how one would handle a sale long distance. Here's my idea, but I would like other folks' feedback:

1. sales agreement signed by both parties
2. payment made via Paypal
(better protection: possibly a certified check, but definitely not a cashier's check, money order or personal check)
3. item shipped after payment received/certified check cleared

Julie Deane · 08-19-2007, 05:18 PM

Well, rats. As soon as I mentioned travel, the person back-pedaled. Some more investigation revealed more than one fake address. I am assuming that this was going to be some sort of scam.

Carol Norton · 08-19-2007, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julie Deane

Well, rats. As soon as I mentioned travel, the person back-pedaled. Some more investigation revealed more than one fake address. I am assuming that this was going to be some sort of scam.

Thank you for all the information. I'm sorry this didn't work out to your benefit, but so glad that you are smart enough to investigate the details. Every single one of us have benefited from this dialogue.

Julie Deane · 08-19-2007, 11:42 PM

Yeah, I just wish I had done more of that fine-tooth checking up front. Now that I know what to look for, it would probably take less than 20 minutes.

The opening ploy was that the guy had a gallery specializing in ethnic art (for African Americans), and was therefore interested in a work of mine that fit the category. Besides the new story after I mentioned visiting, he had a few (but very few)grammatical errors, and those could have been attributed to a regional form of speech. He did not push for a quick sale, and did things like asking price of a personal commission. But when I checked the originator of the website, a false address was used. As was the address on the "gallery" website.
The address used for me to send a contract also did not match the name given. Three strikes = he's out.

I noticed that this person supposedly had several artists' works that I recognized "for sale". I tried to find their email addresses to warn them, and found it difficult to locate their websites. Is this typical for an established artist: to let their galleries be found but not a way to contact them directly? It would certainly eliminate this type of nonsense I've just dealt with, of course.