Do It Yourself - Distro a Piece of Stuff by avt (abbie ) How to put your stuff in shops. This is a step by step d.i.y. guide to distributing the stuff you make, be it zines, music or clothes... The best way to put your stuff in shops is on consignment, that is you don't get the money til the items sell, and if they don't sell you get them back. Step 1. Choosing the shop... The best types of shops are the smaller ones, not big ones like chain stores. So choose the one off stores in your city or town, or the ones that sell items like the one you are selling. Step 2. Taking your Stuff to the shop... Take your item (zine, book, music, clothes, art, poster, whatever you make) to the shops on your list of places that might stock your stuff. Ask them if they will stock your stuff possibly on consignment, they will say something like... a) 'Yeah sure' b) 'I don't know but come back later and talk to the consignment person' c) 'No I don't think it would sell here' Step 3. Putting your stuff in the shop... The result of each previous outcome will be something along the lines of.... a) 'Yeah sure, they will take your stock on consignment...' .1. You and the shop person will decide how many the shop will take. Five is a good starting number, but if you have something unknown and large, they are more likly to take only one or two, and say they will ring you back if they sell out. .2. The price is the next thing decided. It is good to have two prices written on your reciept (see .4.). The 'cost price' which is the money you get back for each item sold, and the 'RRP' or recomended retail price, which is the amount your item will be sold for in the shop. Shops usually have a set percentage that they mark up consignment stock that comes in, this will vary fom shop to shop and city to city, so it might be a good idea to ask what their mark up is before you put stuff in. .3. Some shops have a time of consignment, usually six months, where all unsold items and all money owed to you will become the property of the shop after 6 months. If this is the case they will tell you about that and give you a contract to sign, make sure you read the contract, and also keep a copy of it, even if this means asking for a photocopy. .4. Now comes receipt time...every receipt or invoice book is different, but there are certain things that you must make sure are on every receipt/invoice you use, and that a receipt is exchanged every time you put stock into a shop or collect money. 1. the date 2. your name and contact details 3. the shops name and contact details 4. the number of items of stock being put in the shop 5. the name of the item, what it is and if relevant who the artist/author is 6. the cost price of the item 7. the RRP of the item (this is especially important if the item has to sell for a specific price, eg you printed it on the cover) 8. your signature, and the signature of the person in the shop you dealt with and possibly the shop stamp. These are all important in case either they lose the receipt or you lose the copy in your receipt book. 9. the total money you will be owed if all the items on the receipt sell (=cost price x number of items) 10. the words 'on consignment' and 'SOR' (sale or return) this keeps the shopkeepers happy and shows you know exactly what is going on. Of course not all of these are vital to consignment, but they make it easier in the long run, because if both parties have all the information in the one place, there is no room for confusion. You can also cheat a little with receipts and have some details like your name and contact details and the name of the item already on the receipt when you go into the shop. As you become more experienced at distro you will be able to know all the details so you can go into the shop with a pre prepared complete recipt and all they will have to do is sign it. b) If they say 'I don't know, come back later...' .1. Do that, come back later when the person you have to deal with will be there. This happens in the bigger shops where there is a single person in charge of consignment. c)If they say 'No I don't think that will sell here...' Ask why they don't think it will sell, explain what consignmentis and and ask them if they know of anywhere that would stock your items for you. Step 4. Getting your money... a) After about a month ring up the shop, say who you are and ask to speak to the person in charge of consignment. When you are speaking to the right person ask them how your stock is going, quoting the receipt number (printed on all receipt and invoices in a book) and ask if they want more. If they say yes we have sold out and we want more arrange a time to go in and give them more, remember to take your receipt book so you can give them a new one, and also put any left over stock on the new receipt. b)If they owe you money... Shops pay in a variety of ways. * Some just give you the cash they owe you over the till, these are good shops to be treated gently and well. * Some give you a cheque straight away. If this happens make sure that the cheque is made out to you and not to the name of the item sold, or you won't be able to cash it. These shops are also nice. * Then there are the shops that have to send the cheque out to you. Don't get me wrong, they can be nice, but this can take some time. These are sometimes the shops that pay all their consignment at once usually every 3 months, this can mean delay in payment. If they say they will send a cheque out to you give them the name you want on the cheque and ask how long it will take. If the cheque is not there in the time they said it would be, ring them up or go in and visit them to ask about it. Sometimes going in alot will make them so sick of you they will pay you just to get rid of you. Remember that if the shop treats you badly, you don't need to put you stuff in there. Sometimes money lost can be worth the exposure, but it means the shop knows it can get away with avoiding payment of money owed for consignment, and will do it again affecting the small time people who need the money most... it is a personal choice thing. b) If the shop has not sold enough that it is worth going in to collect money try again every couple of months. If after six months you haven't really sold all that much it might be a good idea to collect all the money they owe you and take the rest of your stock home. c) Sometimes you put a second lot of different stock in while you still have old stuff there. It is sometimes a good idea to put all of this on the one recipt. This makes it simpler for both you and the shop. THINGS TO REMEMBER The shop will not promote your stock unless they are selling like hot cakes and the public can't get enough of them when this happens it is worth the shops while to promote them. Some shops allow you to put up your own displays. The length of time these displays last depend on the shop, so if you see window displays in the shop ask about them, and how you go about getting one. Be nice to the shop people, smile, be polite and be organised. Even though it is you who are doing stuff for them, by putting your stuff in their shop and generating no risk money for them, the money they make off most, if not all, small consignments is not very much in their scheme of things. So if you are nice to them and are organised they will remember you and like you! Good ways to be organised are to always have multiple pens, and your receipt book. It helps to have easy access to the right page in your receipt book when you go in and if there will be lots of calculations, a calculator helps. Also know everything you need to say and do, and everything you need them to do. Like I said before if they treat you like crap it really isn't worth it, there are better places to sell you stuff like markets and stalls at shows. Distributing your stuff can be lots of fun, it can also be a hassle and painful, and like all things to do well will take alot of work. Unless you know people outside your city it can be hard to get stuff away from your home town. You can just send stuff to shops intercity/state, but there is always the risk you won't get paid, this is also the case if you put stuff in places on holidays, this is not because people cheat you but because they are slack and often need reminding that they owe you money. Friends and relatives are good for putting stuff in places away from home. Ther are also lots of small independant distros springing up arpound the country, Dazy distribution in Sydney, Alphaville in Adelaide and Aquamudvuv in Perth, there is also Choozy distribution who distribute Australia wide as well as some overseas who are based in Melbourne. If you are interested in getting someone else to distribute you stuff send a sample, plus information about the prices and where you want it to do and hopefully they will get back to you. If you do a zine you could also write to a zine you like that is interstate and ask if they would be into swapping where they would put your zine in their city and you would put theirs in your city, it is often about networking. But of course it is more fun to Do It Yourself. Addresses of Interest Dazy Distribution 30 Lantana Rd Engadine NSW, 2233 Alphaville PO Box 3078 Unley SA, 5001 Aquamudvuv PO box 150 Northbridge WA, 6865 Choozy Distribution PO box 4434 Melbourne Uni Parkville Vic, 3052 Spiral Objective PO box 126 Oaklands Park SA 5046 Created on Tue, 27 Jan 1998 and last modified on Wed, 28 Jan 1998.

LOUDonline - http://www.loud.net.au - Fri, 10 Apr 1998