Consignment Selling: How much of the sale % should the shop get?

[crunchee]

Like the question says...the obvious advantage of consignment selling IMO, is that it is an alternative to the perils and pitfalls of FeePay, plus whatever shop the owner consigns gear to, gets to deal with the public rather than the item owner.  So, what should the average percentage 'take' by the shop be, once they sell the item?  How much of a percentage is TOO much?  I'd be tempted to fantasize that The Internets has leveled the playing field for owners looking to sell via consignment, due to competition in a perfect world, and that the percentage 'take' varies considerably, especially when it comes down to 'desirable' gear; but I also get the definite feeling that I'd be WAY wrong, and that the consignment fee is gonna be a sizable percentage of the final sale price no matter what, possibly on the same level as FeePay once all the 'fees' get added up.  Thoughts?  TIA!  

[veatch]

15% seemed to be pretty standard around here, but i haven't consigned anything in a while.

[serial]

Consignment is a lousy deal for the seller and all advantage for the shop, especially in the age of the internet. I would never consign a guitar after seeing how it is often done.  The shop gets a guitar to hang on the wall with no more outlay than wall space and if it's a cool guitar, they get potential increased foot traffic they otherwise wouldn't get.  I've never seen a shop owner push a consignment guitar unless it has a big $$ on it.  If it languishes for a bit, forget about it moving.

[Studio Custom]

You might as well give eBay 10% and have a larger audience, while it stays safe in your possession.  

[Armitage]

Depending where you live, consignment shops have to charge tax too. 

[Jeff R]

"Safe in your possession" ... on a related note, handing over an instrument to a consignor means it will very likely be handled (and potentially gorilla'ed) as store stock, even if you give the merchant specific instructions as to how it "should" be handled. You can expect anything from added pick scratching to buckle/jean rivet marks and possibly even ding/rash from being banged into things, dropped, etc. And we know what "mint" turns into "excellent," "excellent" into "VG," does to the bottom line.

For what it's worth, I'm having great success with Reverb.com lately for my little shop on terms I can live with, and you don't have to be a legit biz or storefront to go that route.

[MCChris]

Reverb is great and is gaining traction every day. For years music gear nerds have clamored for an alternative to eBay. Now it's here, and people are still hesitant to use it and concoct excuses not to. Further proof that music gear nerds are the most ridiculous subset of society.

In this day and age there is no good reason to go the consignment route unless you are absolutely unwilling to deal with packing, shipping and potential issues with an unsatisfied/shady buyer.

[hamerhead]

Having your sh!t banged around in a store kills it for me. I admit I wasn't too sure going in, but after a couple deals through Reverb, all is good. I'll probably never sell on Ebay again.

[veatch]

I sell here or through word of mouth, mostly.  Takes a lot longer to move things, but I am generally not in a hurry.

I haven't used Reverb yet, but i know i will.  I'm getting ready for a purge, and my plan is to avoid eBay at all costs...

[DaveL]

 

The only way I would do a consignment would be if the item is really unwieldy to ship  (example

Thunderbird bass in a HUGE case)  or...   if you don't want to run a sale through your paypal.

I think if you do the forums,  reverb or craigslist, you can probably find a buyer...   

 

another thing to think of...   the added risk of something happening to the store.    

when daddy's junky music went under, people jumped thru a lot of hoops to get their repairs

and layaways...     

 

[atomicwash]

IIRC our local Music-Go-Round asked 30% for consignment items.  NOT!  GC put them out of business about ten years ago when they came to town.  

Come to think of it, GC kind of put Good N Loud Music out of business too.  They lasted a bit longer than MGR.