You may not be aware how many shops really don't like those who sell via eBay. A brick-and-mortar shop has expenses that an Internet only business does not. (On the other hand, many brick-and-mortar shops don't have the high costs of a website to set up and maintain, not to mention the daily upkeep, security and financial backend, posting of photographs of new stock, etc.)
http://www.shakespearespeddler.com
Theresa has had a long time Internet presence, as well as a physical shop. She also has run an eBay store for several years. Her life has changed and her shop in Mississippi is now open only by appointment and her main store will now be the eBay one. This has provoked some complaints from a distributor and shops apparently.
http://shakespearespeddler.blogspot.com/2013/04/kerfluffle.html
The business model in the counted thread world from all that I can tell is a chart is designed and sold to a distributor who sells it to a shop who sells it to you. Each time there is a slight markup to cover the costs and ensure a slight profit to each person in the chain of a sale. Some chart designers sell directly to the public but not often. Anyone who is more familiar with this process please correct my mistakes!
The business model in the painted canvas world is similar. The designer creates a design. Some designers sell directly to the public (although this is frowned on since it cuts out the shops). Most either sell directly to a shop or have a representative that does this for them (or both). Some painted canvas designers have distributors who cover the costs of painting multiple canvases plus take a cut of the profits. Some designers paint their own canvases or have them done. Either way, the shop buys the painted canvases at wholesale cost, then sells them to stitchers at retail price (wholesale price plus shop expenses plus a profit so the shop owner can eat) who are also likely to want to buy threads, beads, books and stitching tools which the shop also supplies.
If you were a designer, what sale route would you take? If you were a shop, would you see Internet sales as a threat? Personally, I find Internet-only shops very rare but I certainly am not aware of every needlework shop there is.
I hope this is thought-provoking and helps you appreciate shop owners more, whether they are the shop down the street or the Internet store front you buy from that has a shop in another state.
Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
@ Copyright 2013 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.
