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I have a business which creates a high-end fine art product at a better quality than what was previously available. I would like to offer this service to interior designers but I have some questions about their business needs to ensure I am providing my service as they would expect.
From what I have been reading, interior designers expect a discount off of retail prices so they can profit when reselling the product to their customers. How is this discount typically handled? Do I sell to the designers at a discount and let them mark the product back up to my regular price or do I sell to them at my regular price and then cut them a check for the discount? If I do sell to them at the discounted price, am I expected to provide two invoices -- one for their actual price and another for the retail price?
Any thoughts and ideas of how you would want to interact with a business like this would be greatly appreciated.
Interior Designers "expect" a discount from retail? It's not even spoken. They buy at or below wholesale, usually direct from supply companies, not an individual.
Though I am a Designer but in another related field I can only advise you to forget about your idea. There is no future in the business I love. The writing is on the wall. These deep deep economic depression times will be with us for a very very long time. If there are no jobs then people can't buy houses. If banks ain't lending then people can't buy houses. We live in the age of Walmart and cheap junk Chinese consumer goods. Our homes are no longer nest eggs but merely depreciating assets that keep us warm and dry. We learned in economics 101 not to put money into a depreciating asset.
Though I see some recent business lately picking up in the form of web site activity and incoming phone inquiries, they are barely leading to more sales. All construction related businesses are dead but I won't quit. I love it too much. Maybe for the first time ever I will be wrong and things will turn around but I'm not stupid enough to bet the farm on that statement.
Good luck to ya. It's a wonderful satisfying profession. Imagine standing in a room that was once just a dream and is now a masterpiece that YOU made happen.
Interior Designers "expect" a discount from retail? It's not even spoken. They buy at or below wholesale, usually direct from supply companies, not an individual.
Though I am a Designer but in another related field I can only advise you to forget about your idea. There is no future in the business I love. The writing is on the wall. These deep deep economic depression times will be with us for a very very long time. If there are no jobs then people can't buy houses. If banks ain't lending then people can't buy houses. We live in the age of Walmart and cheap junk Chinese consumer goods. Our homes are no longer nest eggs but merely depreciating assets that keep us warm and dry. We learned in economics 101 not to put money into a depreciating asset.
Though I see some recent business lately picking up in the form of web site activity and incoming phone inquiries, they are barely leading to more sales. All construction related businesses are dead but I won't quit. I love it too much. Maybe for the first time ever I will be wrong and things will turn around but I'm not stupid enough to bet the farm on that statement.
Good luck to ya. It's a wonderful satisfying profession. Imagine standing in a room that was once just a dream and is now a masterpiece that YOU made happen.
I lovelovelove the bolded portion of your post!
Its what keeps me plugging away in this economy!
Don't listen to desertsun. He boohoo's everything. Wait until some real interior desingers repond with tips.
You got your hopes and wish. A real professional Interior Designer did respond right after your post. And guess what? She is not only a good friend of mine but she agrees with me and I trust her word completely.
I don't sugar coat anything. I don't say something because I wish it, I say it because it's true. When I speak my opinions I always say so, when I speak facts I say that too. Some like yourself might say I speak with that half full cup but I say I am a realist. No lies, just solid truth backed up by facts. Some like it that way and some hate it. You hate it despite your name suggesting otherwise.
Good luck to you and keep all 5 of your senses open, not just 2. Life is great but the problems of our economy is far far worse then your government is telling you on the nightly news. The unemployment rate is far far worse then your government is telling you. The profession I love so much is dying. Today's consumer does not care that my product is the best, comes with a lifetime warranty, my company is decades old, my experience stretches over 3 decades, or that I have more college degrees then a thermometer has. All the consumer cares about today is WHICH PRODUCT IS THE CHEAPEST ONE?????
Last edited by desertsun41; 10-16-2011 at 08:26 AM..
We started calling designers today. I will report back with some preliminary thoughts later.
Thank you for all the comments
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