Sell with Us!
Become One of Our Makers, Artisans, Crafters & Creators
We do things a little differently at The Old Auction House! As makers ourselves we want to support our brands in every way we can. We don’t think you should have to pay simply to be in our space, so we do not “Rent Space” to makers in our retail shop.
This means we are in it with the makers, we’re invested in your products and sales in our space, that’s what makes our whole space possible!
We love our customers; they allow us to do what we love! However, we understand that it is our brands that fill our space and create the vibrant atmosphere of our precinct. We spend hours finding new and exciting brands from all over Australia, and countless nights vetting applications, ensuring that everything we stock is handmade in Australia, from quality materials. All so that our customers can be assured that they are buying a quality product and supporting small makers and artists with each purchase!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“I love having my stock here - it's such a great space supporting handmade. I reach a different audience than in Melbourne and I love how carefully all items are curated. It's such a welcoming space, and as an added bonus I get the pleasure of teaching there”
- Sarah from Sarah Munnings Jewellery
Product Guidelines
At the end of the day, there is only one rule set in stone at The Old Auction House, it must be Australian Handmade. Well the second might be what Rhain says goes…but Jo can usually usurp her if we need to! 😂
We want to tell your story, we want to know your why and how, we want to be your biggest cheerleaders and tell every customer how awesome you are! That’s why we are a bit fussy who we let in to the shop, because we need to be able to stand next to your product and truly love it and believe it is quality and value for money the way you do, so we can sell it to our customers with the same passion as you have for your products!
Features We Look for in Brands and Applications
Brands that personally hand make their products in Australia.
Where a process is outsourced, you need to show it is to another small Australian based business. eg printing, laser cutting, metal plating etc.
Originality - new products, unique designs, a different take on an old idea, something that sets your brand apart!
We are looking for the best of Australian Handmade, we want to show what is new, exciting and amazing, not the same thing everyone else is making!
Products must not infringe on any other individual’s/brand’s ideas, designs or concepts and be safe and legal for sale in Victoria.
It’s simply not cool! The Old Auction House will not accept accountability for any trademark, copyright or safety infringements made by any stocked brand. The Old Auction House reserves the right to return any stock found to be breaching these rights back to the makers.
Beautifully presented or packaged products with complementary branding.
As we leave your branding and packaging on in-store it needs to match your products and labels need to hold their own without you there to sell them!
A cohesive range of products that are all made to an extremely high standard.
We don’t need your brand to make everything, concentrate on what you do best!
Realistic pricing.
Brands need to understand where their products sit in the market in general and are aligned with other similar products in-store.
Brands that are not stocked in other retail outlets in the Macedon Ranges, or every store in Melbourne etc.
There is nothing worse than finding the same selection of products in every second store you visit no matter how amazing those products are!
Brands whose values align with The Old Auction House.
Everyone has the right to their own opinions and values, where these are expressed publicly as your brand rather than you personally, these need to align with those of our space.
Brands that have a positive and active online presence.
We work hard to promote our space and all of the brands we stock and we expect our brands to do so as well. We will always try to tag our makers online, don’t forget to share the love back and let your fans know where they can get their fix local
In order to maintain the ethos of our brand we can’t accept the following:
Any MLM (multi-level marketing) reps, ambassadors or associate brands
Any form of infringement of Intellectual Property Rights (Trademark, copyright, “inspired by” etc)
Any products made outside of Australia.
- Including products that are Fair-Trade collaborations or Socially Ethically manufacturedProducts that are produced in a large scale manufacturing process
- We want to support the Small Handmade businesses of Australia!Makers must do more than assemble pre-made components
- We require makers to create a significant portion of their productsProducts that are illegal for sale in Victoria or do not meet the relevant ACCC standard.
If you’re not sure, send us an email or apply and we can let you know, we promise we don’t bite!
What to Expect When You are Stocked with Us:
As we try to feature all brands equally, your stock will not remain in the same location in store. We rotate the layout and displays in store regularly to keep it looking fresh, so we cannot guarantee that your products will always be kept together, beside another brand, or in a certain position in the store.
Our brands know how to display their products best as most of you do markets frequently! So please feel free to include point of sale stands or display pieces, information cards or brand merchandising with your products and where we can/will use it to highlight your products but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to always use it.
We mean no offence if your products go to their new homes without your point of sale packaging. Sometimes staff get busy and forget the intricacies of each brand, sometimes it doesn’t fit with the customers gift-wrapping and sometimes customers just want to wear it out of the store!
We can’t promise any brand that they will always be used in our window displays, marketing or advertising campaigns, we believe in sharing the love!
A Couple of Our Core Beliefs:
We believe that it’s important to always help our brands in any way we can where possible but with over 100 brands in our store, more than 26 gallery shows each year, four artist studios and our rentable teaching space, as well as our teaching load; phone calls and unexpected drop-ins, are not able to be accommodated and we always recommend email as the best way to get in touch.
We don’t believe in having Sales. Your products are worth their price year-round, this also means we don’t believe in increasing pricing for holidays or events. This benefits both the makers and customers, as so many of our products are one of a kind we can really say that there is no point in waiting as once it is gone it may not be back!
We believe that any stock that is damaged in store, stolen, or for some other reason cannot be accounted for when we do stock-take counts is not the fault of the maker. Stock loss and damage by customers will be paid to makers as if it was a sold item. If your products come to us damaged in the post we will get in contact to work out the best way to get them back to you for repairs and make sure we help you follow up with the courier service for damage in transit. As we follow consumer law regarding manufacturer’s warranties if a customer brings an item back to us due to faults we will refund or exchange for them and get in contact with you to work out a solution.
We believe that every brand that applies deserves to be considered fairly, which is why we ask for 30 days from your application date to be able to sit down and go over your brand. We review batches of applications every couple of weeks against our shop criteria and will endeavour to reply as soon as possible. Please remember there are people at the other end of the email, we make mistakes and occasionally miss emails, and we always appreciate it when responses are kept polite.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“I absolutely love having the opportunity to work with and stock in The Old Auction House Kyneton, As a small farm based maker it can be hard to get to markets all the time to get our products out there and being able to work with a business like The Old Auction House really helps get more eyes on my handmade products. I would recommend the store to anyone who is looking for quality products to buy or thinking about growing their business and looking for another avenue to sell”
- Anne Owlett from Gatherer Forager
Our Tips and Tricks for Makers
We’ve put together some of our top tips as well as the most frequently asked questions to help ensure your application shines the best light on your business!
-
This has to be one of the most frequently asked questions we get from artists applying to be part of our space. This is a grey area and comes down to the number of products you are making and selling, whether you are running it as a hobby or if it is more like a business.
There are some advantages of having an ABN including discounts from suppliers and being able to claim deductions for your associated expenses against your income.
If you do not have an ABN for your business, the ATO requires us to withhold tax unless you fill out the “Statement By Supplier” ATO form stating you are running as a hobby.
The biggest mistake we find brands making is confusing Centrelink and the ATO. The ATO may not count your hobby income is taxable but in many cases, Centrelink will still count it as income. By declaring your hobby as a business you can normally report your business profit/loss rather than your hobby income to Centrelink.
We will never mislead any government body as to the amount we pay to our brands if asked and we always remind brands that in this digital age, where these reporting bodies do data match bank accounts and use Facebook, Instagram and other social media to ensure correct reporting.
Further information can be found at the ATO’s or Centrelink websites.
-
Yes, but No, so Maybe?
The Old Auction House takes no responsibility for any products that do not meet the ACCC, TGA, or other regulatory body’s requirements. When your brand joins our space, brands state that they meet all regulatory requirements and are legal for sale in Victoria.
Insurance won’t help you, where you don’t meet these requirements.
Ignorance of the law, being a small maker or hobbyist, or always having made it like that, is not a defence and can void your insurance. Similar to your car insurance not covering you if your BAC is 0.1 when you have an accident!
But if the unthinkable happens and something goes wrong with one of your products, even where you have done everything right, insurance could mean the difference between becoming bankrupt or walking away unscathed.
If you make a high risk product like Skincare or Candles it is probably worth it, if you make standard earrings it might not be.
If you want to look into insurance we recommend Craft Victoria or NAVA.
-
We know that keeping a positive and active online presence can be a hassle! With online sales platforms, brand websites, Facebook and Instagram it can become overwhelming not to mention confusing and time-consuming!
While you do not need to have an online presence to be in our space, we prefer it if you do! We like being able to tag our brands and being able to interact with you online to raise your products in our customer’s mind.
Shoppers also like to be able to see that you really are a small maker in Australia and when they look you up! It adds a bit of personality, emotional connection and also shows them how to use your product/how cool your product is or how cute it looks on that baby! We are always asked “How do you think this would look on an XXXX? I’m buying it as a gift.”, and it is great to pull out your Instagram or Facebook to show them!
Also don’t forget on Facebook and Instagram, following us and interacting with us boosts both our brands and linking us to your web page as a stockist helps with SEO for both pages, so share the handmade love.
-
We know many of you don’t need to charge GST, let’s be honest most of our brands are counted as hobbyists! Unfortunately, The Old Auction House does need to charge GST on every sale.
So even when we buy something from one of our makers who does not need to charge GST, when we then sell that item, we need to charge GST on it.
So whether you are renting a studio or gallery, or selling in our gallery or shop, we will have to include GST in the transaction. GST is always 10% and can be calculated by dividing the retail price by 11. Check out Pricing Principles below or the ATO for more details.
-
This has to be one of those topics that is guaranteed to be contentious!
Our family has been involved in craft markets for more than 40 years and Rhain’s full time job used to be taking our brands to markets, selling online and stocking shops with our handmade products.
What we have found running the shop is that everyone has a different formula, a different method and a different philosophy when it comes to pricing.
If your product is going to be on the high end of the market it needs to be presented to a high standard and often have something that consumers believes adds value to the product, in comparison to the other brands in the market.
Brands may apply with their pricing set where ever they feel is appropriate, it may however not work with how we run our space or with the demographic we get through.
Down below we have some Basic Pricing Principles to help guide you on your product pricing.
What’s the Difference between Rent a Space, Consignment and Wholesale and Which is Better?
When choosing where to sell your products there are so many different shop business models, agents, trade fairs, markets and online platforms to choose from, so how do you choose?
Unfortunately, we can’t answer for you but we can explain why we choose to do a Consignment-Wholesale hybrid model at The Old Auction House.
We Choose Not to Charge Space Rental to be Part of Our Space!
Some months in space rentals we used to lose money by being there. We wouldn’t have enough sales to either cover our rental, our rental plus the cost of the products sold, or our rental, the shop’s sales commission and the cost of the products sold, but you need to be in-store the quiet months as many buyers do reconnaissance prior to birthdays, Christmas etc and come back to buy products they previously saw.
We have Chosen Not to Staff the Space with our Makers!
When we were makers we found that we didn’t have time to man Galleries, Collectives or Shops as we needed that time to prep and go to markets, make stock and have the occasional day off! We also find that some makers weren’t the best shop assistants as they had limited product knowledge on other maker’s products, lived far away from our store, were only interested in talking to buyers about their own works, and sometimes didn’t want to be there or weren’t capable of doing the required administrative tasks. None of that leads to engaging our customers and ensuring that people leave with the perfect gift and have a great experience.
The Three Main Retail Models
Wholesale:
Shops buy your products outright and the shop normally pays for shipping.
Awesome! Right?
Well it comes at a cost, shops expect to purchase your products at a 50% plus GST discount.
So if you sell your product for $10 your wholesale price is $4.55, so while it might help with cash flow it can really affect your profit margin.
Why do Shops take so much? Well that’s actually not that much, large shops expect to get a 200% or more markup to allow for damaged and stolen stock, as well as to be able to discount it at the end of a season/sales.
Consignment:
Shops take your products with no upfront payment and pay you as your items sell or on a schedule, makers normally pay for shipping.
No cash up front sounds terrible! Right? Not Really…There is a plus side!
Shops consignment rates are normally between 10-50% incl GST instead of 50% + GST.
So while you might be drip fed your payments over a number of months, you generally end up with a higher profit than wholesale.
Some shops also only take consignment brands in their whole shop or with certain types of products.
Space Rental:
Instead of the shop paying you for your stock you pay the shop to host your work in their space.
Starting to sound like it could get expensive?!?
Rent can vary between $20-$150 a week depending on the venue, location, amount of space and other inclusions. Often there is also a manning requirement or a consignment rate on sales as well.
This can work well for high volume brands in busy locations, it can however become expensive quickly if you are not making sales but still paying the rental.
It can also be tricky for those that do not live close enough to the store, or those with a job or children, to do their manning and restocking requirements.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“The team at Old Auction House Kyneton have been so easy to deal with and the process to become a stockist was so straight forward. Everything was all laid out clearly and once I filled in the forms I was all ready to start sending my stock. Sales are emailed at the end of the month and payment is on the same day every month. Can't wait to visit the store in person one day to drop off my stock”
- Lucy Fairlie from Fairlie Creative
Some Basic Pricing Principles
These are basic accounting principles to help makers understand what they may need to consider when deciding on their retail price of their products. They are not hard and fast rules and will not work for everyone.
Cost of Product = Materials + % Associated Expenses [Packaging, marketing, utilities etc]
Wholesale price = Cost of Product x 2
Retail Price = ( Wholesale Price x 2 ) x 1.1 [GST]
Consignment Price = ( Retail Price ) x ( 1 - Commission Rate )
NB: The below is an example. The values including commission rate and product costs are fictional.
So if my Associated Expenses were $100 for 20 products, a commission rate of 30% and my materials to create 1 product cost $12.50:
Cost of Product = $12.50 + ( $100 / 20 )
- $17.50 Cost to Make a Product
Wholesale price = 17.50 x 2
- $35 Wholesale Price of Product
Retail Price = ( 35 x 2 ) x 1.1
- $77.00 Retail Price
Consignment Price = ( $77 ) x ( 1.00 - 30% )
- $53.90 Consignment Price Paid to Brand
These prices look pretty good…but they do not tell the whole story!
If your product takes you 150 hours to create, then they need to be more expensive to make them worth your time! If they take 5 minutes maybe you don’t need 2 times cost, maybe you could do 1.5 times?
If a customer can buy the same product at the same quality from another brand for $5 retail, is there something that sets yours apart? Is there a market that will pay 15 times more for your version or is your product not commercially viable?
Pricing is hard and it can take a while to get it right, but it is really important to get it right so that you can keep on making and know that there is a market for your product and you’re being paid fairly for your work.
Please remember that these are our opinions only and are not intended as business or taxation advice and you should always speak to an accountant, the ATO, Centrelink, and Regulatory Bodies such as the ACCC, TGA, or AICIS as relevant to your business.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Since October 2020 I have been a part of this wonderful community. What a fantastic opportunity for me to showcase my eclairemakes items in this creative space! Rhain and Jo have been so supportive with great communication and payments are always on time! Thanks so much to the fabulous team at The Old Auction House.”
- Claire Willis from Eclaire Makes
