Selling my work as her own

[rlkalltheway]

I had a lady approach me in regards to selling custom made jewellery that I make from home. I have been making and selling these for quite sometime but it never really appealed to me to go to markets and sit all day waiting for sales. She already has her own business which is different to mine but she does markets each weekend and asked if she can sell my items and the idea was a 60/40 split 60 for me 40 for her but she was able to mark the price up a bit and it ended up being more in her favour than mine, which didn't worry me too much . The problem is I sent her heaps of my items to use as advertising for what I do and so people could see the sort of things I make on the provision that anything that sold of those I got 50% of what she got for them . All went well for a while but she slipped up and let me know that she had sold some of the display pieces I had sent her but I never received any money for those and now it looks like she is using my pieces to advertise work she is going to do herself and cut me out completely.
I found out she had done something similar in the past to someone else she got into business with and used pieces she didn't make herself as advertising for things she was going to make on her Facebook page as well as at the markets and that that lady was threatening legal action. When she was telling me this she told me that as she had bought this other ladies work she was allowed to do with it whatever she liked with it and was within her rights to use it at the markets and on fb. As it looks like its all going the same way with me I'm wondering where I stand? Is she within her rights to use my stuff to sell her own?

[davewil1964]

It depends on many things.

Do you have a written contract? If not, then you could be on shaky ground.

Did she actually purchase the display items? If not then they are on consignment and still belong to you, so she owes you money for the ones she sold.

Is there any way to identify your pieces as yours? If so, then you can probably take legal action, if your pockets are deep enough.

I would demand my monies owing and return of any stock she has, and cut all ties with her. I doubt she intends to manufacture herself; she probably wants to take the credit for your work. And has probably been doing so at the markets already.

[digital*ghost]

I'm not sure I have a full grasp on the situation, or how the other person is using your jewellery, but AFAIK, original designs are protected by copyright (if you can prove they're original and yours), so if she is using your pieces and making / selling them herself, you could have some recourse there (and if she has made / sold any copies, you may be entitled to a portion of the profits if you can prove yourself the copyright holder of the designs). She would be misrepresenting your (and her) work if she is using images of other people's work to advertise her business, but I don't know enough about what can be done officially to give any advice other than recommending that you consult a legal professional. 

Copyright issues aside, if she owes you money or still has items and won't cough them up, small claims court may be an option to try and get any money owing for pieces that were sold.

[thecatspjs]

A contract does not have to written down to be enforceable, however proving the details of handshake agreements can be a little more difficult.

I would definitely get some legal advice, there are a range of free legal advice services, which vary in each state (suggest google) the support they offer is usually quite limited, but I reckon worth touching base with to get some basic advice about your overall position in relation to this trading  partnership.

[rlkalltheway]

Yes they were all on consignment , she was to pay me half when they sold. I took photos of everything I've sent her and I'm wondering if I should pop up at one of these markets and see what she is actually up to. From the look of her fb page she is already manufacturing her own pieces and She has had my stock for several weeks but claims only one piece of mine has sold but that was the piece she slipped up on,when she asked me to repair a piece that when a customer she sold it too got it snagged on something and it broke, it became apparant that the buyer had had it for a while and i had recieved no payment for it until she had to admit to me it had sold. All of our dealings have been in writing thru email , very few of our interactions have been in person or on the phone and even then I made sure I clarified what was said thru email.

[rlkalltheway]

I'm concerned she has sold more of my work than she claims and that she is misrepresenting her work by claiming the work I have done is work she has done and then using those pieces to sell her own work. I've only been to one of her markets in the beginning to see how she was set up.

[glenbankloel]

I would send in a friend to check her out, get her talking on how "she made it all" and how they are all her designs, get your friend to buy something, then go back to her stall with your friend and confront her and take all your stuff off her stall. Another way is, as you have taken photos of all the items that you gave her, just go to her and announce that you are doing a stocktake or audit of your items for tax purposes, and a quality check to make sure that they are all still suitable for sale "after all that handling" just so that you can give her the best possible quality and the fact that you are about to release some new designs. And that you will return them as you go through them. This might be less confrontational for you. Then after a couple of days if you haven't already done so, terminate the agreement. Just be a bit creative with your blurb. Luckily not everyone is a rip off merchant and if you enter into something like this again can you "tag" your items somehow? Have your intials or business name engraved onto the back, and produce a swing tag attached to the item with your information, and some advertising blurb on it. People love home crafted and "made in Australia" items, and maybe you have some other unique point of difference that you can promote. You probably work way way too hard to have someone else either taking the credit,  copying, and not paying you. I always admire people who can make things themselves, best wishes and good luck, and don't give up, there are good people out there too.      

[retailtherapist_8]

If it was me I would take all my stock back and charge her your percentage for any missing unpaid pieces. IMMEDIATELY. No good is going to come from doing business with someone like this. 

Is she insured? Are you insured for the pieces you consigned to her?

If not then as I said I would just take eveything back and cut my losses. I really feel for you, Artisans are often taken advantage of by unscrupulous vultures like this woman.

I also wish you much luck going forward. 

[fourandsixpants]

I agree with retail therapist. Get your pieces and money due back IMMEDIATELY. No 'ifs' and 'buts'. Take a friend/witness with you and do this at her market stall- a large, imposing friend, preferably male:) Refuse to leave/stand in front of their stall/sales items until you have all your pieces/money due back.

Giving any seller your items  'On Consignment' for an unspecified period of time and without any written paperwork is asking for trouble.

A simple itemised & dated receipt written by yourself at the time.Include a 'damage to stock' clause and a 'stop' date e.g. for 6 weeks time from receipt date-along with a designated/agreed upon 'meet point' for a handover(write this in), write the sellers full name, address and contact details,hand to the potential seller to sign also, make sure in TRIPLICATE-give seller a copy, you keep 2 copies.

To keep the seller on their toes you should make the effort to go to a couple of their market days and make an appearance. The aim is to build a business relationship but also lets the seller know that you are serious about keeping tabs on your stock!

If this first 6 week period works for both seller and yourself repeat the process with a further receipt and follow-ups.

On Consignment can work but you have to set the parameters, afterall, the seller is getting FREE stock.