| ART By IRIS said
at 9:15am on December 5th, 2007 |
I've had my first sale on Boundless recently, so I've experienced the process of shipping/printing etc here.... a couple of problems I ran into: 1. I found no way of contacting the buyer - sending a message through the BG system. Eventually, when printing the order I found their email address, but this is probably not the ideal way to contact - her email server may block unknown senders and I have no way of being sure she received my email. Some people don't reply, she didn't and now I've sent important info regarding the shipment, and I wouldn't like the package to return to sender (me) because she wasn't able to read my email. 2. The Boundless Certificate of Authenticity can be improved: it is small, but mainly, contains unnecessary information. There is no need to include info that appears on the item description page on the web site - such info as shipping details etc. The COA should only include size, materials, price, that's it. I tried to edit the item description before printing the COA but any editing would not affect the COA version after a sale was made. In addition - it doesn't look good at all since it's formatted for the website and not for a printed document. That's what I can think of now, other than that everything is perfectly convenient. It may be there are solutions to these issues that I mentioned, and I may have not found them.... if so please point them out to me, thanks! |
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| Sally Trace said
at 9:39am on December 5th, 2007 |
I very much agree on the COA, it should not have the web address printed on the bottom, it's very tacky. Is a PDF possible? |
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| Sally Trace said
at 9:41am on December 5th, 2007 |
And yes too, please put an option to contact the buyer through Boundless. Communication is essential for happy customers. |
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| ART By IRIS said
at 10:34am on December 5th, 2007 |
Thanks Sally, other things I would like to be able to edit are: title of the piece - isn't necessarily same as title of boundless listing; artist name - I'd like my full name on the certificate - though on the website not (at least not at this point). |
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| Abstract Art By Sharon Cummings said
at 10:39am on December 5th, 2007 |
I agree that contact with the customer should be available thru BG. One time I absolutely HAD to contact a buyer. So I called them on the phone. Email didnt get thru. I hated cold calling like that, but it was important. Hubby accidently packaged 2 pieces from a 3 piece set.
Yes.
COA should be improved. It pretty much stinks. Sorry guys...but it looks a bit cheesy IMO. All that nonsense from the listing....the web address.
The COA's that I print on my own has the picture of the painting centered at the top and then under that it has Title, size,media,value,collectors name, collectors address, date of sale and then a line for my signature with my name under it |
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| ART By IRIS said
at 3:41pm on December 5th, 2007 |
Sharon, I also produce my own COA, but I don't print collectors name in it, I don't think it's necessary! For that there is an attached invoice on a different piece of paper. The reason I think so is what if that person decides to sell your painting sometime in the future (hopefully the value will go up so they'll be able to sell it for more than what they paid!) there will be another owner, so the COA shouldn't be attached to a certain buyer. I also add the estimated gallery value, which is higher than the price they paid to buy it online and not in a brick and mortar gallery (which at least doubles the price of an artwork with commission - as we know). I don't write the price they paid on the COA - it's only in the invoice. |
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| Abstract Art By Sharon Cummings said
at 4:06pm on December 5th, 2007 |
My opinion is that a COA is just a "fell good" thing for the buyer. It should look good and not cheesy. But the value of a painting is a moot point unless you are famous. Most of my buyers want a COA for insurance purposes and it doesnt matter what "value" you put on a COA insurance isnt going to pay that. They will want a receipt. So I just put what they paid for it. I explain it to them too...so they know. |
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| A D Ashley Dietrich said
at 5:19pm on December 5th, 2007 |
That sounds reasonable. I recently made my first sale as well, and took the opportunity to edit the boundless certificate a little. For instance, I deleted the shipment info and added a little more about the piece. I send my buyers the artist statement and COA in a clear folder with my business card, asking them to refer a friend and offering 10% off their next purchase with my coupon code. We'll see if it helps! |
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| Luke Terpstra said
at 6:03pm on December 5th, 2007 |
"I send my buyers the artist statement and COA in a clear folder with my business card, asking them to refer a friend and offering 10% off their next purchase with my coupon code." Thats great Ashley!
To be honest I don't even know what our COA looks like. I think they were implemented before I started. We've got a huge list right now, but I'll add correcting those to it. And congrats on the sales! |
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| ART By IRIS said
at 8:14pm on December 5th, 2007 |
Ashly, how did you edit the Boundless COA? It looks to me like an uneditable file. I would certainly edit it if I could, but I couldn't, that's what this thread is about.... |
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