Let's talk crazy business women, shall we?

A few days ago, a friend of mine sent me an email letting me know that the Playhouse Cafe in Lemoyne was looking for handmade goods to sell in their cafe. I've never been there yet (although now, probably never), but it's a play place and coffee house all rolled into one. Great concept, but run by a woman that I can only guess is smoking crack. Her "offer" was a 50/50 consignment.

Well shit, yo. I can buy fabric and hardware, spend hours creating things in my basement sweatshop, and then SHARE 1/2 THE PROFITS WITH A CRAZY LADY I DON'T KNOW. Golly gee, where do I sign up?

Seriously. SERIOUSLY?!?! I personally have a hard time making a 50% profit on items when I can keep all the money myself. I don't give a rat's ass what her overhead is to run her cafe (which is IT'S OWN BUSINESS that has nothing to do with selling a few retail items). She's not even a store! These aren't my children's old used toys, these are brand new items. And what happens when some snotty redneck kid, whose mother is too busy texting on the phone she can't afford to watch them, gets jelly all over my stuff? Then it's worth NOTHING. What then?

W.T.F.

I get that larger retailers work on a consignment principle. When the store gets paid, the manufacturer/distributor gets paid. But here's the thing, I'M NOT TARGET OR FISHER PRICE.

Geez.

Isn't she even the slightest bit embarrassed to offer such a deal? I can rent 5 shelves at a STORE devoted entirely to antiques and crafts for $40/month. That's what she wants to get paid to sell about 1 1/2 items.

Smokin'.crack.

Here was what she wrote:
"I do 50/50, I pay the sales tax on the products if there is any, and I don't put a limit on the amount of time your products stay at the cafe. I just require a display and signage system of some sort for your products. "

My response:
"Thank you for getting back to me. Unfortunately, I have tried consignment in the past, and ended up losing more money than I made. When I factor in materials and labor on my end, making only 50% on my own custom items just doesn't make much sense to me."

Call me a bitch, but whatever. She would end up making more money on my items than I would. I could understand an 80/20 TOPS. And in the past, I've been more than willing to sell a "lot" of items together at a discount. As long as I'm still making a decent profit for my time and investment, someone can resell my items for as much as they can get someone to pay for them. I just still need to make a profit for MYSELF, or else what's the point? People are so incredibly greedy. If she would have just given up a little bit of the crazy amount she expected, she still could have had a sweet deal.

Oh well, not my problem. I'm still making money without her help, so it doesn't matter to me!
:-)