Before you Sign That Beadwork Sales Contract

You are a beadwork artist. You create bead patterns, make beading kits, and teach beading classes. You also design and bead a line of jewelry that is your "signature" line, it is unique and has been selling in department stores now for a couple of years. Then, there's the more intricate seed bead work you do on commission through a gallery, and the department stores have asked you to create a line of slightly lower-end "ready to wear" pieces based on your signature line.

Last year, you ventured into mixed media and have since been creating a new line of jewelry; an edgy, complex line of wearables that are selling madly through a gallery and two exclusive boutiques. The department stores are going to add some of these pieces and sell them in the upscale designer boutique upstairs; the one with its own separate accessories, jewelry, cosmetics and fragrance counters. Now, another group of galleries located in several states has contacted you, asking you to design some exclusive pieces for a "deconstruct/reconstruct" show. You're so excited about this offer that you've ben watching Mad Max on DVD (Director's Cut) and old Billy Idol videos while taking copious notes.

Meanwhile you are selling your work on line, not from your own site, but through third-party sellers such as eBay, Etsy, Buy the Kit and Ready to Bead?. You are negotiating with Ann Benson for placement of your kits on her highly-regarded Beads East site, and your patterns already sell briskly on Bead-Patterns.com.

Today, you receive an email from a former eBay buyer, a repeat buyer, one who has bid generously and bid often on the items she wanted. She pays immediately, there was never once a problem with a payment, and she always left the best feedback. She has been, in short, a terrific customer.

In fact, you might even call her a bit of a "fan" as she also buys regularly from your Etsy shop, she snapped up a "Challenge" piece you made for a fundraiser, has big on and won quite a few things from your Justbeads auctions, and even got into a bidding war on eBay and lost to an auto sniper. The piece ended up selling for a whole lot more than you had ever expected.

Now, for the first time, she has contacted you to ask for some custom work, major custom work. Wedding jewelry work, in fact, for her daughter's wedding. The Bride will wear the family pearls, of course, but the bridal party will need jewelry to match gowns, there are many "thank you" gifts to be made, custom pieces for the client, her mother, her sisters, sisters in law, the groom's mother, her sisters, and their daughters. Best of all, she's giving you "creative control" and is not going to expect you to work within any sort of Bridezilla confines.

Of course, you are already typing an enthusiastic YES! when it hits you; this may not be ethical, and may even be illegal. Because this buyer originally found you via a third party, and since she has always conducted business via one or the other of your third-party revenue streams, are you obligated to that third party in this transaction?

Some say that, ethically, you should ask the buyer to choose what she things would be the appropriate venue, and then have the sale go through that venue, in order for them to get their percentage of the sale. Since she's always purchased through a third party, it would be the right thing to do.

That's nonsense, of course, or is it? Would that be the right thing to do? Maybe. But because you have so many other new things going on, you had better check over each and every contract you've signed so far, and make sure that you are allowed, contractually, to create these pieces and to complete this sale.

In most cases, for most beaders, this type of transaction isn't going to pose a problem. In most cases, if you are contracted by a new or repeat buyer with a request for custom work, you are not obligated to share the profit with anyone. You may create, sell, give, trade, or otherwise dispense your artwork any way you choose, as long as you are dealing with most third-party selling facilities.

In the case of a contract, though, things might be very different indeed. If you are under contract with an agent, a sales representative, a gallery, or with a retail store, and that contract states that you may not sell, trade, give, or even show, any of your new work (or in some cases reproductions of past work) to anyone without the contractor's prior written consent. They may even be entitled to a percentage of the profits from the sale, if they choose to allow you to make the item and complete the sale.

Generally, the contracting agency has what is called the "right of first refusal" giving them the right to see what you plan to design, in detail (though you aren't usually required to actually construct the piece) and give them time to review the work before they make a choice whether they want it, or if you may use it for your private sale. And yes, if they like it, they may take control of the design and they then own it, and can do what they want with it, according to the terms of the contract.

Of course, these are usually only larger, exclusive contracts that are this particular and guarded about their artist's creations. Most local gallery contracts, small boutiques, etc. will either include a clause allowing custom orders to be completed, some totally free of obligation to the contractor, some requiring notification and a small percentage of the fee. If yours does, be sure to take that into account when quoting your fees.

The main point, of course, is the fine print. Contracts should never be signed until you have read, and you understand, all of the points covered. If there is anything in a contract that is not crystal-clear to you, have it explained. Best of all, go over the contract with your own attorney, or find a legal service that will do this for a small fee. Check your local directory or art guilds in your area for a referral.