SWF Artisan FAQ 2021

Contacts

Polly - Founder, editor@selvedge.org
Ronja - Products & Artisan profiles, projects@selvedge.org
Catherine - Talks, Workshops and demonstration videos, events@selvedge.org
Eleanor - Public Relations, blog@selvedge.org

The event timing is expressed  in BST 

Time zone converter https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/

Artisan Whatsapp Group, click link to join: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Ks9qVZFlvybIWCS8zOdUvc

*More information will be added to this page regularly*

POLLY LEONARD:

OPPORTUNITIES OF THE WORLD FAIR

We are extremely disappointed not to be able to welcome you all to London this September. The pandemic has provided both challenges and opportunities and I hope the Virtual World Fair will make the most of the opportunities. 

The customers are not restricted to those able to travel to London. The event will attract a significant number of additional customers from around the world. The 2020 online event enjoyed 21,843 visitors over the three days, and we are hoping to double that number this year. You, the exhibitors will not be tied to your exhibition stands and have the opportunity to tell your story and engage with a wider audience, therefore the potential for sales is far greater.

The biggest challenge we face is shipping the products you sell to the customer.  However as this is the second time we have hosted an online event we now know what works and what does not

 

FAIR OPENING TIMES & DEADLINES
The fair is open 3-5 September 2020. All times will be announced in BST (British Summer Time, London, UK). 

Thursday 3 September 6pm BST: shopping and the start of the live streamed slow TV experience from Bujodi, a weaving village in Northern India. 

Friday 4 September, 10am - 7pm BST: talks/workshops programme. 

Saturday 5 September, 10-5pm BST (event closes 6 pm BST): talks/workshops.

How will you market the Selvedge World Fair? 
We have already started marketing the event via social media channels, through the magazine and on the website and blog. Kate Grinnell (blog@selvedge.org) is handling the PR for the event and may have already been in touch with you. We have set up a campaign for you to follow and will have a meeting about it in the middle of August. Please complete the form here with your Instagram and Facebook name. If you don't have one it would be great if you could set up an Instagram account ahead of time. We would love it if you could all follow each other and promote each other's work.

CUSTOMER DISCLAIMER 
The event is password protected, and the following disclaimer will be presented to the customers prior to entering the event pages. The limitation of the Selvedge World Fair  

Selvedge provides a venue for buyers to discover and purchase unique goods from sellers around the world. It is important to note that Selvedge is not a part of any transaction. 

By shopping at the Selvedge World Fair you understand that:

1. You are not buying directly from Selvedge but from one of the many talented Artisan exhibitors and your contract is with the exhibitor.
2. Many of the exhibiting Artisans rely upon the income generated by sales to support their day to day existence and it is therefore not possible to offer refunds or exchanges and all sales are final. This does not affect your statutory rights.
3. Selvedge does not guarantee or endorse any items sold at The Selvedge World Fair.
4. Each Artisan exhibitor works within their own particular circumstances and dispatch times will vary and are displayed on each product page. 
5. All prices include shipping and are calculated based on your geo-location. We request you turn off your VPN while browsing to ensure that the correct geo-location is recorded this could adversely affect the prices you see and ultimately pay including the shipping and could lead to you incurring charges from your bank or credit card provider.
6. If you wish to have a product shipped to a different location other than the one you have used to place the order, we request you contact us by email customerservice@selvedge.org to receive a quote for shipping. 
7. All packages are shipped on an insured trackable service via either FedEx or DHL. Any customs duties, etc. are the responsibility of the customer.

MONEY / AGREEMENTS / PAYMENTS
Is there an agreement we need to sign? The artisan agreement is currently being reviewed by our lawyer and will be sent to you in the coming days.

How much does it cost to participate? There are no costs for exhibitors to participate in the Selvedge World Fair. This is an important part of the philosophy of the event. Financial circumstances should not inhibit participation.

What percentage of sales is taken by Selvedge? Selvedge takes a 25% commission plus 2.5% credit card fee on the sale price. 

How is the retail price of the products calculated? 
The artisan decides how much they need to make from the sale, this should include any costs incurred for packaging material and the time involved in packaging their products.

Plus Selvedge commission 25% on the sale price

Plus credit card fee 2.5% on the sale price

We are concerned that 25% is high, won’t this make the sale price expensive for clients?
The commission covers only a fraction of the expenses incurred by Selvedge in setting up the event. Unfortunately, we cannot reduce the commission but it is completely up to you to take part. The World Fair is not only about the sales but exposure for your craft and may open other selling and promotional opportunities for you. Any profit generated will be used to fund the live event in 2021.  

What will happen to any unsold items?
Any unsold items may remain on the Selvedge website with open access until 31st August 2021. This is at the artisan’s discretion.

What is the currency of the event? Pound sterling £

If a customer orders two or more items from the same artisan there will be a discrepancy between the conservatively estimated shipping rate and the actual shipping rate. How will this be handled?
The Selvedge World Fair is a non-profit venture for Selvedge. We don't have the facilities to adjust prices in these circumstances, but any discrepancies in our favour will be used to cover the expenses involved in hosting the 2021 event. 

PAYMENTS

How does it work?

1.  Selvedge receives an order. The customer has paid for the product and shipping.
2. We send this order to your registered email address.
3. You either make the product or package it if you have stock. (Indicate lead time?).
4. You will ship the product to the customer (using the Selvedge FedEx or DHL account).
5. You will pay no fee at the point of dispatch.
6. Once the order has been shipped you will receive a shipping receipt.
7. You must then send a PayPal invoice to founder@selvedge.org (you need to set up a Paypal account ahead of time).

Your invoice must detail:

• Sale price of the product 
• Selvedge order number
• Your name and address
• Description of the product and SKU (you can find this on the order)
• Deduct 25% Selvedge commission from the sale price
• Deduct 2.5% credit card fees from the sale price
• Deduct the shipping cost - You will find this on the shipping invoice.
• You will then be left with the amount due to you. Then make a payment request to founder@selvedge.org with the invoice and shipping receipt attached. 
• Your invoice will be paid on receipt directly into your PayPal account, the money usually arrives within a few seconds. Please note we work, 9-5 BST. 

How will I be paid for the products I sell? Orders received on the selvedge website will be forwarded directly to you by email.  Please make sure we have one email address as your point of contact. This should be the one registered to your Paypal account.

Can payments for goods sold be transferred through Transferwise, or Western Union? 
Paypal is our preferred method of payment as it is a one-click process and automatically reconciles the payment with the invoice and Selvedge order no. Transferwise or Western Union is possible, but only if you provide your details to events@selvedge.org by 31 July 2020. In this case, we can make only one cumulative payment for all products sold at the event, rather than individual payments for each product sold. It is a bit more complicated and you have to do a bit more leg work. We are not able to pay until all orders have been shipped.

SHIPPING / ORDERS

How quickly do I have to dispatch my products after the order is received? The dispatch schedule will depend on your circumstances. Some artisans will have products in stock while others will make to order which may take several months  - either is acceptable so long as this is included in the product description.

Is it possible to send orders and correspondence to an agent as well as the artisan? The E-commerce system we use only allows us to send orders to one email address. 

Who pays for shipping? Shipping costs are paid by the customer. When an order is sent to an artisan Selvedge has already received payment for the products and the shipping.  

How will the shipping costs be handled? The preferred method of shipping is by the Selvedge FedEx or DHL accounts or on an Insured International tracked service. 

PLEASE NOTE: It is the artisans’ responsibility to ensure their goods can be shipped internationally, please note some countries have import restrictions, it is your responsibility to ensure that your goods comply with these regulations. If this is not the case, please let us know and we will exclude your goods from customers shopping in that region.

Discounted rates for shipping?
You may or may not have existing discounted shipping channels set up. Selvedge is new to this and currently negotiating discounts. If it is not too much work I suggest you check both the rates on the Selvedge account and your own rates and go with the least expensive. It is an important part of the event’s philosophy that the artists we work with should not bear any initial costs, and that individual financial circumstances should not be a barrier to participation. However, we are flexible and if it makes economic sense for you to use your existing shipping channels, please adjust the invoice you send to Selvedge to include the shipping accordingly. We also request you grant Selvedge access to the account so we too can track the shipments if necessary. 

Who pays for duty / claims? Please ensure you use an insured, trackable service where the customer is responsible for all duties. Claims are the responsibility of the customer.

How is the shipping price calculated? Selvedge enjoys a worldwide customer base and you must calculate the shipping cost for each of the 6 continents we ship to:

Europe 
South America
North America
Africa
Asia 
Australasia

Each one of your 10 products must be weighed with their packaging and measured.  

(size and weight both affect shipping rates). Please log onto the FedEx or DHL website input your data and record the rate for each of the 6 continents for each of your 10 products.

What do you mean by 6 different prices? 
You will submit 6 different prices for each one of your products. The prices will be calculated by adding the sale price to the shipping price for each region.

For example the price for a scarf made by an artisan in Asia might be £100.

For a customer based in Europe, the shipping cost could be £50. The European sale price is then £150.

For a customer based in Africa, the shipping cost could be £75. The African sale price is then £175.

What about variation on shipping rates within a single continent? Here you can choose to go with either the most expensive to ensure you don't lose out  based on a customers location, or choose an average and take a gamble of coming out even in the end. Either is fine and up to you.

If we are shipping through the Selvedge account, how will we be able to show the documents to the bank for international commercial shipping as the parcel will be sent directly to customers and the payment we receive will be from selvedge? I am not sure I entirely understand this question- could you contact me directly. You will receive a copy of all shipping documents when your parcel is accepted by the shipping company.

Do you offer discounts on the products listed for sale? After consultation with our artisans we have decided not to offer discounts. Please note this is a change to our previously published document. 

How will we be able to ship through a selvedge shipping account? What is the procedure for it? We will send a template to show you how to complete the shipping documents and where to add the Selvedge account number. 

RONJA BROWN

What I will be doing: I will be listing all artisan products and profiles on the website. Each artisan will have a dedicated page on the website to tell your story: photographs, video demonstrations, articles, products for sale.

What images do you require for the artisan profile? A portrait image of the artisan(s) and making images. Our readers and followers will want to know as much as they can about your work. The more images, the better! ALSO social media handles.

What else is required for the profile? If you have any other material, such as press features/coverage please do send them over. Also something else that I forgot to mention last week; your social media handles if you have any. 

What should the portrait image look like? I will include samples on the FAQ page, which will be listed in the list of links sent after the meeting. 

Do I need to send the products to London? Important note about the products: you do not need to send any products to us. Just the materials needed for them to be listed for sale on website. 

How will the products be sold? The products will be sold on our website on dedicated artisan shopping pages. I can put a link in the FAQ page so you can have a look. 

Is it wholesale or retail? Only retail. At next year's live event there is an opportunity for wholesale, but for the virtual event this year it will only be retail.

Detailing the process of sale: Artisans need to send in product images, descriptions and details to projects@selvedge.org. Once I have received all the necessary information I will then list the product on the Selvedge website. Customers will visit the site and purchase the product. Then we will pass on the order to the artisan for fulfilment. 

I have very costly handwoven silk dresses and also more affordable hand sewn blouses, price ranges from £230 - £1200 ( including all costs). Shall I include more affordable products or also the more costly one have good chances to sell?  We are not able to advise you on what will and will not sell. That decision has to be made by the artisan.

Do we send you the products to Selvedge? No. We need the images, product description and details such as measurements and dispatch times. I will be sending a template which will list all the details we require from you IN ORDER for the items to be listed on the website.

What are the details you require? Measurements in CM, weight in KG (must include the weight of packaging), materials, technique, country of origin, size, name of the maker, a price for each shipping region (Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Australasia, Asia).

ALL information must be submitted using the provided product listing template. You can find the template here

What images do you require for the products? Each product should have one overall image so you can clearly see what the product is, a detailed image to show texture/pattern/embroidery etc, as well as a styled image. The more images, the better.

How should the photos be taken? The products should be photographed against a light background. Textiles shouldn’t have creases or stains (steam beforehand). The images should be of high quality (resolution). Take into consideration images will be cropped square.

I don’t have images taken by a photographer, is that a problem? No, as long as you follow the instructions listed above, even photos that have been taken with a smartphone. Same applies for photos you might already have.

I already have photographs, can I use them? Yes, as long as the requirements listed above are met. 

What about copyright for the images I sent to you? By sending images to selvedge you agree to allow Selvedge to use the image to promote the event both within our own channels and to supply these images to outside media contacts.

Do we have to have the products in stock or can we make things to order? You can list products that you have already made that you have in stock or alternatively make to order or even a mix of both. It is up to you but whatever the case may be, this information must be included in the product description so the customer knows how long they will have to wait to receive the order.

How many products can artisans list? You can have up to 10 different products (variations) but you can also list fewer than that. Each style/product type/colourway will be counted as a separate product.

How many products can I sell? You can sell as many products as you like. You can sell a million, but each product  i.e. red scarf will have its own listing. You can have only ten listings. So you can sell 1000 red scarves.

How much stock do you require? You can have one-off items or as many as you have or are prepared to make, as long as there are only 10 different types of products.

Can we also include handmade artisanal jewels and bags among the ten listed products? The event is focused on textiles and you can only sell textile products. So if the jewellery is made of textiles yes and if it is made of gold no. The same goes for the bags. We class leather as a textile product. 

What products can artisans list? We have received enquiries about which products you should sell. We cannot make the selection for you, which items you want to sell is up to you, as long as the number of different products does not exceed 10. 

Different image and price, then listed as a separate product. 

If the image and price are the same e.g. blue jacket in 4 sizes, that will be listed together as one product.

[you might have to reiterate the above in different ways]

What is the deadline for product images, descriptions etc? The deadline is 31 July. Any data sent after this date will not be listed on the website.

Where is the audience and shoppers based? Our audience is international, from all over the world. 

How long will the products be on the website? The products must stay on the website during the event from Thursday 3rd September - Saturday 5th September. After that, the choice is yours: unsold items can remain on the site until August 2021 or we can remove them.

CATHERINE HARRIS 

My role: during the Selvedge World Fair 2020, I will be responsible for putting together the events programme. Today is the last day to send your workshop and talk proposals. Please continue to send me the 2 min demonstration videos of your making process which can be shot on a phone as Selvedge will edit them. If your video is not ready by today, you can send it to us by the 31 July 2020.  

CONTENT
We are working hard to offer an opportunity for every participant to engage with our customers and to tell their story. I hope you all find one that will work for you. Please feel free to apply for more than one, although we are keen for everyone to participate and we will ensure everyone has one slot before allocating additional slots to particular exhibitors.

All our content is conducted in English, however, we are happy for you to have the assistance of a translator. We will have a small number of volunteer translators who will be able to help so please do let us know if you need a translator for a specific event you are part of. However, we cannot guarantee a translator for every event and for every language spoken.

All our events will be organised in BST (British Summer Time, London, UK) so please convert times to where you are located in the world. You can use this time converter to help you: https://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/

WORKSHOPS 
Workshops will be charged at £50 per person, excluding materials. This fee will cover Selvedge’s expenses incurred for hosting the event. For those we have requested to prepare material packs, these will be an optional purchase for people attending the workshop and they will be sold separately. These will be handled in exactly the same way as product sales; the price is set by the artisans, Selvedge takes 25% commission and 2.5% credit card fee and they are shipped internationally.

We are not able to offer a fee to those hosting workshops but all the profits will go towards next year's Selvedge World Fair.

We have a schedule of workshops happening throughout Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September. We have three slots - a morning, mid-morning and afternoon slot. There will be 4 workshops happening simultaneously at each of these slots so there are a total of 24 workshops across the two days. A member of the Selvedge team will host your workshop on Zoom and offer technical assistance as necessary.  

Translators: we have a limited number of volunteer translators. Please let me know if this is something you need.

CHAT ROOM
We will be hosting a chat room on our website for the duration of the event. The chat room will be an instant messaging platform which will offer those attending the fair an opportunity to ask you questions about you and your craft and you can speak in more detail about your work. Customers may also ask questions about your products. The chatroom is in English, but you are welcome to contribute in your own language, with a translator to translate your comments into English. 

All questions you will receive and your answers will be typed via the chat room function that will be live on our website for the duration of the fair. The chat room is live and slots are 30 minutes long and will start from Thursday evening, through to Saturday. There are 28 slots available. Please book your slot here 

TALKS
Live talks on a specific topic, 1 hour in duration with a group of 3 speakers. We have been in touch with everyone who we would like to participate in the talk programme but do let us know if you are still interested in taking part.

We have an international audience, all talks will be recorded for visitors in different time zones.

Show and Tell
5 min pre-recorded zoom round table discussions. We will curate a group of participants who will work together to discuss a particular question chosen by the host. Each member of the group will have five minutes to show a piece of their work and tell their story. There will then be time for a discussion at the end.

We have 8 Spanish speaking slots, with a translator.
We have 8 French Speaking slots, with a translator.
We have 24 English speaking slots.

Please sign-up here

PODCASTS
Pre-recorded interviews that will be released during the event. We have 15 slots available for English speakers or artisans with translators (if you would like to take part, but need a translator please let us know) at events@selvedge.org

INSTAGRAM LIVE
30 min interviews
3 slots available - please sign-up on the google sheet here

OTHER EVENTS
Other elements of  the programme include demonstration videos (many of you have sent this already). 2 x keynote lectures and a supper quiz. We will also ask our audience to vote for their favourite artisan (we have a great prize for the winner) and a slow TV  experience.

ZOOM ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS
Polly is available for a one to one zoom chat next week, the 20-24 July. There has been some confusion about how to book one-to-one Zoom sessions with Polly. Please enter your name and organisation in the time slot that you would like to have a session. I check the document at the beginning of every day and will send you a Zoom invitation for your one-to-one slot. To ensure I don’t miss the booking, please make your booking a least 24 hours in advance. I will be sending the spreadsheet to book a session later this evening: here. It is essential to book these in advance.

Q&A
We will have another Q&A when we have a number of enquiries.  If you have any further questions, please can you submit them via the Google Form that we will share a link to after this session. 

POLLY LEONARD
Thank you for joining us. Please urgently fill out the form here regarding shipping as this will determine whether you can take part in the event.