Under used and overlooked is the virtual inventory system that we have at FinerWorks. When you sign up for an account you have access to a valuable time saving tool which allows you to store frequently ordered prints and products so that you don’t have to upload your files and setup your prints each time you want to order them. Below I share two examples of why it is so useful for many.
Let’s take for instance Christine, one of our users. Christine is one of our frequent customers, ordering a couple times a day to have us fulfill her Etsy and Shopify orders for her art prints. She has about 20 different images she sells in several combinations of styles and sizes for framed giclee prints on fine art papers as well as canvas prints. Overall though about 10 images were her top sellers.
Recently she said that the time to setup each print every time she needed to order was taking a toll and asked us if we had any suggestions. The first question we asked was if she had taken advantage of the virtual inventory system we have. Sadly, she had overlooked this feature and had not take advantage of it. When we explained that she could save the prints she frequently ordered, she immediately started to take advantage of it. She started by uploading the images she had us print the most often and followed up by adding the print products for those images which she had us fulfill frequently.
Now whenever she has an order she just selects the appropriate product/print in her inventory and adds it to her cart. She said that when she does not have the item in her inventory yet, she adds it there before ordering it intending to eventually have all her inventory items saved.
Another, example is the marketing department of a large home developer here in the U.S. The builder is constantly adding new neighborhoods all over the country, sometimes up to 4 a month. Each time they do so, they build a model home which is also where their realtors locate their offices.
Inside those offices they will display interior signage as canvas prints with everything from company logos and slogans to a stock images displaying happy families. Total is about a dozen large canvas prints which they have us crate and ship to the model homes.
Since their marketing department does not have time to setup 12 canvas prints each time, they set them all up only once. Now they can quickly select all the prints from their virtual inventory, add them to their cart and checkout with the delivery location.
Even if you are not like Christine or a large home developer, and only place an order occasionally, there might come a time when your order volume increases, and you become just like Christine. So, taking advantage of this tool now will help a lot.
Is the virtual inventory feature for everyone? Not at this time since many of our customers do commissioned on demand prints that might be personalized and shipped to their customers. Unless they anticipate their customer will later order additional copies there is no sense to store it as an inventoried item.
There are some limitations on inventory items. Checkout the frequently asked questions below which address some of the common questions surrounding the virtual inventory.
Geo Galleries Artists
Geo Galleries sets the retail price at 3x’s the cost as of July 2022. To see the retail price as your customers would; you must be logged out of your FinerWorks account.
When someone buys one of your printed products, the order is automatically forwarded to FinerWorks for fulfillment and shipped to the buyer. Within 30 days, once the order ships, details of the order (including the buyer) will be available to you.
This can be done using your gallery’s URL. The link will look something like this
https://geogalleries.com/my_username
Make sure you replace “my_username” with your actual name.
Note: If you used to use FinerWorks old gallery, your FinerWorks gallery url now automatically redirects people to your Geo Galleries link.
FinerWorks virtual inventory is a system that allows artists and photographers to save their artwork as pre-configured products within their FinerWorks account. Instead of having to re-upload and set up a print’s specifications (like size, paper type, and framing) every time an order comes in, a virtual inventory item acts like a blueprint for a product. This streamlines the print-on-demand and order fulfillment process.
How It Works
The system is designed to simplify selling on third-party platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, WooCommerce or Etsy. Here’s a breakdown of the key steps:
- Create Virtual Inventory Items: An artist uploads their digital image to FinerWorks. They then create a virtual inventory item from this image, which involves specifying all the product details like size, print medium (e.g., giclée fine art paper, canvas), and framing options. Each virtual inventory item is assigned a unique **SKU** (Stock Keeping Unit) that begins with “AP”.
- Sync with an Online Store: The artist lists the product in their own online store (e.g., a framed print of their artwork). When they create the listing, they enter the unique SKU from FinerWorks’ virtual inventory into the SKU field of their store’s product variant.
- Order Fulfillment: When a customer purchases the product from the artist’s online store, the order is transmitted to FinerWorks through an integration app (e.g., for Shopify or Etsy). FinerWorks uses the SKU to identify the exact product from the virtual inventory and produces it on demand.
- Shipping and Branding: FinerWorks then prints, packages, and ships the product directly to the customer. The packing slip and shipping label can be customized with the artist’s name and logo, making it appear as though the order was shipped directly from them.
Key Advantages
- Efficiency: It eliminates the need for artists to manually set up each print each time they order, saving a significant amount of time, especially for those with high order volumes or who sell the same products repeatedly.
- Print on Demand: Artists don’t need to hold physical inventory. Prints are only created when an order is placed, reducing waste and financial risk.
- Integration: It connects an artist’s online storefront with FinerWorks’ fulfillment center, creating a smooth, automated workflow from sale to delivery.
Only lower resolution web versions of the images are shown. These contain a watermark which provides some protection. If you are too worried that people will copy your web viewable images, we recommend not participating in the gallery experience.
Existing FinerWorks members are given an exclusive invitation to join at no charge. In the future there will be optional priced services relating to promotion and fulfillment that artist can take advantage of.
Aside from having artistic value, the image must be a suitable print quality/resolution. It must also be properly titled, include a well written description, and be submitted to the appropriate category and assigned to a collection.
No. Buyers can only purchase printed works.
Reporting of your sales is done through the Geo Galleries reporting interface. Sales are shown after an order is shipped.
The artist will receive the difference of the retail price they set and the seller fee.
An artist may also get 10% in shared revenue on the sale of any frames, matting or glazing when ordered as part of the finished item.
Geo Galleries retains a seller fee that is based on the sale of any print. This seller fee equals what the artist would pay for any unframed printed item, plus a 10% administrative fee which is based on the cost of the unframed print or product.
For example,
For example, if an artist sets their canvas print to be priced at $200 but the cost for them to order it at Finerworks is $50, Geo Galleries would receive $50 for the print and $20 as an admin fee. The artist would receive the remaining $130.
You must have a PayPal account. Your earnings will be paid out on a monthly basis for any sales 30 days or older.
We plan to integrate a new system that will allow payment direct to your financial institution which will allow weekly payments as the platform grows. When this will happen is not set but would be announced in the newsletter.
Geo Galleries will offer a set of default print products, however if you have a set of 3 or more print products in your virtual inventory for an image, then this will be used in place of the default products.
Geo Galleries will reserve the right to adjust based upon the advice of FinerWorks when it comes to optimizing the file for printing. This will be limited to any necessary sizing and cropping adjustments or color correction as FinerWorks deems is necessary. Artists recommended adjustments may be considered however are not guaranteed.
No. You retain full ownership of your images and you may remove them at any time.
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