HI there are two issues here...one is an agency agreement whereby commissions tend to be 10% of contract value. This is what we charge our desginers when we are selling to Topshop and asos.com

There is normallysome wrangling over the invoice price e.g.after discount or settlement terms, what about returns and rejects and in some cases some retaileres charge suppliers a cost if there is mark down...what happens to the agents commission then? Reduced accordingly?

Some agents will want 20% and I do know some that work off 5% but thats normally a net value and high value low margins.

The other area you are disucssing is about IP. To be honest here I would have to see the garment, the labelling and the contractual terms...e.g. the retail unit sounds as though they are getting a collection that is designed by you but paid by them. This is normal if you then get a royalty or you are paid a fee for designing the collection but again I am not sure what the true situation is. The _base_ line here is are you happy about this? Can you raise the finance for you to pay for material and labour yourself and then there's no problem.

This is quite a complex problem and to be honest this is why we have the membership section to answer in detail and also have meetings 1 2 1.

Good luck - hope you can sort this out amicably.

Regards

I am a designer with a sample collection looking for an agent to sell the collection in the UK and overseas.
What percentage should I expect an agent to charge?
I also seem to have a unique situation.....
I have a retail company who are interested in acting as an agent as well as stocking a few pieces of my collection .
They will be paying for labour and materials .
They want their own label in the garments but the collection has not been specifically designed for them.
I will oversee all aspects of design and production.
I have carried the cost of producing designs, patterns , toiles and first samples as well as liasing with factories.
What percentage of wholesale price should I charge?