CONSIGNMENT · CRAFT RETAIL
Thirty pieces, fourteen months, no agreement.
A ceramicist leaves thirty pieces with a boutique. The shop sells what it sells and keeps a percentage. Nothing is signed, because the two of them are friendly and it is thirty pieces.
Fourteen months later the maker wants the unsold work back. Half of it is in a storeroom, four are broken, and neither person can say what the agreement was.
The dispute is never about the split. It is about when the shop stopped being responsible.
- What the maker counts
- What the shop can find
The gap opens in month seven and nobody sees it until month fourteen.
Fourteen months, as neither party recorded it
| Month | Event | Out | On hand | Written down |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Thirty pieces handed overCounted once, out loud, in the shop. | — | 30 | no |
| 3 | Eleven soldThe shop pays for eleven. Both are happy. | 11 | 19 | no |
| 7 | Four sold, two brokenBreakages mentioned once in a message. | 6 | 13 | no |
| 11 | Six moved to a storeroomAn internal decision. Nobody is told. | 0 | 13 | no |
| 14 | The maker asks for the restNine should be there. Seven are found. | ? | 7 / 9 | no |
There is no villain in this. There is only fourteen months of small events that nobody had a place to write down.