the gallery that wanted me to ship insured but wouldn't say for how much
just got an email from a gallery i was excited about, they want me to ship insured, but when i asked what value they want me to declare, they said "whatever you think is appropriate." like that's not how insurance works??
i'm pretty sure i already know the answer here but i'd love to be wrong, is this normal? did i just dodge a bullet or am i being paranoid?
for context my last gallery experience was the one that strung me along for six months and then ghosted, so my radar could be off.
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Ugh. "Whatever you think is appropriate" is not a thing. Insurance is a specific contract between you, the gallery, and the carrier, if you under-declare and something happens, you're the one who loses. If they won't tell you what they're covering, they're asking you to bear the risk while they take none.
I've dealt with a few European galleries on shipping and the ones who know what they're doing either insure it themselves or tell you the exact figure. This vagueness thing usually means they don't want to commit to a number because they don't want the responsibility.
Your radar's probably fine. Could be amateur hour, could be someone hoping you'll undervalue your own work so they don't have to think about it. Either way not great.
Exactly. It's not even about trust at that point, it's just... they don't want to put a number on paper. Which tells you everything.
I had a gallery once ask me to insure for "the market value" and when I pressed for a number they said "well that's for you to determine." I ended up not sending the work. Never regretted it.
Your radar sounds fine to me. The right ones make this part simple.
yeah "market value" with no follow-up is the same trick dressed up nicer. they know what they're doing.
and yeah. the right ones don't make you play these games in the first place. appreciate you saying that.
yeah that's pretty much what i was thinking. the "whatever you think" bugged me more than if they'd just lowballed a number, honestly. at least then i'd know where i stood.
appreciate the sanity check. the last one really did a number on my gut for this stuff.