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Setup options for new Products


Read the information below before entering your products to decide which is the right way to set up each of your products. In most cases, products are usually Art Centre Purchase and GST applies.

There are currently 2 set up options for entering products in SAM Art Centre Purchase or Artist Commission.

  1. AC Purchase - This is for products that are owned by the Art Centre at the time of sale. The customer is buying the product from the Art centre, not the artist. The artist is paid a royalty or licence fee payment for their contribution to the product. Either a lump sum upfront or per unit.

    GST is charged on these products.

    If there is an artist payment associated with the product it is a licence or royalty fee, NOT a commission.

    Example A - the art centre pays a licence or royalty fee (usually per unit) to an artist to use their artwork on a product like a water bottle, t-shirt, or hat and has had the product manufactured. The Art centre pays for the manufacturing.

    Example B - Art centre has products they sell which they produced or purchased like books, dvds, t-shirts/merch product that doesn’t feature an atwork and therefore doesn’t have an artist payment linked to it.

    Example C – Sale of a product the Art centre has purchased wholesale to on sell. Eg. A collaboration/licensing agreement with a third party brand (eg.myer, kip and co). The third party has already paid the artist/art centre a licensing fee upfront prior to production. They then manufacture and pay for the product to be made. As part of the agreement the Art centre may have arranged to purchase stock at a discount price (wholesale) so they can on sell the product from their art centre. In this instance the artist has already been paid, so the Art centre sells the product without paying the artist anything further, as the artist has received payment and the art centre has purchased the stock.

    Example D – Woven earrings. An artist who works from home, brings in 12 pairs of woven earrings. The art centre buys the earrings from the artist at the time of receiving the stock. The art centre now owns the stock and sells the product.


  2. Artist Commission – this is for products owned by the Artist until they are sold. This is the same arrangement most art centres have with their artists to sell Artworks. The Art centre acts as the artists agent and sells it on their behalf, taking a commission from the sale, in the same way they do when an artwork is sold. This means GST is not charged on the sale (unless the artist is registered to pay GST). The reason is because the sale is between the artist and the customer, and the art centre takes a commission on that sale. The artist receives their payment for the sale when the work sells. How much they receive is based on the commission rate split set in Admin settings. If more than one artist is attached to the product the commission is then split between the artists.

    Example A – A hand crafted product, such as small woven basket, or earrings, carved boab nut, hand printed textiles that the artist makes multiples of, and typically the item is of a lower value. In this instance it is better to enter it as a product, so stock can be added, rather than cataloguing individually as artworks. The artist is not paid until the product is sold by the Art centre. They then receive a payment which is a percentage of the sale price.

    Example B – Non editioned hand made prints. Multiples are made of the same print, and are not editioned and are a low cost item. An artwork certificate is not required. The artist printed the prints and owns them until sold. The artist is not paid until the product is sold by the Art centre. They then receive a payment which is a percentage of the sale price.

Add a new Product

  1. Go to: [Catalogue] > [Add Product]
  2. Check [AC Purchase], or [Artist Commission] see above if you are unsure which is right.
  3. Product Name (this is the name listed in search/consignments/sales, is typically visible to the art centre but not to customer – it does not appear on QR website)
  4. Category > Select from drop down
  5. Supplier > Optional - select a supplier, by enter a minimum of 3 letters, then hit {enter}, or scroll through the list (this is a Customer who you have ticked as a Supplier )
  6. Description > Appears on the QR page. Type in a name/description for the product, this can also pull in stories from the saved stories list. This appears on the QR page above the Story as the title
  7. Story > Appears on the QR page.
    TIP: For more information about what to include see ARTWORK STORIES FOR PRODUCTS FACT SHEET > What to include in the SAM product description and story field
  8. Enter the Retail and Wholesale Sale amount (must be a decimal value). If your product is AC purchase > left column = ex. GST, right column = inc. GST. For Artist commission, both columns are the same and NO GST is applied.
  9. Enter [Purchase amount] > This is the amount the product costs you

    Example - if you buy the product from an artist – woven earrings, this is the amount you paid the artist for it. If you are paying an artist a royalty/licence fee per unit, this is where you put in that amount. When you add stock, you will get the option to pay the artist using this purchase price. So it’s a good idea to put the amount here. If you bought the item wholesale and you are not paying an artist fee, put the manufacturer cost amount. If none of these, you still need to put a nominal amount as this is a required field.

  10. Optional fields like Size and Packing sizes, can be used in the API (linked to your art centre website if set up)
  11. Title and Video URL: this is optional and will appear on the QR web page for the product. Title will be the text the user sees. URL will be the link to play the video.
  12. Add Image(s) > You can add multiple images here.
    TIP: Ensure you include a product image ( a clear image of the product on a plain background) – we suggest you select this as your main image for the item in SAM by ticking the box next to image. This will then be used as your thumbnail, within SAM interface, and as your first image on the QR web page. This will make it easier and faster to visually identify the product in the interface, reports, stocktake and QR page. Add in other supporting imagery as secondary images to help market the product – eg. photos of the product being made, worn or used. Different angles of the product. Image of original artwork.
  13. Click [Save]

Add an artist


There are differences in how you add artists between the two product setups AC PURCHASE and ARTIST COMMISSION. For the artist to appear on the QR page, they need to be added to the product. This will link the Artist Photo, Name, Community, Language, and their Biography.

Follow the steps below based on your product type (AC PURCHASE or ARTIST COMMISSION).

Adding Artists - AC PURCHASE




  1. Click [SAVE]
  2. Click [+] Stock
  3. Click [+] under [Qty] – default is 0. Leave Qty as ‘0’ when you are adding an artist to the product (NOT adding stock).
  4. Type 3 letters of the Artists name, select them from the list
  5. Leave [Note] blank

    Important: Currently in SAM it is not possible to remove an artist from a product without SAM support. Ensure you have selected the correct artist before saving.

  6. Set [Purchase Amount] to 0
  7. Click [Save]
  8. To attach multiple artists to the product, when there is more than one artist, click the [+] to add another row and follow the steps above.
    QR tip: When there is multiple artists only the photo, name, community and language will appear for each artist. No biographies.
This will add an artist to the product but won't pay any money to the artist. If you want to pay the artist at the same time – see below "Pay an Artist".

Adding Artists - ARTIST COMMISSION



  1. 1. Add artist or artists in the Artists / Split section, click [+]
  2. 2. Type 3 letters of the Artists name, select them from the list
  3. 3. For a collaborative product – add additional artists click [+] again, each artist will be given a decimal representing the split of the product the artist has contributed too, this decimal can be edited if the split is not equal. The split will determine, the percentage split each artist receives from the artist payment. Eg. If the product sells for $100, and the artist/art centre payment/commission rate is 60/40. The artist receives $60 and the art centre $40. Where 2 artists have collaborated, the artist amount of $60 is split between the 2 artists. This is shown as a decimal of 1. Where the contribution was equal by each artist the split would be 0.5 / 0.5 between the artists, with each artist receiving 50% of artists portion of the product sale, in this example $60, so each artist receives $30.

    Note: The decimals added together must total 1 or an error alert will appear.

  4. Click [Save]

Adding Variations & changing status



  1. To add a variation, [SAVE] your product, then in Variations section, click [+] bottom left.
  2. Type in variations of your product. [Tick] the box next to the variation combo you want for this variation. NB: You don’t need to fill in each list, just what you need. The list of variation options, saves with the Category, so if you add variations to another product in this Category, these will appear.

  3. Click [SAVE].
  4. Click [+] to repeat to add more variations. These will appear as lines.
  5. To EDIT a variation, CLICK on its title. To ADD STOCK to a variation, click on [+] next to variation. Important: Once you add stock to a variation you can’t delete it. However you can make it unavailable or discontinued.

  6. To change the STATUS of a variation, CLICK on the [pencil] next to the Variation. This will hide the product from your product search page and help tidy up your products list, when you search available only - which is the default.

Adding Stock


The default will be 0.
When you are adding stock it will add to what is already there, if you have 5 items in stock, and you add 10. This will be added to the previous total, bring the total amount to "15". If you need to remove stock, use a negative number. Eg. current total is "50", but want it to be "32" available. Add "-18 "stock. This will bring the total to "32".


  1. Click Add Stock (+)
  2. Add Qty of stock
  3. Click [Save]

Add stock & Pay an Artist (AC Purchase)



This will pay an artist based on the [Purchase Price] per unit x [Qty] entered. You can enter multiple artists and quantities.
  1. Click Add Stock (+)
  2. Add Quantity
  3. Add an Artist name
  4. Check/Edit Purchase Amount (per unit)
  5. Click [Pay]

  6. Alert appears - Stock and payment added with Success!

  7. This then adds to the artist account. (and increases their account, recording the payment against the product)
  8. If you have physically paid them into their bank account or paid cash. Go into [Artist Payments] and pay the artist. (this minuses the amount from their account and is a record they have been paid.

Paying an Artist (Artist Commission)


The artist will be paid once the item sells based on [Commission rate] set for the [Category] per unit x [Qty] entered eg. 60/40. (this is the same method as for artwork sales). You can split this between artists by adding multiple artists to the product.

Note: The [Purchase price] is not related to artist payment in the [Artist Commission] product instance.

Editing a product

  1. Go to: [Search] > [Search Product]
  2. Select [Category] and click [SEARCH]
  3. Enter product name and click the [magnifying glass]
  4. Select the product you wish to edit
  5. Make changes and/or add information
  6. Click [Save]

Product Status


A useful way to manage what you see in your product search list, and hide old, unavailable or discontinued products – see Variations notes for how to change [Status]

Adding/editing a new category


  1. Open [Admin] > [Accounts and Category Setup] on another tab/window
    • Hold down {Ctrl} (new tab} or {Shift} (new window) and then click on the [Admin] link

    Or

    {Right-click} the link to Admin
    Select [Open link in new Tab/Window]

  2. See [Help] on how to add a new category>
  3. Add a new category – DON’T check box under Catalogued – this indicates its an artwork category
  4. Close the [Accounts and Category Setup] window/tab
  5. Go back to the [Products] window and refresh the page - hit {f5} or click the refresh button on your browser

Feedback and Knowledge Base

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