Many of us in museum retailing come to the industry from some sort of
Arts background and hence may know our stuff but not standard
terminology.  I checked a retail textbook which confirms the MSA
definitions with a few additional variations.  However, let's not be too
pedantic.  I am comfortable using "mark-up" instead of "mark-on" if that
makes me understood.
For the record, the issue of fair margins on products in museum stores
in Australia is a complex one.  In a country this size, pricing is
extremely sensitive with competition at every turn.   Museum retailing
here is subject to market forces in general with toy discounters, poster
& print discounters, seasonal sales etc. forcing retailers such as
myself to view every stock line as a potential problem, to keep stock
turning over as if my life depended on it.
If I can get 100% markup, lovely, but this would apply to a maximum 30%
of stock in our Scienceworks Shop for instance.  And as another
correspondent has mentioned, this allows some margin after markdowns
occur rather than a dead cert return. And then, there is the occasional
windfall which bolsters the low margin lines.
Australian museum retailers have real headaches maintaining acceptable
margins with product they produce themselves.  Some of us refer to these
products ironically as "heritage" products i.e. low profit, slow
selling.
I usually look towards healthy stockturn which is reflected in
revitalized stock ranges and therefore a competitive presentation.
The pressure is particulary intense here in Melbourne which has adopted
a shop till you drop culture.  I am deeply suspicious of any retailer
here who harps on about great margins.  Look at the shelves, do a dust
test with your forefinger, read the date codes on their stickers.
Now that I have given my trade secrets away, I look forward to your
responses.

Bonny Henderson, Project Manager, Retail & Merchandising, Museum of
Victoria [log in to unmask]


> ----------
> From:         Ross Weeks[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         Wednesday, 13 August 1997 9:53 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Retail Markup
>
> ----------
> > From: Henderson, Bonny <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Retail Markup (was Re: Glasgow Museums UK -Reply)
> > Date: Tuesday, August 12, 1997 6:29 PM
> >
> > This is what the Museum Store Association says:
> >
> > Mark-on:  Differences between cost price as billed (before cash
> > discounts) and retail price at which goods are sold (sometimes
> > incorrectly referred to as mark-up).
> >
> > Mark-up:  Upward revision of initial mark-on resulting in
> > higher-than-original selling price.  Sometime incorrectly confused
> with
> > mark-on.
> >
> > My thanks to the MSA.
> >
>
> I believe the goal or standard is to mark-on, or mark-up, in such a
> way
> that an item acquired by a store for $5 will be sold for at least $10.
> I
> wonder if mark-on is a standard term in general retail usage.  It's a
> new
> one to me.
>