Retail Placement · Birmingham and Solihull

Apply for Retail Placement

Retail Placement is our shelf space: your own shelf in a staffed shop, merchandised and sold by our team, with your products listed on indespoke.com. Add Featured Brand if you want the front of the shop and the window too.

  • Retail Placement from £50 a month
  • Featured Brand £100 a month
  • 20% commission on what we sell
  • By approval — no payment taken today

Round 4 — Christmas season

Each shop takes 35 Retail Placement brands, with 3 Featured Brand positions on top of those. We are opening this round late in the year, so we have compressed the front end rather than the back: applications close on 23 October and decisions follow within days, which leaves the whole of early November to get your agreement, listings, SKUs and stock in properly. Your shelf is live for the full Christmas run and the January sales.

  • Applications closeFriday 23 October
  • DecisionsWeek commencing 26 October
  • Agreement & invoiceWithin days of approval
  • OnboardingThrough early November
  • TradingMid-November to 31 January

Our rounds for the year

Shelf space opens four times a year. Applications open in the first week of each quarter and you will have a decision by the last week of that month. We then leave a full month for onboarding — agreement, invoice, listings, SKUs and stock — so nobody is rushing product onto a shelf. Miss a round and you can take pop-up days or join as a member in the meantime, and we will hold you for the next window.

Round 1 — SpringApplications open the first week of January. Trading March to May.
Round 2 — SummerApplications open the first week of April. Trading June to August.
Round 3 — AutumnApplications open the first week of July. Trading September to November — the whole Christmas build-up.
Round 4 — ChristmasApplications open the first week of October. Trading December to February. Open now, and this year trading starts mid-November.

1. Choose what you want

Tick one or both. Most brands start with a Retail Placement and add Featured Brand once they know how their products sell on our floor.

Looking for a single day rather than a season? Book a pop-up day instead — those are approved automatically and run all year round.

2. Choose your shop

Each shop is a separate fee. Pick both and we will talk through whether your range suits both floors before you commit.

3. See the space

This is what you are booking. We allocate your exact position and may move it as the floor changes, so your products always sit where they sell best.

The shelf zones in the Indespoke Birmingham shop

Birmingham

  • Retail Placement — the wall shelving, at eye level and just below. Flat price whichever shelf you are given.
  • Featured Brand — the glass display at the front of the shop, three positions across it.
  • The bottom row and the floor displays are not sold, so nothing you pay for sits out of sight.
The shelf zones in the Indespoke Solihull shop

Solihull

  • Retail Placement — the left wall, five bays of shelving across it.
  • Featured Brand — the centre table as you walk in, three positions on it.
  • A bigger floor, with rooms you can hire by the day for a workshop or a session.

4. Your brand

All fields are required. This is the application — no payment is taken on this page.

Tell us your brand name.

Tell us who you are.

Enter a valid email address.

Enter a UK contact number.

Enter your website address.

Enter your Instagram handle.

Choose the closest category.

Give us a rough price range.

Tell us a little about what you make.

Give us somewhere we can see your products.

Before you apply, please confirm

Membership and shelf space

Membership and shelf space are complementary. One sells your products; the other grows the business behind them.

Take a Retail Placement and membership is complimentary for as long as that placement runs. You do not pay for it twice and you do not sign up separately.

If you do not renew your placement, the included membership ends with it - but you can carry it on by itself, and most brands do.

The communityA room full of independent founders going through exactly what you are. The part people stay for.
You hear firstPop-ups, events, stockist opportunities and every seasonal round go to members before they go public.
Coaches and surgeriesPeople who have run and grown businesses, and a Virtual Business Surgery thread every Friday for the problem you have been circling all week.

Questions

Is this an application or a booking?
An application. Shelf space is allocated, not self-serve, so we look at every brand before a space is held - fit, photography, and whether your products suit the fixture.

No payment is taken on this page. If you are approved, your agreement comes through to sign electronically and your invoice follows. Your space is held once that invoice is paid.
When will I hear back, and what happens next?
We acknowledge your application the same day and you will have a decision by the last week of the month applications closed in.

From approval to trading is about a month. You sign your agreement, pay your invoice, then we send you an access key for our upload page. That takes you product by product, issues your SKUs in the Indespoke format and prints you a label sheet — so your listings and your labels are ready before you drop anything off. Then your stock comes in, labelled, and goes on the shelf at the start of the season.

We build that month in deliberately so nobody is rushing product onto a shelf.
Why can't I just start whenever I like?
Because a shop floor only works if it is planned. We open shelf space four times a year so every brand starts together, gets merchandised properly and gets a full run at the season.

If you miss a round, apply anyway and we will hold you for the next one - or take pop-up days in the meantime, which run all year and are approved automatically.
How many brands do you take, and which shelf will I get?
We release 35 Retail Placement shelves in each shop, so a round is genuinely limited and we would rather fill it properly than fill it fast.

We allocate your shelf and may move it as the floor changes. The price is the same whichever one you are given, and the shelves we do not sell - the bottom row, the floor displays - are never used for paid placements, so nothing you pay for sits out of sight.
What commission do you take?
Our standard rate is 20% of the sale price, and it applies on top of the space fee, on every pathway - Retail Placement and Featured Brand alike.

Higher-touch consignment and special partnership arrangements are priced differently and only ever by written agreement.
How much stock do I need to bring, and how do I label it?
As a guide, around 30 small items, or 8 to 10 clothing pieces, plus about 10 in backstock. Enough to fill your space and keep it filled.

Every item needs a physical label carrying its SKU, price and brand name. You do not work the SKUs out yourself — our upload page issues one per product, built from the first three letters of your brand, and gives you a label sheet to print. The code on the item has to match the code we issued exactly, because that is how the till knows the sale is yours.
How and when do I get paid?
You keep ownership of your stock until it sells, and you will have your own ShipTurtle account showing live stock and live sales.

We pay out by bank transfer within 30 to 60 days of the month end, with commission already deducted, and every payment comes with a statement showing exactly what sold.
Can I take Featured Brand without a Retail Placement?
It is designed as an add-on for brands who already have a placement, and that is how most brands take it. Apply for it on its own if you want to and we will tell you honestly whether it makes sense for your products.
How long am I committed for?
Retail Placement is a three-month season, then month to month at 55 pounds until you tell us otherwise. Featured Brand is taken a month at a time.

Fees are payable monthly in advance and are non-refundable: if you leave mid-period you stay in to the end of the period you have paid for. Notice periods and stock collection windows are set out in your agreement.
Do I have to work in the shop?
No. Our team merchandises your space and sells from it five days a week. Time on the floor is entirely optional - though customers love meeting the makers, and it is one of the best ways to sell.