The FAQs below reflect the most up-to-date information as of Friday, October 16th, 2020 at 5 pm.
All the questions below have been submitted to the MICAMade Manager via online information session or by Google form. The MICAMade Manager will continue to update the information below as more questions are gathered and answers are uncovered and confirmed.
All sellers are encouraged to use the MICAMade Online Marketplace Comment and Grievance Form to submit their questions, feedback, and concerns.
Yes, the marketplace will be online and operational year round.
The MICAMade Marketplace accepts sellers from the following communities:
- Part-time and Full-time Students in a Degree-Granting Program at MICA
- MICA Alumni
- Part-time, full-time, temporary, contractual, 10-month and 12-month MICA staff
- Full-time and adjunct MICA faculty
- Youth Rising Coalition Members
- Consumer Cooperatives (with a standing member who fits one of the above categories)
Departments, programs, and student organizations are eligible to apply to the platform. If a department, program, class, or student organization is interested in applying to the platform they should email the MICAMade Manager.
Yes, MICAMade charges a 10% transaction fee on each transaction processed through the marketplace. This percentage is subtracted from the sellers' payouts. This fee funds maintenance and day-to-day operations of the marketplace.
At this time, MICAMade is not generating enough revenue to donate to scholarship funds. However, the Art Market Scholarship Fund became fully endowed during the 2019-20 academic year and will be providing scholarships in the 2020-21 academic year to a returning undergraduate and returning graduate student in the spring.
Applications to participate in the MICAMade Marketplace are quarterly throughout the year. Applications are available on the MICAMade Marketplace webpage on mica.edu.
The next application period begins Friday, October 30th at 9 am and closes on Monday, November 9th at 11:59 pm.
Sellers are notified between 2-3 business days following the end of an application period.
For the Fall 2020 application period sellers will be notified via email by Wednesday, November 11th of their application status.
Art Market is hoping to expand on what is currently available at the annual holiday market. Art Market will evaluate items on a case by case basis during the run of the pilot platform. However, all artwork, goods, and items listed on the marketplace must be originally designed, crafted, or made by the vendor applying.
Art Market has decided to use My Marketplace Builder (MPB) as the external marketplace platform.
Our goal is that the marketplace will be available to the entirely of Baltimore's arts & culture community. This includes the diverse number of community groups, non-profits, artists and makers who make & create locally. When this opportunity becomes available is undetermined at this time.
Yes, upon acceptance to the platform sellers are invited to take part in Orientation. Eligible applicants are required to attend a 60-minute Orientation via Zom that cover the following topics: seller accounts, listing expectations, prohibited items for sale, payouts, order fulfillment, etc.
International Students in a Degree-Granting Program at MICA: MICA has established the following guidelines to allow F-1 and J-1 international students living in the United States to participate in the MICAMade Online Marketplace and sell their art. For this participation to not be categorized as employment, each F-1 or J-1 international student selling art in the MICAMade Online Marketplace would need to choose where the money from the sale would go. It may be sent to (1) the student’s academic department or a student organization to help pay for items or services to support students, such as student field trips, or to (2) an emergency fund to help international students in need.
For more specific information about this policy, contact the Office of International Education and an international student advisor to learn how the federal regulations apply to you.Yes, each vendor will be have their own user profile, listings, etc.
Yes, vendors will be in control of their own listings. There will be no fees associated with the number of listings posted. There will be no limit (minimum or maximum) to the number of items that a vendor would like to list on the platform.
MICAMade Marketplace utilizes Stripe Connect as the marketplace's PCI compliant payment processor.
All sellers need to set-up a Stripe Connect Standard Account. Sellers are prompted to set-up their accounts after being verified by the MICAMade Manager. They can find the configuration link under the Cashout tab in their account settings. No seller can successfully publish a listing, process a transaction, or fulfill an order, without first setting this account.
The MICAMade Marketplace administrative account automatically initiates the transfer of funds to all sellers, however, each seller's first transaction on the platform will be delayed between 5-7 business days after sale due to the Stripe verification system.
Stripe Connect Fee Structure for Sellers: Stripe Connect charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. This fee is taken out of the seller payout and applied to each transaction of the platform.
Yes, sellers are responsible for the packaging, shipping, and handling of their goods/items to the customer.
Shipping is determined per product listing. The MICAMade Marketplace utilizes EasyPost.com and the USPS postal system as an integrated shipping service.
Additionally, sellers have the option to choose a "Custom Shipping" option where they can list of flat fee and use their preferred shipping provider, and or choose "Pick-Up" option.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Art Market believes that is it incredibly important that customers have the ability to review the marketplace's vendors.
No, vendors will not be required to use the Art Market Tag System on the online marketplace.
Yes, Art Market is working to build this feature into the platform. However, while we are still building and growing Art Market will decide what platform should host this community forum. TBD for now.