Do any professional artists, designers or craftspeople here use agents to sell their work?

[Cattleprod]

I have been a professional designer/maker for 12 years now, and have sold mainly direct to the public as commissions, also through fairs, exhibitions and occasionally to property developers, builders etc. I also get orders through a couple of websites, where they email orders they receive and I dropship directly to their customers.

It has been mentioned several times over the past years about using one or more agents to show and promote my work. I'll be having DC2 soon and it's not really practical to be traipsing around the country showing my work - plus I don't really enjoy the sales side of things and would rather leave that job to someone more gifted in that area and spend my time designing and making.

Does anyone on here have experience of using agents to sell work? Potential customers would be interiors shops, galleries, department stores, furniture stores etc. (mid-high end). Do agents charge a high %? Are they a good way of getting orders or a pita? Does anybody have any contacts (please pm me if you'd rather keep them private)? Any other advice?

Thankyou very much in advance