Hey there princess!
In September of 2020, deep in the trenches of the pandemic, I signed up to be a vendor at a Painted Tree location in Sugar Land, TX. For those new to the scene, Painted Tree is a company that rents out large retail spaces (this one was in an old Buy Buy Baby for context) and installs booths for local craftspeople and retailers to sell their goods. Below is a photo of me viewing the space before the booths went in!
I wanted to share my experiences with you, if you are interested in doing something similar, so that you know what to expect. I wish more information had been available online before I had joined so that I could have been more prepared. One benefit of the location I was going into was that it was brand new. My booth was totally clean, and I was able to decorate and put my products in without the headache of working around customers who were shopping. The photos you will see below are all of my own booth.
To begin, my booth, which was located near the front of the store and closer to the registers, was priced at $288/month. Painted Tree also takes a 10% commission on all of your sales, so you will need to take both of these things into account when pricing your items. All items need to be entered into their system and price stickers will need to be printed out in-store, and stuck while you are there (or you could always take the stickers back home to stick, but I lived about a 40 minute drive from the Sugar Land location).
When I first signed up to be a retailer, I was told that move-in would happen in October, but due to delays with construction we were actually able to move into the space on November 7th with the store opening to customers on November 15th. This meant that I wanted to have a hefty supply of both holiday decor and gifts. I stocked my booth with the things that I normally sell on Etsy like my pencils and artwork, and then I purchased other items wholesale online.
Above is a photo of my booth on the day it was open to customers. At this time, most of the other booths in the shop had been fully moved into and Painted Tree promised that the money from our rent and their commission would go towards not only the upkeep of the space, but also the wages of the sales associates and extensive online marketing. This seemed like a great situation for me, since my online presence is incredibly small. Having someone with an established business model and a marketing budget could bring me a whole new group of customers who would have otherwise never heard of me!
Now, I believe in investing in my business. I had been saving for this opportunity for months and was putting everything that I was making in sales on Etsy back into stock for this booth. I spent hours creating the decor myself, sourcing beautiful items, and crafting a space that I was incredibly proud of. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a single thing.
The other booths in Painted Tree, I noticed, carried a wide variety of items. Next to me was a booth full of handmade quilts, and on the other side was a booth of wreaths. Some booths were packed with items purchased from Alibaba and others had handmade furniture. Some booths had some incredibly cool stuff, others not so much. That is the downside of going in when a store is first being built - you have no idea who else is going in next to you and if their products will mesh with yours.
I made sure to keep my stock varied, and put product in for every holiday. I had colorful displays for Valentines, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween - you name it! I also had tons of fun selecting different products for my shop and setting things up. I went and arranged things about once a week so that I could make sure that the booth was being maintained to my standard and to keep adding new product.
This booth was really a labor of love during a really difficult time. We were still coming out of the pandemic and there was so much uncertainty in the world and in my own personal life. I loved being able to come to Painted Tree and make something fun and beautiful. It was a form of stress-relief and also a source of pride whenever I looked on my vendor website and saw that an item had sold.
However, as time passed I noticed that there were fewer and fewer customers shopping in the store and my sales were dwindling. When I went in to set up new products, I would often be one of only one or two people in the store. The extensive marketing that they had promised wasn't reaching the customer base that would have been shopping from this kind of market. Soon, the people around me started moving out of their booths. Sometimes they would be replaced by a fun new vendor, and sometimes the booth would sit empty for months.
I tried new things, adding clothing, party supplies, books anything that I thought was beautiful and fun and in line with my business. I tried to become involved on Instagram and share photos of my little booth. Still, the customers weren't coming.
When I was first sold on the idea of renting a booth at Painted Tree, I was shown video testimonials of other women who had booths at their locations across the nation. These women talked about how they were able to stay home with their small children because of their Painted Tree income by selling things that they either handmade our sourced themselves. They were able to focus on their homes and families because Painted Tree took care of the rest of the work of managing a store. It was all incredibly compelling.
So, why wasn't it working for me? Was it the location? Was it my merchandise? Was it because I didn't come in with a preexisting online following? Maybe it was a combination of all of these things.
For 2021 my gross for the year was $4717 and after commission and rent were deducted I was left with $1310 as my take-home FOR THE YEAR. Thats a little over $100 per month and less than I made during the month and a half holid
ay period the year before.
ay period the year before.
I looked at my priorities, and I decided to pull out and close up shop at the beginning of 2022. I came out in the red after more than a year of hard work and driving across the city every week.
Now, all of this information is based on my own personal experiences at this specific Painted Tree location over a period of time that is now more than a year ago. Things can and do change, and of course I know that other people can have different experiences!
If you were ever a vendor at a Painted Tree and want to share your experience, I would love to hear it! If you are thinking of going into a Painted Tree location and have questions, I would be happy to try to answer them.
At the end of the day, I am really grateful for the opportunity that this gave me to try selling in-person. If you are interested shopping with me, I currently sell my products on Etsy (click here) and in wholesale form via Faire (click here).
Sparkle on!
Back in the beginning of December I paid for a booth for the upcoming opening of the Painted Tree in Austin which was scheduled to open in February or March. I have not heard anything from the company since January. I have emailed asking for updates and nothing. I am a little concerned. Do you think the company is having financial issues?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be shocked if they are having financial difficulty, and I would also be concerned if you have also given then money without any additional communication on their part. In my experience, their projection for an opening date at my location was aspirational at best. They opened later than expected. I hope that you're able to get some communication from Painted Tree, and if their location doesn't open I hope that you're able to get a quick refund!
DeletePainted Tree only cares about keeping the spots full by preying on inexperienced hopeful entrepeneurs. Ask them about their numbers, and they won't have an answer. Any venue with credibility will publish traffic and sales for it's customers. Avoid it, you'll lose money.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. Super cute setup! I hope things have progressed for you 💕
ReplyDeleteHi Megan! I’m so appreciative of your letter. I think you just saved me a lot of money, and unhappiness. I am an artist, and I do watercolor and some other things. I really thought the real work was the painting. Wrong! Trying. Find an outlet to sell is awful. You looked. Like you had a beautiful booth, and everything looked gorgeous. I will look for you on Etsy for sure. I hope you’re doing well, and if you try it somewhere else, please let me know. All the best to you. Cathy Rae
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experience!
ReplyDeleteYes ma’am! I’m pretty sure you just saved me also! I was all ready to go in. I’m out now. Thank you so much for telling your story!! And yes!! Your booth was absolutely beautiful! I will also look for you on Etsy!! Have a great day! ❤️
ReplyDeleteWe too were a vendor at painted tree and wish to concur with Megan’s experience. We are an experienced team that owns multiple retail locations for over 2 decades. When painted tree came to our area we thought it was a great way to sell overstock and get in front of and gain customers that may or may have not shopped our brick and mortar stores. Painted tree ‘sold’ us that everybody makes money, the store is well marketed by a team of experienced individuals, etc. like many others who have commented online. In reality the only people that make money at painted tree is painted tree. Vendors pay them monthly rent and commissions. The vendors often don’t sell enough to cover monthly rent. When seasonal sales kick-up they often end evening out being in the red all year with very little annual profit to the vendor.Theft is rampant, vendor items frequently ‘walk off’, are broken by customers and/or employees with no accounting. Corporate will not answer calls, or eMail correspondence and divert all communications to the individual store employees who either don’t know anything or have their hands tied because ‘corporate handles that’. Staff rotates insanely fast, with individuals quitting regularly. Vendors who do make money are often owed payments that never happen due to faulty accounting or they have to jump thru hoops to collect. Vendors rotate constantly as they become aware of the situation and move out. Avoid it. Even the best vendors lose money.
ReplyDeleteWe have a shop in my state exactly like Painted Tree. I'm a friend of the owner and the area is very large with 1-3 people running it for all the vendors. What I noticed while I was their that two customers were allowed to take the clothes to try on into their 5 stall restroom. Now I noticed all the clothes they wanted to try on wouldn't even fit these two women who were huge. I suspected theft and I was right. That vendor ended up closing her shop. That vendor had beautiful clothes and she was hit hard with theft. I did also notice that certain items had dangling price tags on them. I questioned the owner if those dangle price tags are getting switched and they were! The price tags have the items price with the vendors assigned code so they know which vendor to credit the sale to. So let's say you have a lamp for $50 and a customer finds a dangle tag from another vendor for $7 and they use the $7 tag to buy the $50 lamp. They williams take the lamp to the front of the store to the cashier and buy it with the switched dangle price tag. So the vendor with the $50 lamp sees the lamp is gone with no sale or money for it and the vendor with the $7 tag gets the sale minus commission for a $7 item that they still have that's now missing it's $7 dangle tag. Plus, they have out right theft that a customer just walks out the door with an item(s) when they notice the staff of 1-3 is busy. So I have to say this setup doesn't work because traffic is way too light and theft is out of control.
DeleteWe have a shop in my state exactly like Painted Tree. I'm a friend of the owner and the area is very large with 1-3 people running it for all the vendors. What I noticed while I was their that two customers were allowed to take the clothes to try on into their 5 stall restroom. Now I noticed all the clothes they wanted to try on wouldn't even fit these two women who were huge. I suspected theft and I was right. That vendor ended up closing her shop. That vendor had beautiful clothes and she was hit hard with theft. I did also notice that certain items had dangling price tags on them. I questioned the owner if those dangle price tags are getting switched and they were! The price tags have the items price with the vendors assigned code so they know which vendor to credit the sale to. So let's say you have a lamp for $50 and a customer finds a dangle tag from another vendor for $7 and they use the $7 tag to buy the $50 lamp. They williams take the lamp to the front of the store to the cashier and buy it with the switched dangle price tag. So the vendor with the $50 lamp sees the lamp is gone with no sale or money for it and the vendor with the $7 tag gets the sale minus commission for a $7 item that they still have that's now missing it's $7 dangle tag. Plus, they have out right theft that a customer just walks out the door with an item(s) when they notice the staff of 1-3 is busy. So I have to say this setup doesn't work because traffic is way too light and theft is out of control.
DeleteThanks for saving me
ReplyDeleteI am absolutely stunned. First off, your booth is absolutely adores! Second! I have been waiting since March of 2024 for a spot and am in shock! I have checked in multiple times and keep hearing over and over that there is a huge wait list and there is no telling when I will get a spot at either of the locations I have applied for. I am really bummed out.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your experience! I thought it was fishy when I couldn't find any information for vendors. I applied and the next day received a text from their Head of VIP Relations with approval of my application. The next step was to pick my spot and pay. No information, no contracts, no agreements, no questions asked.. just give us your money. RED FLAG. You saved me too!
ReplyDeleteThis exact thing just happened to me. I received the email, went to look at booth cost and the booth I want is $840/mth. Insane! Now I am reading all of these comments, my gut is definitely saying NO. Painted Tree is a genius idea and has tons of long term positive potential, it's really too bad the owners are the only ones making any money.
DeleteI have an immense amount of gratitude for your transparency regarding your experience with Painted Tree. I've been toying with the idea of opening up a both in Frisco and now will cease any further research on the matter. I could dump the booth fee into targeted digital marketing and gain far more customers.
ReplyDeleteMegan, Truly an inspiring blog. You were extremely transparent and told the journey from beginning to end on this chapter. I think you analyzed things very well. I did online ecommerce for about 20 years and it had its ups and downs. I think the time you spent having to arrange the booth, source new product, and drive back and forth were probably all contributing factors in your decision to pull out. It is hard to justify doing all of that for the $100 per month.I came across your blog doing some research on booth owners.
ReplyDeleteI think there are many steps in having a successful booth and the marketing is probably key both from the perspective of the mall in this case and you having a following as well. I also think having a written plan would be very helpful. You are in a great position to help other booth owners now.
My wife and I seem to be in a position of an almost endless supply of free inventory or close to it as if we do not take it it is donated or junked. So, I am looking at if there is a possibility of doing something.
I am in two painted trees and can agree with this article.....they survive on new vendors constantly giving it a try....very very few renew past the 1st year
ReplyDeleteI am a new vendor as of Aug 1, 2024 and have sold very little so far. I own a handmade jewelry business and the competition is saturated with commercial product. I’ve been in business for almost 14 years and have done well at shows and pop ups. Hoping to try my hand in a brick and mortar. Painted tree opened in my area and I was sold. Three weeks in I have huge concerns. Everywhere I turn to the experiences I read about are very negative. At this point I have sold about 1/2 of my rent cost. So starting this journey in the red. I had hoped to slow down on vending at shows or markets a bit but it does not look like it. My gut tells me to run. But I’m stuck in this contract.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this! I was so curious of how this all worked and I’m sorry you were in the Red but you sharing your story is helping a lot of us
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for telling about your experience. You saved me a lot of heartache, money, and stress. Blessings to you, and I hope all goes well for you in the future.
ReplyDeleteI believe they need more variety in the shops . I made handmade ladies hats and fascinators . I am new and do not have any experience with setup and display so they are not interested in renting me space because I could not show he pic of my display. I can learn though and my hats are gorgeous with a waiting church ladies I believe would be buying them . I show on FB and get loads of compliments. I am hoping to get more footage on Etsy .
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post. I recently visited and purchased from a Painted Tree location in AZ and was interested in getting a booth in Frisco for my art, but couldn’t find pricing on the website so went looking online, and found your article. I will pass on the booth and donate my art instead. If this was run by the artists, it would be a different story.
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much:) You have helped me make my decision and saved me an enormous amount of time and money.
ReplyDeleteThough not looking to rent, I was at The Painted Tree on Westheimer at Wilcrest today to browse. I don’t know how long they've been open, but they were about 35% full. Some, many actually, of the booths were selling cheap items that appeared to come from China. That was disappointing, as I was looking forward shopping for handmade home decor and crafty items. There were very few shoppers in the place for a Sunday, so I imagine the weekdays are dead. I knew there was no way anyone was making enough to make doing this worth it. Too bad because it was a good concept.
ReplyDeleteI’m a new vender I haven’t moved in yet, I just do this as a hobby not expecting $100k in sales or anything. I sell items from China but it’s Asian themed and the concept is Cultural beauty of items and their meanings. I have sold to many items online to people that like my choices for cultural items. I hope I get some visitors and my prices are competitive because I import myself not getting items from Alibaba but from the small business owners directly. I’m hoping for the best - it’s also a tax deduction so I win either way. Thanks for letting me know what to expect.
ReplyDeleteI'm just wondering why you didn't rent a $125-a-month spot. Maybe, that would have been better.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this wasn't an option at my location when I signed up for Painted Tree. My booth wasn't the cheapest option available, but there weren't any as low as $125, except for maybe the kiosks. I was hoping that investing in a booth closer to the front and nearer the registers would attract more shoppers. The less expensive booths at the back, I worried, might see much fewer shoppers.
DeleteGetting a smaller booth is always an option rather than giving up unless it’s still going to be in the red. I often wonder if any of these people get out of their contracts. I can’t imagine not making rent and the loss of money in buying your items. I realize there is a contract but do the owners really hold you to that contract if you are losing money every month? I would start out in a booth that was smaller than I really needed and move up if it’s profitable. Some booths are HUGE. Some in our PT are around $1500 a month.
DeleteI just shopped the Austin one today. I was surprised to see about a dozen empty booths for the holidays and wondered if this was the case. I was also quite overwhelmed because the layout had no rhyme or reason. I kind of wish it was categorized somehow.
ReplyDeleteI currently make items and sell them at markets, but with all of these comments, I think I'll stick to that and finding consignment and wholesale accounts from local shops. Seems to be just as much work but not as much risk and money that way.
There's a new location opening up in Columbus, OH in July & all I hear is good reviews about the location in Cincy, OH. I was really excited to see that they were opening a location closer to me but I'm hesitate on renting out the space. I know a few vendors who always have good things to say about their Cincy location and are recommending the new location for me to try out. My gut is telling me not to do it and to stick with markets
ReplyDeleteEvery one of these comments is negative. I'm not saying that's not accurate, but it's not been our experience. We rented a bookshelf in the Sunset Valley store starting last August. It's on the very back wall of the store. My wife makes sewn items like bowl cozies, coasters, jar openers, etc. and I do 3D printing. We buy materials, but no ready-made objects from wholesale. We have made at least twice rent every month and literally made enough in December to pay the rent for all of 2025.
ReplyDeleteI was in the Painted Tree location in the La Frontera shopping area on Friday Jan 24. This location opened on Dec. 7, 2024. It's adorable, I loved it immediately! Was really excited to get on the waiting list and ready to take any spot I could get. But as I walked through I was dismayed by the number of vendors who had their inventory discounted. Some as high as 45% off. There were booths that were beautifully done and well appointed while other booths were barely stocked and others still were a strange hodgepodge of mismatched items. I left the store feeling like something was a little off. And now after reading this and the comments I understand my gut reaction. This is so disappointing because something like this is desperately needed. Feels like a wasted opportunity to accomplish something amazing.
ReplyDeletewe are a painted tree vendor - currently locked in a contract. we have been in business 15 years and mainly do events and pop-up markets. this has been our full time job and self supporting. we think we have good products. we were hoping to get a brick and mortar space without all the overhead - rent, employees, etc in the painted tree. it seemed like the ideal solution! our painted tree store barely gets traffic - even during the christmas season and at what should be busy times of the year holidays, etc. - we haven’t made our rent for 6 months. spoke with other vendors at our store and it appears to be everyone. we have friends in two other painted tree stores in other parts of the country who have the same problem and will be leaving when their contract is up. one of them has a staff/management team at the store that are also vendors who attempt to sabotage anyone who remotely appears to compete with them. from internet research the staff at the stores that are also vendors appears to be a common thing - if they have a personality conflict with a vendor or the vendors sell something similar to what the person on staff sells they find a way to keep them in undesirable locations of the store or get rid of them altogether. we and our friends have experienced a fair amount of theft as well - guess that’s just a sign of the times and happens everywhere - but thought this place would be different. nice concept - but not worth it. it appears the only people making money at painted tree is the store themselves as vendors move in and out without making money but still pay rent
ReplyDeleteGreat honest post! Note, the PT "contract" does not allow for negative committing by their vendors. That makes info difficult to get. You do not get a written contract, you agree to the details found in their vendor "How it Works" book:
ReplyDeletehttps://paintedtree.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/How%20It%20Works%20Booklet%202023.pdf
I rented at PT. I loved my booth, but it didn't work out. The winter holiday season was when I started so it made it seem like I would be making money, but with the rent, the 10% commission, and the cost of goods and materials, plus putting the store together and needing to visit and keep on top of that, and price & security tag every piece (which I don't do online), I didn't make much. The 10% commission to them DOES include the credit card processing fees, and they do collect and pay sales tax (you shouldn't need a sales tax license for your sales at the PT). Their business income tax stance is that you are renting space from them and you are responsible for that space - and any injuries in that space, so be insured - and they are simply purchasing the items for resale from you (your a cost of goods and rental line item for them). For your taxes, you enter what they pay you as Sales Income, and then you have your expenses, the rent, the commission, your cost of goods, marketing, etc.
Their security is employee minimum, and heavy reliance on bar-coded security tags that set off at the door. You are encouraged to do what you can in your own space to prevent theft. You are encouraged to market "your own business." You are limited to what you can do in the way of labeling and security tags. They may not fit best with the product you have.
You'll have some items purchased and may have some items taken (true of almost every store), and sometimes a potential customer will pick up an item and then just set it down someplace else in the store. It can be awhile before these items are noticed by other vendors in their shop because many of them do not live near the PT store.
It is a great concept. However, if I had the chance to do it again under these circumstances, I would not. That said, there are vendors that do well and have multiple stores across several states. However, as someone said in an earlier post, that money is better spent on marketing. I agree, even if only social media - in my humble opinion and at least in my case.
I am shocked at all these negative reviews of PT. We are nearing our 1 year anniversary of our first booth and are already in 5 stores. I feel lucky to be in the Indiana/Ohio/Tennessee/Kentucky region. It definitely seems some regions/stores are better than others. There has only been one time a booth came up very short on rent and I contribute that to really crappy weather that month.
ReplyDeleteWe are brand new to retail and learning as we go. Having a unique product and a clearly defined focus is paramount. There are SO many booths that just try to sell anything and everything and it’s confusing to the customers. We also market across all the socials to our target customers, which has proven to be very beneficial. This definitely isn’t a “set it and forget it”, but the work has paid off substantially.
I really hope corporate can get good managers in all the stores. I love the concept and hope the lower performing stores can turn it around.
I agree. I wish the vendors had more support but corporate is the problem and not necessarily the store staff. Although some store managers aren’t good at their positions. I think that’s because they don’t pay management salaries. It’s not an easy job with as many booths they have to rent/vendor personalities and rude customers. The PT owners need to hire someone, besides themselves, to run the Painted Trees. They could turn the business into a more profitable business for themselves and vendors. The managers have no say about marketing. The owners say no to most every idea sent to them. I’ve offered a few but they don’t listen and don’t take advice. A lot of vendors know things that would help. I’ve made rent and made a profit every month but I price my items too cheap so they sell. I wish I ran The Painted Trees because I would make some changes and it would be more profitable.
DeleteI was looking at the new store in Gilbert AZ and actually applied but still wanted to go in and look at it in person. I am down in Tucson but now wondering if it would even be worth the drive to have a booth.
ReplyDeleteOur store opened in Des Moines in January. There is still a long of spaces open. She told me they were filling up. I was eager to open one, but now I am wondering if I should wait and watch. There seems to be a fair amount of traffic. I sell soap, lotion, and other skin care products. Thoughts would be great. I do have question. If people were moving out early didn't they still have to pay the rent. They told me we have to sign up for a year.
ReplyDeleteThank you for such a detailed post and description of your time as a vendor. This store brought to the market an amazing concept and a great way to allow small crafters and vendors to open up a shop without all the overhead. It’s a shame that they can’t fulfill that mission. This company has gone downhill - not at all what was expected or promised. Upon signing up they vetted you, they wanted a bunch of details - very supportive - as this group continued to try to grow they didn't create an infrastructure for supporting the growth, managers change so frequently and are at their own discretion to do whatever they want. Stores are becoming boring, repetitive, and lacking in real control over a positive vendor experience. Vendors who sell items are not being paid and have no recourse to get the funds. There is no support from corporate or assistance when payments are not received, items are stolen, or issues need to be resolved, etc. If you want to play your hand at testing a business idea - then go and do it but don't expect much if at all from this company. They use their local employees as scapegoats & don't invest nor care about keeping quality vendors. They lose great vendors with quality merchandise monthly because PT allows flea market & thrift junk when it's clearly a "don't" in their manual. Many good vendors, doing their own marketing can sell some items, but not enough to cover their rent, thus PT is the only one making money. Unscrupulous store employees (who are also vendors) will watch what sells well, find a reason to get rid of the vendor and then sell the items themselves. They do not care to tackle the amount of theft. Marketing is a joke, their main social media is full of stock photos, local fb pages are embarrassing even though they advertise that PT will handle. Without going into details, a lot of the current management is just sad. Rude, unprofessional and bordering on conduction sabotage on vendors they don’t like. Do yourself a favor, stay far away ….
ReplyDeleteI have had a booth at The Painted Tree in Knoxville for 3 years. I’ve made my rent and a profit each month with home decor but my prices are very low. I price them so that I make a small profit from each item. But, I do it more as a hobby than a very profitable business. Some months I’ve made quite a bit and some months a little over $100. Shoppers look for low prices. I’ve seen shoppers pick up an item that cost less than $7 and put it down. I doubt they could find it anywhere cheaper than my prices. It seems shoppers rarely pay for anything over $25. The only thing that seems to do well that is higher priced is painted furniture but, again, it’s reasonably priced and probably should get more money. Those font stay in a booth but a couple of days. I don’t have the patience to paint furniture or I would since it does well.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had found this post before I decided to rent a space with the Painted Tree. I am an artist who hand makes different items and I have had great success at craft shows. I thought this would be a great opportunity and have been nothing but disappointed. I was sold on the idea that the company did marketing but now I find that the marketing is minimal and not the case. I have been there for 3 months now and pay $270 a month for my space. I haven't even made an entire months rent in sales and have to pay rent every month. Now I am being told that the one item I am selling (upcycled clothing) cannot be sold there! I am beyond horrified by this experience and don't know what else to do but abandon my booth and give a 30 days notice. There is no way I can continue to pay rent for a space where I am not making even $40 a month to help cover the cost of rent. Thank you for your beautiful blog and I hope other vendors out there do the research to find other concepts in their area that do not lock them into a year lease. It is really predatory and ridiculous.
ReplyDelete