Advice for selling prints locally

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

03/20/2004 12:03:10 PM · #1

I've been trying to get together the courage (and a decent portfolio) to take around to local, privately owned coffee shops, etc... to inquire about selling prints in their establishments. I know several of y'all here do this and would like some tips or advice on how to go about this. Mind you, I live in a small town on the outskirts of Atlanta and the places I'll be going don't have this type of thing set up yet.

Here are some general questions I have. First, I assume the business would get a percentage of the sales, if so, how much is standard? Should there be some sort of contract? Also, pricing and sizes, what do you normally display? 8x10's framed and matted? or is 11x14 better? Should they be framed or just matted? What's a good standard price for someone just starting out? Lastly, what type of information would you put in the description of the print, besides the print title, price and artists name if anything?

Thanks for any help/advice you can provide and if you can think of anything else that I've missed or don't know about, Please feel free to share. Have there been good/bad experiences out there?

Thanks again,
Jen :)

jmsetzler

Sony Alpha a6000

03/20/2004 12:18:23 PM · #2

Percentage:

Expect to pay 20-30% of your sale price to the location. It can be worthwhile to find out if your consignment sale items are insured also.

Contract:

I haven't run across a contract yet.

Displaying:

I am beginning to believe that matted only is the way to go in a lot of cases. You would need to have a few framed if they will be displayed on a wall, but a buyer likes to choose the framing usually.

I haven't created any descriptions for my prints. A short artist bio is a nice thing to accompany the print tho. Write a few paragraphs about your interest in photography and include your inspirations.

Pricing:

This is up to you. All I can tell you is to NOT sell yourself short. Don't sell it cheap just to sell. I sell 5x7 prints matted to 8x10 for $35 and 8x10 prints matted to 11x14 for $50 on average. Your pricing will depend on your market.

Sony 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 E-mount

03/20/2004 12:38:08 PM · #3

Thanks John! Your info. is very helpful. So, if you only have a couple displayed in frames, does that mean you leave a batch of matted prints at the business for them to sell? If not, what is your situation like?

Do you have a system for tracking your sales and product? Like I stated earlier, some of the places I'll be going don't have anything set up, so I'd like to be as informed as possible to make it as easy on them as possible. I'll also be working on a website once I have my wits together about all this. I'd like to place labels on the back of the prints with my contact info on it, in case future sales happen to pop up (wishful thinking, I know) :) What contact info. would you use? Just website info or would you use a PO Box or some type of phone number? I would think website would be enough, though there are those few folks out there that just don't use computers. Why I have no idea! :)

Thanks again!!

Message edited by author 2004-03-20 12:39:30.

jmsetzler

Sony Alpha a6000

03/20/2004 12:41:47 PM · #4

I just track my sales with a simple excel spreadsheet. It gives me a quick glance at what I have out there and where it is. One of the places I sell lets me keep two framed prints on the wall and I have a bin of matted prints there as well. What you display will be coordinated by the shop owner usually. Take what you can get.

I do put labels on the back of the mats and I include one of my personal business cards in it as well. This is good because I have made secondary sales direct to the buyer and not had to pay the shop commission.

You should include your name, phone, email, and website on your contact info.

03/20/2004 12:49:43 PM · #5

Awesome! Last thing I need to work on is figuring out matting. I've only matted and framed my own for the home so I haven't really had to worry about a backing. Are the photos permanently attached to the matte? The reason I ask, in case someone wants to change the matte once they buy it. What do you use to back it?

Sorry for all the questions, but as I'm a complete newbie to this, it's very helpful. I suppose a local framing place would be able to help me with any questions I have with matting and framing. Cool, now I'm getting exicted. Guess I better get to work on some decent photos now. :D

Gordon

RIM BlackBerry Curve

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

03/20/2004 12:56:24 PM · #6

Generally you never want to permanently attach a photo to anything, if you can avoid it.

I hang my prints on the backing board using linen tape, which seems to work well

Stick two pieces 'vertically to the print, then stick those two pieces to the back board - so you use 4 bits of tape - 2 sticking to the back of the print, and another two to stick those pieces down to the board, in a 'T' shape.

03/20/2004 02:01:13 PM · #7

Thanks Gordon! Good to know. :)