Selling prints from a booth at street fairs (Page 5): Almost every restaurant in our art districts here have displays of artists' works with price tags attached. I won't be able to...

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

Psergel wrote:

There is a large local tavern that displays work from local artists and photographers most of which has a price tag attached. I've often considered having them put up some of my own prints but coming up with prices that would be attractive to the customers while still putting a few modest $$$s in my pocket has seemed difficult.

Almost every restaurant in our art districts here have displays of artists' works with price tags attached. I won't be able to afford any of them in this lifetime, probably not the next lifetime either!

Psergel Loc: New Mexico

russelray wrote:

Almost every restaurant in our art districts here have displays of artists' works with price tags attached. I won't be able to afford any of them in this lifetime, probably not the next lifetime either!

I don't think there are very many prints sold off the wall of the tavern I'm talking about. The prices are sobering.

ncshutterbug

I've sold several at local eateries, but I price them the same as anywhere else. I price them according to what I think they are worth, not what's attractive to patrons. I really don't want to sell at bargain prices, and I want someone who loves my work enough to want to pay my price. It's art, after all, not mass manufactured trinkets. I don't think one could make a decent living from photography, unless they become hugely famous.

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Onquest wrote:

So how did your weekend pan out, Jim?

Not great. Sold a lot of small stuff, so we made booth, but not enough to cover all production costs, and gas and lodging. Sales were about 1/3 of what I did in this show last year.

This is the reality of selling on the art festival circuit. Things change. How you do in a show one year does not necessarily reflect how you do the next year. It can be like this show was for me, or like the last show I did last season where sales were three times the previous years!

It is possible to sell photographic art in festivals and make a profit. It's just not guaranteed, and to have a chance one must be willing to put in the time, effort, and expense needed to play the game.

OK, shower, breakfast, and drive home to follow.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Having done a number of these both with a club and also on my own, you may want to consider getting a portable generator (at least 1000w constant output) . You need to consider lights for the tent, power for a printer if you are going to do these on site, and anything else that you many want (laptop, etc).
There are cheap ones you can get for ~ $100-150 but these are noisy, smelly, and the voltage can vary. If you are serious, see if you can rent one for the day and see what you think. Then you can always buy a decent one and suggest you look into a 4-cycle model so you don't have to worry about mixing fuel.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

Psergel wrote:

I don't think there are very many prints sold off the wall of the tavern I'm talking about. The prices are sobering.

Same here. "Sobering" might be the understatement of the year!

louelke Loc: Graham, WA

Photographer Jim wrote:

Not great. Sold a lot of small stuff, so we made b... (show quote)

Jim is so right, art festivals are like a crap shoot.
You can participate in the same festival with roughly the same attendance and your sales are going to fluctuate greatly, depending on the current economics, the current world situation, the current weather, and the current mood of the buyers.
We have done anything from $1100 to $8500 in the same 2 day show, changing up or down yearly.
We are mostly retired now after doing art & craft shows for 23 years, and have seen the high and the low (2007-2008).
It is a lot of work and we were always surprised how many people are under the impression it's all fun and this is something they want to pursue when they retire.
I told them when I retire (which is now) I just want to do photography for fun and not worry about whether or not it's a saleable image.

Onquest Loc: Just Wandering

Bummer and a little surprising as I thought the economy was starting to pull out of the doldrums in California. Palm Springs is a high dollar town, too. It seems it would be one of the places where there would be a few extra bucks for non essentials. Onward and upward.

Photographer Jim wrote:

Not great. Sold a lot of small stuff, so we made b... (show quote)

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Onquest wrote:

Bummer and a little surprising as I thought the economy was starting to pull out of the doldrums in California. Palm Springs is a high dollar town, too. It seems it would be one of the places where there would be a few extra bucks for non essentials. Onward and upward.

Home after the long drive through LA and up I-5.

Palm Springs is certainly a community with good demographics, but that doesn't always translate to good sales. There have been additional shows added to the PS area, and it may be getting over-saturated. The big La Quinta show was only a few weeks ago (rated the #1 art show in the US) which also cuts into some of the smaller shows. Very large tourist count this year as well (I swear the entire population of the city of Vancouver was in PS this weekend) and many were balking at carrying art home (even in shipping tubes).

This is the reality of art festivals. You can do fantastic one year, and not do well the next.

The trend in most of the US has been toward dwindling sales for a number of years now. At the same time, the number of shows actually increasing and thus "diluting" the uniqueness and novelty of festivals in some areas.

I greatly enjoy doing the festivals, and do not regret getting involved, but make no mistake about it, it is not an easy endeavor.

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

Dang, double post!

louelke Loc: Graham, WA

Photographer Jim wrote:

Home after the long drive through LA and up I-5. ... (show quote)

Oh, so true!!
BTW, did you ever do Issaquah Salmon days in Washington state? Your name is so familiar.

Photographer Jim Loc: Rio Vista, CA

louelke wrote:

Oh, so true!!
BTW, did you ever do Issaquah Salmon days in Washington state? Your name is so familiar.

No, but I have done the Bellevue Festival of the Arts the past two years, and the Coeur d'Alene Art on the Green show last year.

My dad also lived in North Bend in the 90's.

louelke Loc: Graham, WA

Photographer Jim wrote:

No, but I have done the Bellevue Festival of the Arts the past two years, and the Coeur d'Alene Art on the Green show last year.

My dad also lived in North Bend in the 90's.

Must have seen you in Bellevue then.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

jerryc41 wrote:

A lot of people have a lot of money. Selling cheap makes the product look cheap.

Not necessarily. It depends on who you are selling to.

Wal-Mart happens to be the biggest company in the world, and I see cars in the parking lot all the time that probably don't belong to the poor, cars like Mercedes, Tesla (this morning!), BMW 7 series, Acura, Corvettes, etc. People don't mind getting good product at good prices.

Nordstrom and Neiman-Marcus are known for their "high class" clientele, and I do admit that I've never followed someone out of those two stores to their Yugo. However, you could make one sale at Nordstrom for $500 or you could make 1,000 sales at Wal-Mart for $5. I'll take Wal-Mart.