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| By: Jesus Perez |
So you're a local artist or photographer and you're toying with the idea of selling your images at a local fair, event or farmer's market.
Questions like these are common...
- How do you set your prices at a local fair?
- How much inventory do you bring? Do you bring framed/matted images or duplicate copies?
- Is it worth it?
All these questions and more will be answered by pulling some recent experience from a local South Beach, Florida event.
In order to answer a few of these questions, I'll call upon some experience at a recent event. I helped out, Urban Art Forum, a Non-Profit organization with a Fund raiser on South Beach at a local (end extremely popular) Farmer's Market on Lincoln Road selling matted Children's drawing/paintings.
We took the images, matted the front and back and slipped them into these plastic sleeves. They sold pretty and we raised close to $200 in one day which was more than we expected. We also took paintings that were framed and not a single one sold. We left with the impression that people want the mat, but not the frame. And they'll only want the frame if there are options, options and more options.
Anyways, we noticed a few things. The price needs to be more or less in tune with the local clientele and prices. Since this was a very thrifty market, people started paying more attention once we dropped the price to $7 for one, $10 for 2 and $15 for 3. Then again, our cost was only around $1.50 per print.
Getting people to approach your stand is hard work. But people will generally approach you if there are already people there. This falls in hand with the "clearance corner" theory. People will, for some curious reason, hover and try to look at anything that draws attention. Soooo we took turns acting like customers and it would draw in people...then we would sell 'em.
Another thing...never, ever, ever stand behind the counter/table. Remove the barrier between the customer and yourself and more will be accomplished. This technique is slowly being accepted by retail establishments and soon you won't even see registers anymore. They'll be discretely tucked away so customer interaction is maximized.
Oh, and try doing something to attract attention. Maybe offer free photos, posings, etc to passerbys. Anything to spark a crowd. The perfect example of this is the traditional t-shirt Airbrush artist. Just the fact they perform work while attending a booth creates an "awe" factor that attracts people.
That being said, we brought 2 of each drawing. We had about 15-20 different styles. People have crazy taste. Stuff we thought would surely sell didn't and vice versa. In the end, we would know what to reprint. None were framed but all were matted.
Shoud you do it? Hell YES! Just the exposure and people you will meet will amaze you. If you sell...even better. You can make regularly weekly money on this...believe me.
Remember....Don't forget to take along a full portfolio of "other" shots and tons of business cards. Take them all. If you go with the attitude of having fun I guarantee it'll be an even better experience.
Good luck. |
Selling artwork at a local fair.