Renting space at event for landscape photos - worth the effort/upfront costs?

eoren1

Our town puts on a great Fourth of July weekend and, as part of it, has an Artist's fair with outdoor space available for rent. There is a nominal fee for being 'juried in' ($20) and selected for a space. $150 for an open space vs $200 for a tented one (you supply the tent/table, etc).

I thought this might be worth doing to sell landscape prints but wonder what others' experience has been in terms of sales at these events. I have 13 framed prints ready to go and another 4 matted ones. I would not want to purchase multiple matted prints (ie 20-30) and have a bin up for sale as that amount of upfront costs seems excessive.

Was thinking I would try to get my 2013 calendar done in time for the festival and bank on sales of that to drive most of my business.

Would appreciate any and all advice/comments.

Thanks
E

JimKarczewski

One thing to consider, as I have if I EVER thought about a show like this:

Do you have the means to take a credit card order ON THE SPOT? If not, it would be something to really consider...

irenelucier

If you have a smart phone, you can take debit/credit card payments with a service like square ( https://squareup.com ), and then there is the cool new system over at dwolla ( https://www.dwolla.com/ )

Both are easy, fast, and inexpensive.

from my phone

eoren1

Yup - already have the Square tool. Very easy (after getting through the login screen).
I realize this may end up being a very 'it depends' situation - my town on the Fourth is likely different from your towns. Still would be nice to hear of success/failure from similar attempts to sell landscape photos at these events.

Mark Dickinson

Doubtful for sales, but potential. If you can get next to kettle corn guy or other food area you might be in good while people are in line plus snacking people's Psyche is to shop. Haveyoudone a show beforehand sold? If yes what type of crowd? Art crowd, family oriented, or business chamber type show? I hope you do well for sure bring your square and depending on your work you may do well. Do you have a 10,000 photo and then smaller reasonable prints? It seems that's how I buy lol

Make limited prints, and also have matted 5x's or pano small ratio for easy carry away. Hope that helps..

eoren1

Thanks Mark
I have a show up at the Arts Association right now and sold two framed prints there.
I have otherwise only tried this once before and set up in front of a store with a fold up table selling my Calendars during our Christmas walk. Easily sold 20 or so calendars that day. Markup isn't huge on them though so would need to sell 20 just to break even on the cost of the space...

Sam

I don't know anything about your town or this event so take that into consideration.

My first thought is the pricing for the event. First they want to charge you to be juried in. OK for high end popular events. Then the standard space is without walls or canopy???? They charge you an extra $50 to allow you to put up what is required at any art show I have ever been to? Without some criteria for a booth I envision a flea market look and ambiance. This would not be conducive to fine art sales.

Next, 13 framed prints and 4 matted ones is totally insufficient inventory! If you can't spend the money necessary to provide a nice variety of your photography and some multiple prints of what you think are your most popular don't go.

Generally I think of the framed prints as examples rather than the main product for sale. You will sell more matted prints than framed prints.

Art shows are about presenting yourself to potential clients as well as direct sales. It's up to you how you present yourself.
Presentation is everything.

Sam

eoren1

Thanks Sam - very valid points and exactly why I have been hesitant to do this so far.
I wonder if it might be worth doing for straight calendar sales with my framed stuff hanging and an iPad showing my available work. I could take physical orders for matted/framed prints as opposed to doing that via the website as I do now.

eoren1

Sorry - was wrong about the pricing (just rechecked). Cost is for 10'x10' space - 150 is obstruced; 200 for unobstructed.

And pix of the 2010 event http://www.marbleheadfestival.com/photos/photos_2010/artisans_marketplace_2010/artisans_marketplace/index.html

Art Scott

My take on an event like this....you would need many more images from 8x10 up....the peole I know that do this use the folding sling baskets that will hold 75-100+ matted images that aare shrink wrapped...plus about 20-50 hanging framed pieces...plus the calendars and "post" cards in a rack and displayed a lot like in your pix....one thing I would add is a "portfolio" of other works, while a tablet computer is nice a book of work is still viewed a very professional....at different arts fairs I have been to i have heard many an artist say why yes I do have something like you are describing .....however it is back in Walla Walla in my storage building...but no way for them to see and order, while just across the grassy aisle is an old lady with a couple of hardbound books and softbound books she draggs out for people to order from.....it may not work in your part of the country, but these are the arts people that travel year round selling their wares....and it if you do this make sure you have a chamber member sign in plain sight for clients to see ....

Good Luck....4th of July is and is not quite a ways off.

eoren1

Thanks Art. Feels like it is just around the corner.
100 matted prints just seems crazy (at least with my getting them printed and matted at Bay). I don't own my own printer or mat cutter as this is not really a business. That being said, I'm always looking for ways to broaden my reach and raise awareness of the photos I've been taking. I may just work with local businesses to be part of their sidewalk sales and give up a percentage of my calendar profit in exchange. It should not cost me anywhere near the $200 for the spot at the Festival...

Nikolai

We have similar thing going on in our town. Unless you already have everything printed you'll be so deep in red it will take years to recover. Nobody's buying expensive stuff on these events. Sure, you'll have a lot of patting on your back, but the actual sales are not gonna happen... Sorry...
If you think otherwise, ask yourself, how much photo art have you purchased on these fair-like events. Ask you friends, colleagues and relatives. Then compare to your costs, rental fees, time while tending the tent, etc.
Now, if you were to sell hot dogs and beer - you have a chance ;-)

eoren1

More good points - thank Nikolai.

Feeling a bit 'stuck' at the moment with how far to take my photography 'business'. I have a full time job and photograph purely for pleasure. However, it is a great experience to show my work and see how it is received. And it's even cooler to have someone buy a print to hang on their wall. And then I start thinking well if I could only get more exposure it would easily pay for that dream 5Diii/17-40/24-70ii upgrade...

But, I want to continue to enjoy the photography and I know myself and what will happen if I continue to push the business/selling aspect too much.

Really appreciate everyone's input and am leaning strongly against taking part in this Festival. Who knows, if I place in the Festival of Arts competition, the free advertising from that will far outweigh any of these efforts.

Nikolai

eoren1 wrote: »

More good points - thank Nikolai.

Feeling a bit 'stuck' at the moment with how far to take my photography 'business'. I have a full time job and photograph purely for pleasure. However, it is a great experience to show my work and see how it is received. And it's even cooler to have someone buy a print to hang on their wall. And then I start thinking well if I could only get more exposure it would easily pay for that dream 5Diii/17-40/24-70ii upgrade...

But, I want to continue to enjoy the photography and I know myself and what will happen if I continue to push the business/selling aspect too much.

Really appreciate everyone's input and am leaning strongly against taking part in this Festival. Who knows, if I place in the Festival of Arts competition, the free advertising from that will far outweigh any of these efforts.

As a suggestion: find somebody who's actually doing this and offer your help in minding the booth. You will get a 1st hand experience with $0 cost, the only thing you'd lose is your time. I'm sure you will get a very strong idea of your own whether you'd like to do it next year.

eoren1

I already have a feeling that I'll want to spend that time with the wide assortment of fun (for the kids) and photographically great activities than be 'stuck' in the booth. Always helps to throw these thoughts against the sounding board here and get such great advice.
Appreciate it.

One of my favorites - build and paint a model boat then sail it in the kids regatta at the pond

Art Scott

yes family time can much more important than making a buck ...at times it is a hard decision to be pondered.....


A lot of the people I know buy their mats and backs in a kit with the shrink wrap...they have a local pro lab do the printing (and many I have asked at fairs will confess to using Sams Club for their prints....seriously and still charging 150 up for a 20x30 matted and shrink wrapped, Sams also offers a heavy poster board print for around $30{20x30}....my real prob in using Sams is the prints all have a white border, but it is not uniform, that could be the operators fault for not properly aligning paper, I do not know tho...) and get their matting kit from Redi Mats ... http://tinyurl.com/7jyzek3

slpollett

Adorama has their 11x14 prints on sale right now (thru 3/19/12) for $2 /each; metal prints $2.50. Instead of shrink wrap kits, try something like www.clearbags.com. I bought several sizes of their self-sealing bags & the cardboard backs and it seems like it added $1 or less to my cost for each print. I just watched for sales at adoramapix, and other places like ezprints & then I ordered my prints. The bags may cost a little more than shrink wrap, but the sheer convenience was worth the price to me. Easy, easy, easy plus they look very nice.

Your work is fabulous, so I am sure you will sell prints. Enough to make it worth your time??? Who knows, but I think if you offer your calendars, have a few framed prints right there, use your tablet to show more and take orders, and a modest assortment of various sized unframed prints you could do well. If part of the goal is just to get noticed and get the word out, then you don't have to sell a lot (just enough to cover costs).

We have a big art show here every summer that several photographers sell at. The ones with beautiful images will draw quite a crowd, but the ones that sell the most are the ones who have something to offer to folks who love the work but cannot afford the higher cost framed items.

Good luck, whatever you do.

Sherry

Gary752

Art Scott wrote: »

Sams also offers a heavy poster board print for around $30{20x30}....my real prob in using Sams is the prints all have a white border, but it is not uniform, that could be the operators fault for not properly aligning paper, I do not know tho...) and get their matting kit from Redi Mats ... http://tinyurl.com/7jyzek3

Art:
I used to work in a 1 hour lab at WallyWorld and I can tell you that anything over 8x12 is done through their send out service which is FujiFilm, unless they they have been converted to a drylab (all inkjet printers), then they would have the wide format printer and be able to do up to 20x30's in store. As for the white border, I have done quite a few 20x30's and have found that if you use the kiosk in the store, a photo cropped to 4x6 will generate an edge to edge print by using the + &- to adjust. Any other crop will give the white edge that you mention. I don't know what they are charging now, but the last ones I made, back in Dec., was around $20.00.

GaryB

jarboedoggart

I have done some large Art Festivals in the past, and always broke even with just a little profit. BUT, I always found it worth it with a tiny bit of profit to get your name out there, meet a bunch of people, and be part of the local scene.

I wouldn't recommend doing it for the money.
I would recommend it cause it is a lot of fun. (exhausting, but fun)



EDIT: OOOOOHHHH, your also in MA, I can be more specific and tell you I took part in a few "stART" events in Worcester.

Art Scott

BroPhoto wrote: »

Art:
I used to work in a 1 hour lab at WallyWorld and I can tell you that anything over 8x12 is done through their send out service which is FujiFilm, unless they they have been converted to a drylab (all inkjet printers), then they would have the wide format printer and be able to do up to 20x30's in store. As for the white border, I have done quite a few 20x30's and have found that if you use the kiosk in the store, a photo cropped to 4x6 will generate an edge to edge print by using the + &- to adjust. Any other crop will give the white edge that you mention. I don't know what they are charging now, but the last ones I made, back in Dec., was around $20.00.

GaryB

Gary ...
don't want this to hijack the thread..however in response....the quoted price was for the heavy poster board 20x30...{a standard 20x30 is just 8.95 in this area and prices are slightly different in different parts of the country} ... that is not on the SAms price sheet or wall, but you get it by asking, it is a specialty item....all the Sams and Wallys are dry labs now, at least in this area....Fuji Frontier using crystal paper except for the wide format printers Which are Epson Printers....the border on the "poster" prints only bothers me because it is not a symmetrical 1/4inch..it is lop sided and to a client that just looks terrible....

Gary752

Art Scott wrote: »

Gary ...
don't want this to hijack the thread..however in response....the quoted price was for the heavy poster board 20x30...{a standard 20x30 is just 8.95 in this area and prices are slightly different in different parts of the country} ... that is not on the SAms price sheet or wall, but you get it by asking, it is a specialty item....all the Sams and Wallys are dry labs now, at least in this area....Fuji Frontier using crystal paper except for the wide format printers Which are Epson Printers....the border on the "poster" prints only bothers me because it is not a symmetrical 1/4inch..it is lop sided and to a client that just looks terrible....

From your description of the paper, it's still a wet lab, with the wide format inkjet printer. Do they have the HP instant print setup or the old Kodak there as well, or just the 1 hour?

GaryB

Bendr

BroPhoto wrote: »

From your description of the paper, it's still a wet lab, with the wide format inkjet printer. Do they have the HP instant print setup or the old Kodak there as well, or just the 1 hour?

GaryB

I worked in a wally lab too, we had just gotten 2 Fuji DL600s(gorgeous colors) and an hp creative system wide format printer... But Back on point...

I think he's talking about Sams club... They have epson wide format printers, as far as I know, only wally has gotten anything HP at this point.

Ben