Gallery Fees

ynot

ynot

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I have an opertunity to display some photos with a gallery company. They will be displayed in a resturant and on a website for 6 months, the fee is £75 for a photo and the 50% of any sales made. The initial £75 covers printing and display fees but if any sales are made then the printing will come out of my 50% of the sale fee.
This sounds a little unfair to me as the gallery would make more than i would for very little work. How does it sound to others? Having never done anything like it before im unsure if this is correct and cant find anything like it to compare.
 
Not sure I've understood this correctly? You have to pay them £75 per image to display? I think whether this is fair or not depends on how much you're getting per sale ... if 50% less costs (£75 plus printing) means you're in profit, then I can see where they're coming from, but I agree that the allocation of revenue seems a bit unfair: they should take the printing costs out of the £75 fee and split the difference 50:50. I assume sales generated from the web site means they've got to print out a copy for the purchaser, but what happens to the images from the restaurant display at the end of the period, if they're not sold? Do you get them back, do they keep them or do you have to buy them back off the company? On balance this seems a bit too one sided for me, but on the other hand, it's getting your work out there ... If you're a pro, this could be important. If you're a keen amateur then it might not be as critical to you. Be interesting to know what you decide on.
 
Sounds more like the gallery are just lining their walls with your work and their pockets with your money to me, far too one sided. Lets face it they get to decorate their restaurant for free which otherwise they will have to pay for and they also get a regular turnaround of artwork which holds the interest of the clients better for their business, and you get ? how much are the prints going to sell for , and how much are they going to tell you the printing etc costs ? what size are these prints going to be as £75 is a lot to make back ?

Have your own made up and give them a commission for selling them whilst allowing them to use them in their restaurant , something more like 20%, place the value on your work you think it has don't be conned by what looks like a great way to display your work.
 
This article on Petapixel might be worth a read but here are the most relevant parts:

On paying fees:
Some galleries take a very small percentage in exchange for a monthly payment. Say it costs $300/mo to display in the gallery, but they only take 30%. If you can, avoid this type of gallery – and here’s why: you want to show in a gallery that only makes money when your art sells. By charging a monthly fee to display, they are essentially covering their costs without having to worry about the art selling, which means it’s taking away their incentive to promote the art. If you don’t sell anything they don’ t really care – they’ve already covered their costs on your monthly fee, get it? You want to display where they don’t make a dime unless your art sells.
Click to expand...

On places that aren't galleries:
Let’s also revisit the idea of combo galleries: places where they run a completely separate business while also displaying art for sale. Places like this should be taking no more than 30% commission at the most and here’s why: their commission is your way of paying a gallery for all that they do. That’s all the promotion to bring in potential art buyers, their contacts of past buyers that will be interested in your work, events that are specific to the art-buying community and much more. All the promotion a gallery does goes toward selling your work, and that is worth 50% of the commission.

In a combo store, however, a very small portion of their income might go toward bringing in potential art buyers. If they’re a coffee shop, for example, the vast majority of their marketing and promotion is going to be about getting people to come in to buy coffee. If someone happens to walk in and buy a piece of art, fantastic, but they aren’t actively pursuing it. Since only 20% of their income goes to promoting the art in their store, they should receive only 20% commission.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the reply guys.
To cover the questions asked,
It is £75 to display an image, this covers the printing, mounting and displaying of that one photograph.
The gallery have sourced the restaurant to display the photographs in and are independent to them.
The website is owned and run by the gallery.
Any sales, either through the display in the restaurant or from the website are split 50/50 but i would have to pay the cost of printing, i don't have to organise the printing or anything just pay the cost of it.
The image displayed in the restaurant i assume would be returned to myself after the 6 months.
The displayed photographs will be A2 size i believe, so id assume the prints for sale will be the same size.
The cost of the prints, I'm not too sure but id guess about £10 for a good quality A2 print.
The price of the photograph is down to me, but if the gallery feel I'm asking too much they will drop the price for me as I'm sure they would advise me to higher the price. I think they will suggest about £100.
Think that answers all thats been asked.

Thanks for the link Darren, gives me more of an idea even if this example doesn't really fall into either of the categories.
 
Too many "I think"s and "I assume"s in there. Find out exactly what the costs will be, what they'll charge for a print, will your cut be after VAT etc.. From reading above, it sounds like the restaurant and gallery between them have managed to find a way to get someone to pay them to provide pictures on the wall rather than them having to buy prints in. Maybe the gallery company are charging the restaurant as well as you...
 
So lets say you put in 10 prints costing you £750, all 10 sell at £100 = £1000 which is split £500 each and you get a further £10 per print taken from your for printing costs = -£100

So for your investment of £750 if they all sell you get £400 !!

Forget the website side as you have no figures or proof of how many ( if any ) you will sell through that.

If that sounds like a good deal to you then please drop me an email and i will find you a wall somewhere too ;) ( the great wall of china will make me a fortune ) :)
 
Speaking as someone who has started to exhibit my work to the public, and as someone who has spent quite a lot of time eating in restaurants (business purposes) over the last few years, my observations are as follows;

1) as Andrew has implied above, you'd probably want more than one picture to be displayed as from an aesthetic perspective they simply look better as a 'collection' in fact I'd have thought the restaurant would want several similar ones, otherwise it would end up looking like a camera club annual exhibition with a jumble of different styles, subjects, etc. I'm making assumptions here of course, but I'm not sure the restaurant owner would be happy with a price tag of some description on / hanging off the pictures.

2) I can't remember noticing any of the artwork in any of the restaurants I've been in. It's background decoration. I last ate out on Friday and can't remember if there were any pictures on the wall, let alone what they were. I've never been tempted to ask if I could buy any pictures I've seen in a restaurant either.

3) In my experience, Photographs don't have as much monetary value in the eyes of Joe Public as other forms of art. I suspect you'd have to sell a lot to make your money back.

Don't let this put you off though. If you think it's worth pursuing, then maybe ask for examples of what their other photographers they represent have sold pictures for, and see if you can speak to them? It could be a viable proposition, but I'd tread very carefully.
 
Thanks for the replays again.

I asked a few questions and if the commission was negotiable, to be told they are no longer accepting submissions as they have had an overwhelming response. Yet 3 days ago i was told by the same person that i could take some time to think about it and id get an email before hand when they are ready to print.

Its never nice a decision being taken out of your hands but on this occasion i feel as if it has done me a huge favour.

I hope i can now find a new adventure........
 
I buy a nice meal in a restaurant.. maybe have a glass of wine.... They could have a picture of me on the wall and I wouldn't notice..
 
ynot said:
they are no longer accepting submissions as they have had an overwhelming response
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be surprised if you get another message in a few days offering you a position that's "unexpectedly" become available (to make you think it's a rare/valuable opportunity) and advising you to decide quickly because someone else might get in before you (to introduce some time pressure and panic you into accepting).
 
If you wanted your photographs in a restaurant you could just as well approach one directly, but a restaurant is extremely unlikely to have gallery lighting. Their focus is elsewhere.
 
I guess its a lucrative market out there for these people as they realise how much people value having their images seen and use it to their advantage. Would be nice to know who they are so people can make a more informed choice ;)

To the OP , you should consider just framing and printing some yourself and getting a theme together and approaching local galleries etc yourself it will be cheaper and you will have more control. Most bars restaurants etc will happily display your work for NO FEE it it makes their walls look better . Then you can use their places as galleries effectively.
 
Gallery fees of 50% aren't uncommon, but you need to question the value of what they're offering. It would be top-end for a High Street gallery with specialist lighting, an established client list and a targeted marketing campaign. It's definitely over-the-top for a placement on a restaurant wall.

The trick is to find a way of balancing the risk and the reward for everyone involved. It doesn't sound like the "gallery" company has much to offer. You can usually approach cafes/restaurants/hotels directly for this sort of exhibit. Fund the print/mount/frame costs yourself and agree a 30% cut of the profit with the owner of the wall. But you do need to clarify who is responsible for the product whilst it's on the wall - liability of it falls off and causes injury/damage or in the event of theft, etc.
 
This kind of "exhibition" will do little to raise your profile... I'd avoid.

On the subject of fees, there's a feeling in this thread that galleries charging is somehow wrong or unusual. Galleries charge. That's how they make a living. As someone who's raised funds for exhibitions, both personal and for students, I can assure you that £1500 - 2000 a week to hire a proper art gallery space is not unusual.

[edit]

Approach your local galleries, as there's always those that are willing to work with you if your work is relevant for for them, especially if it coincides with an event, or theme they already have planned. I've sometimes had fees waived entirely, or greatly reduced.

Approach artist collectives too, as a group exhibition is obviously much cheaper.
 
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