selling to art shops

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chris_tim

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Chris
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a friend of mine recomeneded selling prints of my stuff to art shops as a way of making abit of money on the side to help buy new equipment etc.

does anyone have experience of this? how did you go about it, and was it worth it?

cheers
 
HI!

Yes to your first Q.

Research and loooooots of legwork to your second Q.

Now your third Q. ---- Hmmm! Maybe, depends what you expect. NO, if you expect a return that will compensate you handsomely (as an hourly rate) for all that legwork.
 
Im watching this thread with interest.

I always have a conundrum in my mind. If an artist (painting with oils or watercolours) paints a picture and sells it... then THAT is the original.
If you buy a print of that painting it is way cheaper as it is only a print.

But it is our actual work that is a print. Do we charge high as it is our work... or realise that we can churn them out as it is "only a print" :shrug:
 
Janice said:
But it is our actual work that is a print. Do we charge high as it is our work... or realise that we can churn them out as it is "only a print" :shrug:
Click to expand...

Unless it is a limited run, numbered print.
 
I saw a bunch of prints from original oils today, about 30x20 ish going for £650 a pop. Limited runs of around 100. I'm sure the market is there, it's just finding the right outlets who've got customers with the money to spend.
 
I went to a small picture framers / art gallery today to discuss a printing service / limited edition run for their artists.

I have worked closely in the past with local art shops / picture framers as they tend to know the clients a lot better.

Pop into your local picture framer. He'll be able to advise on where to start with it and knows what sells.

Like others have said - some stuff is utter poop that you see out and about. There is some much better stuff that I've seen on here. Just need to know how to market them!!
 
Remember though that the retailer will take roughly half the sale price.. So if your mounted prints sell for £30 they make £15 and you make £15 minus the cost of materials.. Had a surf shop interested in taking a whole heap of my VW prints to sell, he wanted to sell them at £15 and wanted me to supply them to him at £7.50 or less. When I worked it out I would only be making around £2 per print.. It wasn't worth my effort at the time.
 
Janice said:
Do we charge high as it is our work... or realise that we can churn them out as it is "only a print" :shrug:
Click to expand...

Janice, I charge reasonably but I have to charge higher than the £50 suggested by EG.

I produce my own prints (A4,A3 and A2) to a high archival standard and in limited-editions. I liase closely with my framer.

The break-down would be as follows:

Income £50 (for A4)
less Outgoings:
VAT £7.50
Gallery commission £22
Framing £18
Printing costs £x
------------------
Profit... er what profit?
Oh yes, then less the Tax Man's share

Do you see the problem?

I regularly visit St Ives, the arty place in Cornwall and am constantly disgusted by the lack of quality or artistic ability in some of the original paintings for sale. Obviously churned out in 15 mins and not cheap!

(Rant starts here...)

Photography does not receive the same respect as a collectable ARTform in UK as it does in USA or Europe - this mainly due to togs not respecting it as such. This needs to change, we need to change our attitude - only then will public and art-buyers attitudes change!

If your images are good enough to sell - great! But if you do sell 'em you become a professional; being a pro tog does not stop at taking a great image - it begins there! Think professionally, BE professional, produce a professional product and charge a (reasonable but) professional price!
(Rant over!)
 
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