Selling Prints on Ebay & to Magazines

rachell · Sep 8, 2006

Have any of you tried 'auctioning' off your prints on Ebay? If so, was it successful?

My photography is focused on the wine industry (grapes, vineyards, wineries, and so forth)

I contacted the photo editor's of several magazines relevant to the wine industry and emailed them a link to my portfolio.

What is the best way for me to follow up this email to remind them I exist? Won't follow up emails and postcards just get routed to the junk bin? Should I call periodically to let them know my portfolio has been updated?

darin3200 · Sep 8, 2006

eBay isn't very nice. There are a lot of people trying to sell their stuff and not many people buying.

mysteryscribe · Sep 8, 2006

I sold a couple of 20x30 posters there but only a couple.

markc · Sep 8, 2006

I've never tried it, but Ive heard that eBay is a tough sell for photographers. Not many people want to pay the kinds of prices that make it worthwhile to put the effort in.

There's a book called "The Photographer's Market" that you might want to pick up.

oldnavy170 · Sep 8, 2006

Wow, its funny that you bring this up because I have tried selling my pictures on Ebay. They didn't sell........I can tell you that people on Ebay are looking for the picture framed and matted. If I would of done that to mine then I might of been able to sell a few.

markc · Sep 8, 2006

Hello fellow Rachacharian.

I doubt if they would have sold even then. You would have had to raise the price to cover the frame and extra shipping. I think a lot is based on the mindset. The eBay thing is all geared around finding a bargain. At least when someone goes in a gallery they are expecting to pay a few dollars. I think mysteryscribe had the right idea. Posters probably have a chance.

oldnavy170 · Sep 8, 2006

Hey cool....your a local!!!

Well, after all the fee's ebay takes I ended up loosing money!!! :wink:

mysteryscribe · Sep 8, 2006

the two posters I sold there were both specialty and found just the right buyers... I tried two others that didn't even have a dozen people look at them. I figured it was too hit or miss to have posters laying about hoping ot sell.

From the for what it's worth department. One was a bicycle poster and one which got put over some guys basement bar. The other one a young woman bought for her dad's office. I have no idea if they were framed by the buyer or not but trust me I didn't get big bucks for either.

Johnboy2978 · Sep 8, 2006

I had the same idea when I was trying to raise money for my DSLR. I had a thought of having maybe 1/2 dozen images, sell each for a buck, and just email them a high res file. I figured it's only a buck, maybe people would go for it, and rely on bulk. After looking at a few auctions, I decided no one was bidding on any photography, so it was forgotten. Just figured I'd lose money by printing a bunch of stuff that may or may not sell and at least this way, I wouldn't be out anything but the ebay fee. Oh well.

ksmattfish · Sep 8, 2006

rachell said:
I contacted the photo editor's of several magazines relevant to the wine industry and emailed them a link to my portfolio.

The advice I was recently given by an art consultant who bought some of my stuff, was to email and ask if they were taking portfolio submissions, and see how they wanted that done. Emails do get lost, and it's hard to keep track of millions of website addresses; she suggested that mailing them a CD with images and contact info was easier for them to file, and dig up later, but only do it if they say to.