Selling prints at a craft fair?

[TiaS]

I have a table booked for a very popular craft fair. There are other photographers that sell there, as well as a variety of other types of handmade things. I hope to be one of few photographers there (last time there was 2 I think). I am going to sell them all matted ready to "take home and put in a frame". I bought one there one year and it was a 5x7 matted to 8x10. Unfortunately I don't remember the price. I think it was 5-10 dollars. So I need to make some decisions.

1- what size to offer and maybe more than one size?
2- how many?
3- what price?

I was thinking to have 15-20 different photos (landscapes, nature, abstract) and to have 3 or 4 of each one.... but I really don't know if that is the way to go. I thought I would ask $10 for each one and have them 5x7 matted to 8x10. This is much cheaper than I offer them on my website and definitely a good deal... but is it still too much for a craft fair where people glance at the product and the price and make a quick decision based on bought in a very short time in a crowded room? I have to consider my costs too. I don't have a stand so I will probably lay them out nicely on the table face up and let people sort through them.... lay them out by type. Any feedback would be great.

 

[tirediron]

This is not something I've ever done, but I always check out the stalls of photographers who do set up at these types of fairs. Typically, the booths I see have at least 15-20 different prints in all sizes from 4x6 to 8x10, matted and unmatted and a good selection of each one, and usually with a few really nice framed ones up to 16x20. Pricing is a much harder thing to nail down; you have to not only consider your own cost, profit-margin and time, but the level of quality of the fair in general. If it's a fair where the typical item is hand-knit pot-holders selling for $5, I don't think you're going to have much luck selling $200 prints, but if it's a more artisan event with higher prices, than you can increase yours to match.

 

[Big Mike]

Ah, good to see that you are also trying to sell in-person, and not just on your web site.

I haven't tried this yet, but I've talked to several photographers who have. The usual story is that each show/fair is a bit different and what works at one, may not work well at another. And finding out what works, may take a bit of experimentation...and as such, it may take a few years of showing at a particular fair, before you really get the feel for what works at that show.

One strategy that I've seen often, is to have a few (or just one) image/product that will 'wow' as many people as possible. So for example, take your best image and have it printed as large as you can handle. Then have it framed (probably with matte) in a nice frame etc. You display this one proudly so that everyone can see it. You put a substantial price tag on it. Several hundred at the very least.
The idea is that people will stop by your booth and be impressed by the image (and it's size). They may not want to spend several hundred dollars, but that's when you bring out a smaller version of that image (8x10 with matte or whatever) and off that one for the low, low price of $50 (or whatever).

Many of the photographers I've seen at shows, have baskets full of prints, usually with mattes and in individual bags. I see a lot of people looking through them, but not buying many. I really think that having a large, impressive version of the photo, up on display, really helps to sell the smaller prints.

Another product is small prints / postcards etc. One photographer told me that while he had a nice display of beautiful landscape images, he often made as much or more money selling postcards at $3 each, 2 for $5. They weren't necessarily the same images either. The postcards were nice little images...not the big landscapes like on the bigger prints. So simple things like butterflies, animals/wildlife, rocks etc.

Many people at a craft fair will think long and hard before dropping $20 or more...but if you have something nice for a couple bucks, it's an easy sale. And I still think that the large prints on display will help here. They walk by your booth, are impressed by the large print and hopfully impressed by you as you chat them up. The longer they are there, the more likely they are to buy something...anything.

I don't have a stand so I will probably lay them out nicely on the table face up and let people sort through them.... lay them out by type.

Get stands, easels....something. You need to have something on display. I talk to several wedding photographers who set up booths at bridal fairs etc...and they will all tell you that how your booth looks, really reflects how people will feel about you. If you look like you're small potatoes...that's what they'll think of you and your work. But if it looks like you place a high value on your artwork, then they will feel that as well.

 

[Christie Photo]

Selling prints at a craft fair?

Yeah... not really a professional endeavor.

I'm not suggesting you shouldn't do this.

As for pricing, just ask whatever you're satified with. In my mind, the value of an image doesn't diminish or increase with the size of the paper. Paper is cheap.

Good luck!

-Pete

 

[TiaS]

Thanks for the input. Especially the post card idea

 

[spacefuzz]

Selling prints at a craft fair?

Yeah... not really a professional endeavor.

May I ask what is not "pro" about selling at a craft fair? I know several pro's who do so with quite a bit of success.

 

[mortovismo]

Top post Mike with some great ideas...especially the postcard one. I'm currently in the process of printing pictures here and there, and then ordering matting and bags when I have the cash to spare. Then hopefully after a couple of months I'll have enough "inventory" banked up to take part in a few fairs.

 

[Christie Photo]

Selling prints at a craft fair?

Yeah... not really a professional endeavor.

May I ask what is not "pro" about selling at a craft fair?

Sorry about the sluggish reply. Gratefully, I've been busy the past couple of weeks.

First, a craft fair is not a professional setting.

Also, the vast majority of craftsmen selling at a fair offer merchandise of a home-made level of quality and not so much "top-drawer" sort of items.

Shoppers at these fairs typically are looking for bargains. That's fine... we all like getting the most value out of our money.

But this is not a place where anyone looks when the need a lawyer or a physician. I want to believe that nobody will look here for a photographer.

Now... there is a difference between buying photography and hiring a photographer. But selling photography at a craft show, shoulder-to-shoulder with housewives that make pot holders or guys who carve owls out of tree stumps, will not advance the image of our profession... especially at $10 a print.

-Pete

 

[Tigertail]

"Advance the image of our profession..." Err, That sounds incredibly conceited to be honest. There are numerous events similar like to in LA and they are very popular for beginning artists and students. I would never think less of someone selling there versus selling a painting for thousands of dollars in an art gallery.

I would probably go with selling small to medium sized prints. A lot of people like little paintings/photos they can hang in their living room. Maybe see if you can get a deal on frames and keep a few in case people are willing to buy those as well. Just start out small and see how it does.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Pete, I like you but you are way off on this one. Maybe you need to get out more.

There are craft fairs of every level up to by-portfolio-only-incredibly-hard-to-get-into-judged ones. So depending on the quality of the photos you want to sell and the prices you want to get, you have to find the one that fits you but it is out there.

As far as helping the profession, a good chunk of what passes for professional photography out there is not helping any more than the $10 prints at small craft fairs.

 

[Christie Photo]

Pete, I like you but you are way off on this one. Maybe you need to get out more.

Thanks! I like you too, man.

And I absolutely DO need to get out more. I had no clue there are fairs so discriminating. That's a completely different animal. It sounds more like a "showing" than a "fair."

Sadly, I am aware of "what passes for professional photography" these days and the impact it's having on the industry.

-Pete