Selling Prints...Portfolio Diaster

[Risingdreams]

I have recently decided to start up a small business of selling card stock and prints of photography I have taken of horses and nature. I won't be able to do photoshoots and take in clients yet I can take pics of nature and animals/horses myself. I would like to sell those photos that I take if their good. What about a portfolio though, do I just say that photos in my portfolio are for sale or have separate photos for sale?!? I'll be doing clients next summer but I'll be starting up my business around Christmas time...

 

[AceCo55]

You have chosen a hard road to tread, but I wish you well.

I think YOU decide what images you want to sell ... whether that be a selection in a "For Sale" category or your portfolio. I think the greater challenge will be to get enough people to even see your work ... and then see enough inspiration in it to part with their money.

Marketing, marketing, marketing and salesmanship are likely to be at least as important as the images.

 

[tirediron]

What Ace said. Unless you are that one in a million photographer, you're virtually guaranteed to lose money. If you're willing to make a substantial investment (~$2K+) and put in a LOT of time, then you might be able to break even on the farmer's market and art show circuit in your area, but that means giving up every weekend and driving wherever the shows are, setting up, and probably not selling very much. It also means having a lot of stock. If people are going to buy images of this nature they're going to buy them now, not wait for delivery.

Horse images (unless they're wild horse images) are likely to be bought only by the people who own that horse ( -would you buy a picture of someone else's child?), and there are a million people selling landscapes, so... that's not to say that you can't do it, and do it well, but the odds are not in your favour. Good luck!

 

[sm4him]

Ace and tirediron have already covered the "hey, good luck with THAT" aspect of this plan. All I'd say is, don't quit your day job!
Learning to take outstanding photos that are worth selling is HARD. But it turns out, that's actually the EASY part. Actually making money from selling them, that's far tougher!

Anyway, with that caveat out of the way:
You don't say WHO you plan to sell these photos to, or how you plan to go about that.
Are you selling to the general public through craft shows, and such? Are you trying to get your photos into some local stores or art galleries? Do you plan to try to sell them (particularly the horse photos) AT specific events?

To me, a Portfolio is NOT a collection of photos for sale. Your portfolio is your photographic resumé. It's the physical collection of your BEST work; it's what you show people like art gallery curators, gift shop owners, etc. to convince them that your "body of work" is worth their time to market.
If you're selling directly to the public, you wouldn't be showing them a portfolio. You'd just have whatever photos you want to sell already printed, plus a price list for ordering other sizes, etc.
Do you know how much you need to charge to even begin to make a profit? Do you know what your actual cost of doing business would be?

 

[Designer]

What about a portfolio though, do I just say that photos in my portfolio are for sale or have separate photos for sale?!?

I think it would extremely rare for someone to want to buy one from your portfolio (unless it was an outstanding image).

Your portfolio is not actually intended to be for sale, but it is something to show prospective clients what you are capable of. If your portfolio is impressive, they will hire you. If your portfolio looks as if their 12-year-old could do as well, then they probably will not hire you.

 

[vintagesnaps]

In my area there are a variety of craft shows, art center gift shops, etc. It depends, some are weekend shows where a seller would rent a table/booth. Some places accept artwork in consignment, where the shop gets a percentage of the selling price since they are handling the display and sale of the merchandise.

You could select photos from your portfolio to sell as prints, greeting cards, etc. but no, typically buyers would not purchase directly from your portfolio. You might use your portfolio to show your work to a gift shop or organization holding a show where you're requesting to sell your artwork. Check the website of anyplace you're considering to find out if/what they accept; some for example may have an annual holiday show and might be looking for arts & crafts.

It depends on where you live but usually at some point you'd need to look into paying taxes on items sold, what's involved in becoming a small business, etc. Try professional photographers organizations like American Society of Media Photographers or PPA for resources.

I would expect this could possibly develop into a sideline to make some extra money but it would take time and work to build it up from that; I wouldn't expect it to become full time income.

 

[dennybeall]

Making money with photography has always been about capturing photos that the client can't capture for themselves. Either they don't have the time, the skill, the location or equipment to do it or they're involved in the activity.
When you look to sell photos consider these bits of info.
Consider, for example, they can take a photo of their horse but can they produce one with the horse on a background of the western desert. How about a shot of the horse going over a jump taken from a unique angle with a remotely controlled camera.