Trying My Hand at Selling Matted B&W Prints.

[Hawaii Five-O]

I would like trying my hand at selling matted B&W film prints. I have my enlarger on the way, only paid $35 for it. Do you think thats a good idea? Do you think charging $20 for an original print is too much for a mediocre photographer?

An example of what I might try and sell

 

[yogibear]

Im no expert on the subject being new myself, but id pay 20 dollars for that photo. It has a nice mood. I have trouble hanging enlarged photos in my house because they just dont fit well as a big piece of art. This feels like a painting to me. Id say go for it. Whats the worst that can happen?

 

[Village Idiot]

Are you shooting film or digital?

And $20 isn't a lot for a print.

But then again, selling prints can be a *****. Unless you have a market that wants them or you're going to weekend shows and such, you may end up with a fair amount of prints laying around your workspace and with no one buying them.

And what are you going for anyways? Profit or just getting your work out there?

 

[Big Mike]

If you try to sell it for only $20...people will only think it's worth $20...to them, it would only have a value of $20.
But if you try to sell it for $100, people will tend to assign a greater value to it.
If it means more to you, it can mean more to them.

Now, how much will they actually pay for them? That's the million dollar question. It probably depends more on your salesmanship than on the product.

 

[ATXshots]

I like it...I'd pay $20...hey I'm broke and I'd pay $35 or so...

 

[Hawaii Five-O]

Thanks for the input guys! The prints I would be trying to sell would all be from film. I would like to make a little profit, and also to try and circulate some of my work out there. I thought $20 might be on the lower side, but didn't want to put too high a price.. As I've to art festivals before and people were selling 8"x 12" for $35. My prints would be 8"x10".

 

[TamiyaGuy]

I would pay £10 for that, in my opinion. It's a generally eye-catching and visually pleasing photo (I say this because certain photos can be fantastic, but really ugly somehow). I would say put it for $20 at first, then, if people like it, start putting some others on for more money, or bring out some larger prints of that. Good luck out there!

 

[Dionysus]

how does one go about selling their prints, short of opening up a booth at a farmers market or something? i'm on deviantart, due to the possibility of selling some prints, but didnt know if there were other sites like that to upload to, that have more exposure. I'm not interested in being professional or turning crazy profit, just maybe some place that may result in a few print sales here and there, to fund future photography purchases. i dont need profit, just more equipment LOL

 

[ann]

you need to consider the cost of making the print, that includes, how much experience you have in printing. How long , how many test prints need to be made before you have the best print possible. How long does it take to spot , mount, etc.

consider all the cost, time , film, supply cost, etc.

selling photography is not easy, many people do not find value in something they "think" they can do , or "my uncle harry has that kind of camera so why should i pay you".
as others have suggested you need to find a market, or a gallery that will help spread the word that your images need to be hanging on their walls.

good luck

 

[Braomius]

Im not sure if this has been said, im at work so im saying this quickly. If there are any faces shown in the photograph you are trying to sell it is illegal to sell it without their knowledge / model release form. (as far as I know) I doubt it will bite you on the ass now but if you ever became really good at sell it could come up to haunt you

 

[92sir]

I would pay $20 for that and even more lol.