Selling Art Work
Many people make a hobby of visiting art and craft shows at the weekend, so you as an artist can get your work in front of this appreciative and ready-to-buy audience. But before you rush out with your latest not quite dry pieces a little research is in order.
Art shows advertise in local or regional publications and on local radio. Find out where and when announcements of forthcoming art and craft shows appear and make sure you keep yourself up to date. If you are lucky you could find reviews of art shows in some of your local papers.
Rather than start exhibiting your work right away, go to your local art show as a visitor. Get the feel of how the artists set up their work and the attitude of the viewers. Get the feel of how the craft fair or art show works. Take note of which stands get a lot of visits and any that get very little traffic. Strike up a conversation with some of the exhibitors and see if you can get some tips on what to do when you put yourself out there as an artist.
An important bit of info you could pick up by talking to stallholders is whether the visitors to a particular fair are browsers or buyers. You might not want to waste your time at a craft fair that doesn’t yield a profit.
One advantage of the art and craft shows is that you sell direct to your visitors. The fair organizers don’t take a commission – all you do is pay for the rental of your stand. So all the profit from the sale of your artwork goes in your own pocket.
Don’t stay with one price range. You can attract people to stop at your stand with moderately priced art and they could be converted to buyers of your higher priced works once they’ve started browsing. Also, while we are on the subject of money, you really should consider setting yourself up to accept credit cards as payment. Some people could be wanting to buy but hampered by not having enough cash on hand.
One aspect of selling your art at a fair that you might not have thought of is the need for help from a friend or a family member. Setting up at the beginning and the end of the day can sometimes be a bit of a challenge but also you might find that during a day at a craft show you will be in need of some company and moral support.
If you sell your art through a gallery or shop, or online, you probably know about the advantages of a mailing list. At your craft fair stand you can leave out some forms that people can fill so they can get updates on your production of new pieces and the venues will be exhibiting at.
Sometimes people who make money at weekend activities might fool themselves about how much money they are actually making. It’s always best to be brutal about keeping records of expenses. Put down every little thing. All the petrol expenses, money that you spend on food and drinks that you might not have spent if you were at home.
Finally, give yourself a fair chance to succeed as a professional artist or craftsperson. Do not give up until you have seen and covered every opportunity to show your work, save on expenses, attract visitors and work on your people skills. It may take longer than you first thought but it will be worth it in the long run.