art sales

Anna Afshar watercolor

The Art Biz ep. 167: How to Have a Sale of Your Art and Feel Good About It

Discounting your original work might be unpalatable, but there are reasons for doing so, including the fact that unsold work is taking up space and energy. (Promotion might be a better word than sale.)

In this episode and article, I discuss the psychology and process around having a sale of your art or any products 6 options for structuring it and 3 mistakes you don’t want to make.

The Art Biz ep. 167: How to Have a Sale of Your Art and Feel Good About It Read

Artist Kelly Pelfrey on The Art Biz

The Art Biz ep. 162: She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be Every Month with Kelly Pelfrey

Kelly Pelfrey’s goal in 2020 was to replace her $50,000 teaching salary, but she quadrupled that. Her income has allowed her husband to leave his job to focus on his doctorate, feel comfortable about taking maternity leave, and save for college for her children.

In this episode of The Art Biz, Kelly shares her income sources, which are dominated by sales of commissions, followed distantly by releases of small paintings.

The Art Biz ep. 162: She Knows Exactly How Much Her Art Income Will be Every Month with Kelly Pelfrey Read

The Art Biz ep. 157: Increasing Self-Sales by 400% with Sarah Becktel

Sarah Becktel reveals how she increased her self-sales income by 400% by focusing on 5 indoor art fairs per year—all juried or curated—with different price points, up front costs, and markets.

She talks about her strategy for selecting the work each one: one is for only originals, another for only reproductions and products, and the third is a mixture of the two. Sarah also shares wisdom for other artists.

The Art Biz ep. 157: Increasing Self-Sales by 400% with Sarah Becktel Read

artist Mai Wyn Schantz | on Art Biz Success

The Art Biz ep. 109: Lessons from a Wildly Successful Pop-up Art Gallery Event with Mai Wyn Schantz

When Mai Wyn Schantz shuttered her gallery at the beginning of Covid, she hated to lose the relationships she had built over the years.

As soon as she felt it was safe, Mai Wyn organized a pop-up farewell exhibition with her artists. Her goal was to break even, which, as you’ll hear, was far too conservative a goal. Her “little” pop-up was more successful than she dreamed of.

The Art Biz ep. 109: Lessons from a Wildly Successful Pop-up Art Gallery Event with Mai Wyn Schantz Read

Ceramic bells etched artist Patricia Griffin | on Art Biz Podcast

The Art Biz ep. 97: Increasing Art Sales with Online Events with Patricia Griffin

Sometimes you need to throw out the old models for doing business and try something totally new. Maybe you’re bored with business as usual. Maybe the results aren’t as profitable as they were in the past. Or maybe you are no longer enjoying the same ole same ole.

It’s okay to go off script.

Yes, there are traditional practices for showing and selling your art, but it is a little ridiculous to think that those will continue to work in the same way they have in years past. As I said back in episode 96, you have to be willing and able to adapt if you are working toward a profitable art business.

On this episode of the Art Biz Podcast I talk with ceramic artist Patricia Griffin. If you visit her website during certain times of the year, you won’t see anything for sale because she has sold out. Zero inventory. What you will see are items she has sold and an opportunity to get on her list so you don’t miss a chance to purchase the next time her shop opens.

Patricia and I discuss what she refers to as events—the sales of her ceramics she has 3- or 4-times a year that sell out within hours and have led to a dramatic increase in income. She’ll describe the philosophy behind them, the promotional timeline, the collaborations to help raise money for nonprofits, and how the events are a valuable tool for her to cultivate relationships with buyers and potential buyers.

The Art Biz ep. 97: Increasing Art Sales with Online Events with Patricia Griffin Read

oil painting french boulangerie pastries artist Simonne Roy

The Art Biz ep. 75: A Quiet Gallery Experience with Simonne Roy

What is something special you can do for your email subscribers and collectors when your shows and large events are canceled because of a pandemic?

Give them a private viewing experience, of course.

For years, Simonne Roy has been hosting 50 – 60 VIPs for a one-night party in her home, which she transforms into a gallery. The money and effort she invested in the event resulted in good sales and meaningful relationships. Each year’s success built on that of previous years.

[caption id="attachment_31426" align="aligncenter" width="650"]Oil painting of sunflowers in a field artist Simonne Roy ©Simonne Roy, Sunflower Fields of Union County. Oil on canvas, 12 x 48 inches.[/caption]

When Covid struck last year, her hopes for a successful home gallery show were dashed, until, like many scrappy entrepreneurs, Simonne found a different way to make it happen.

She decided to hold the VIP appreciation without the party. In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast you’ll hear how Simonne gave people a private encounter with the art—something few people ever get to have. She calls it the Quiet Gallery Experience.

If she measured its success by the amount of sales only, she could have counted it a success. But sales were almost secondary because Simonne measured her success by the goodwill she created with her subscribers and collectors.

Listen closely to hear what she did to set the stage and make it special, what she would do differently next time, and how she netted the same amount of money from the participation of fewer people.

The Art Biz ep. 75: A Quiet Gallery Experience with Simonne Roy Read

film noir painting by Leslie Peterson Sapp

How To Discuss Slow Sales with Your Art Gallery

Sales from your art gallery are not what you expected or need them to be.

They sold a lot of your work at one point, but sales have dropped off significantly in the past couple of years—especially during the pandemic.

So what now? Do you ask for your work to be returned?

Not quite! Before you take such drastic measures, do the hard, but professional thing. Talk.

Opening a dialogue is your first course of action, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. First things first.

Assess Your Relationship with the Gallery

The conversation you have with your gallerist about slow sales depends on the answers to a number of questions.

How long have they have represented you?
How much work have they sold for you in the past?
What are the terms of your agreement with the gallery?
What is the nature of your past relationship?
What is the current state of the gallery’s business? How has it been affected by the pandemic?
What is the demand for your work outside of their venue?

2 Options for Opening a Conversation with Your Gallerist

Based on how you respond to the questions above, consider 2 options for opening a conversation about slow sales from the art gallery.

How To Discuss Slow Sales with Your Art Gallery Read

The Art Biz ep. 58: Adding E-Commerce to Your Website with Lynn Goldstein

Twenty years ago it would have been unthinkable for me to suggest that artists add shopping carts to their websites. Above all, it was crazy expensive to do so at the time. But also it was considered a bit tacky.

Boy have things changed! Not just since Covid, but even in the decade leading up to where we are now.

Online shopping carts are affordable and easy to implement, and the vast majority of the population is comfortable buying online—even buying art online. Some even prefer the online experience.

Then there are the galleries. Many of them struggle to make sales (again, even before Covid) and haven’t quite gotten the hang of social media. They were the last of the art world to come into the 21st century way of doing business.

But now even galleries are selling online, with mega-dealer David Zwirner leading the way in 2017.

Why wouldn’t you make it easier for people to buy directly from you?

That’s what Lynn Goldstein thought, too. She built a shopping cart for her website earlier this year. And the sales rolled in immediately after the March launch.

To date, Lynn has sold 18 original paintings and about a dozen reproductions directly from her site, and I wanted to find out how.

It must be said that neither Lynn nor I are not experts in all of the options you have for shopping carts. I wanted to share Lynn’s experience and, above all, her results.

Listen in if you’re curious about how she did it.

The Art Biz ep. 58: Adding E-Commerce to Your Website with Lynn Goldstein Read

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Your Artist Mailing List: Rethinking + Assessing

Get a transcript of episode 182 of The Art Biz (Rethinking Mailing Lists for Artists) followed by a 3-page worksheet to evaluate the overall health and usage of the 3 types of artist lists.

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