Questions to Ask About Entries in an Art Fair

21 Ways To Make More Money At An Fine art Off-white

Tips And Tricks On How To Make Money At An Art Fair

Making money as an artist can exist a difficult journey to navigate, fifty-fifty for the tenured few. And whilst daunting, art markets can be very rewarding…if you know what to do. But don't worry, Our easy guide on how to make coin at an art fair is here to help you through it!

Whether this is your first or fortieth fourth dimension at an art fair, we have all the tips and tricks to increase your monetary success.

Firstly, are art fairs worth it?

Well, that's for you to make up one's mind. Yous may accept seen them advertised online or even visited one yourself; merely if yous would similar to get a seller, these markets can exist an incredible way to interruption into the scene.

If you're already selling fine art online, selling in person is a smart next step. Trading at different fairs enables you to proceeds commercial awareness around your work and any previous experience inside the fine art buying domain is useful. You'll besides find that this helps to cement a name for yourself.  From here you volition meet an array of people ( including art collectors and galleries) and you'll begin to detect your target audition. Whilst building up your post-obit you're jump to come across other traders and artists, another valuable attribute that fine art fairs give yous abreast a profit. If y'all feel comfortable, ask other artists questions and take notes from their success.

As with anything, it may accept a while to build upward to that kind of fluency, but it's definitely worth a go. Selling online is an easy gateway into the world of commercial art that can be expanded and adult over fourth dimension. Our art store page has unique pieces to fit any budget, each artwork is handmade past talented local artists; some who will exist seasoned traders and others who will exist selling for the very first time. Take a await to discover out more!

So at present that you're ready to effort an fine art fair, you need to know how to go the nigh out of it! Check out our listing of tips beneath on how to run a successful art stall and subsequently, how to brand coin as an artist, even as a beginner.

1. Choosing The Right Art Fair

Choosing the right art fair is equally crucial as the art you'll be selling on the day. If information technology's your commencement market, the all-time option is to go with a lesser known and budget friendly option. This helps you to get a experience for the process whilst taking the pressure level off selling everything. This likewise might assist you make some of your expensive tabular array toll dorsum. Y'all want the fine art fair to be worth the coin you put into it.

Information technology'south important to do your inquiry. Ideally, yous desire to find a market with a good reputation, high foot traffic, and affordable table fees. Visiting art fairs beforehand is a good thought; take a look around and see what it'due south like. Ask the stallholders how much the tables are and if they observe it was worth it to them. Information technology doesn't hurt to ask, plus you're getting bonus points for networking.

Some of the all-time examples of London fine art fairs include: The Other Art Fair , Frieze London , The Affordable Art Fair and London Craft Week . Crafty Play a joke on and Solo Craft Fair are great for starting time-time sellers.

2. Applying to Good Art Fairs

Information technology'southward highly likely that an art fair will also require some type of application process earlier your spot at the market is secured. This will toll you time and money, so brand certain you lot follow the kickoff stride by making sure this is the right art fair for you. Artists volition encounter these types of applications time and time once again throughout their career, especially where money is involved. Therefore, it's a good idea to get into the practice of writing them. The White Pube currently has a neat resources full of successful funding applications that could be useful to you somewhere forth the line.

This side by side part sounds obvious, but it's of import to double cheque the application requirements too, for example, what format your images should be sent as. Simple errors like this could upshot in a rejection direct away.

As a general dominion, your images should be displaying your best and most recent work that relates to each other in some way. Keep the images clear, in focus, bright and good quality. Yous may also be asked for a 'booth shot', so the organisers tin see that you'll be bringing a professional person feel to their fine art market.

3. How Much 'Stuff' To Bring

How much art should you expect to bring? Firstly it's important to proceed in mind your travel plans to and from the art fair. Does the location have parking? How far is the nearest station? This will touch on the practicality of how much you can take.

• Always start with your well-nigh popular pieces first. If you already take an thought of the pieces that sell well or receive the virtually attention, you'll desire to bring a few actress of those. This tin can besides assist to inform the remainder of your drove past bringing similar pieces.
• Do non try to cater to everyone! Instead, think of the target audition you're trying to attract,  as these are the people who will be more likely to buy your art and take a longer term interest in your craft. To summarise, you can't please everyone, so don't try to.
• For smaller markets, information technology can be adept to bring a small-scale drove of products, almost v-x of each item or size, items like prints, jewellery, t-shirts, ceramics. For larger markets, increase this to about 10-xx of each particular.
• For large commissionable/custom pieces start low, mayhap under five individual items. This works well for pieces such every bit large original paintings, tapestries, and carpentry.
• Always display a few to make the stall feel "full" just hide the rest and replenish every bit you become.

Download this fine art off-white checklist

iv. Pricing And Labelling

Clarity around pricing of your products is crucial at fine art fairs, peculiarly for potential customers. Don't be that person that doesn't cost items in hopes that people volition enquire you and offset a chat. If you're already with a customer and someone else wants to know the price of something, they're just going to walk on by without disturbing you. With the price already indicated, they're more inclined to wait until you lot're finished if they're interested in buying.

Additionally, someone might presume something will be out of their budget upon first glance. With your price tag on brandish they will detect how affordable information technology is and decide to purchase, mayhap even two!

Art fairs are also a great place to consider having an exclusive deal. Offers like 'But for today' and '3 for £30' are more than likely to proceeds attending than regular toll tags. It may incentivise people to buy information technology at present rather than have your business organization card away to think about it.

5. Fine art Fairs And Public Liability Insurance

This piece of communication is very simple all the same fundamental to most art fairs. It's important that when you're selling products to the public that you're insured. Almost craft markets won't permit you trade without ane, then bank check earlier you go that you accept it!

Nosotros recommend A-N Artist Insurance , they are an affordable option for many artists, curators, and arts organisations, with annual plans starting at only £38 (or £16 if you're a student), which includes £x million coverage for Public and Products Liability.

6. Set up Achievable Goals For Your Art Stall

As with all new ventures, it'southward good to accept something to work towards. Make a realistic sales goal for yourself to effort and achieve. Yous'll feel increasingly positive if your aim was to sell 2 pieces and you lot sold 4, instead of setting a goal that was likewise high that you couldn't reach.

Realising the result of your goals requires you analysing your total costs from start to end. Obviously the main goal is to brand money at an art fair, merely after you add together everything together you lot may notice that you've made a loss. Sometimes, the money you wait to make at an art fair can be manner out. Either way yous should requite yourself a pat on the back and consider what y'all did accomplish. Keeping track of these goals is important to finding areas to improve for the next art fair and in turn, making more coin the side by side fourth dimension yous get! Another art fair related goals might include building your email subscription list, learning to talk about your art, meeting your target audience, networking with galleries and edifice your conviction.

seven. Decide Your Aesthetic

At present this tip extends beyond making more money at an fine art off-white. Y'all can get very creative here and actually cater to what kind of target audience you want to attract. Although watch out, do not over complicate matters! Stick to 1 theme and carry it through to other aspects of your branding, keeping displays clear, simple and tidy. It's easy to experience like you want anyone who walks in to be able to discover something they like at your tabular array, simply you lot must stay true to your aesthetic..

Creating a certain experience and feeling effectually your products allows shoppers to immediately understand what your art is trying to convey. By doing this at an art fair, yous're more likely to exist remembered by visitors and they'll associate a particular booth style with your fine art. People who marshal with your art are more probable to understand what you're doing and want a slice of it. If viewers don't sympathise what information technology is you do yous might non get that sale. Returning customers are more than probable to be the people who identify with your aesthetic and art mode.

8. Get Your Visual Branding Right

Following on from the point above, you volition find that branding at an art fair becomes a very important factor. Even if you've got a blank, tiny pea-sized table, you should be able to get your brand's paradigm beyond successfully with a flake of work. You want visitors to firstly be drawn towards your stand and have a lasting impact that they'll call up once they've left the market. Creating a brand'south image is basically downward to three things: Colours, font, and style.

nine. Market And Advertise Your Brand

Once you accept a branding style decided, it's fourth dimension to marketplace yourself! Make your name/trader name visible and bring enough of business organisation cards – no brainer. Services like VistaPrint have a broad variety of marketing materials, plus they're budget friendly and easy to gild.

Large tip in terms of marketing: get yourself online , if you're non already. Information technology's absolutely crucial to have a website in today's digital age. Even if you're non so tech-savvy, websites can exist so uncomplicated to fix up and cheap to brand (even free!). Some of the best and easiest website builders out there are Squarespace , Weebly , Wix , and Shopify. All of them fifty-fifty let y'all to have your own art shop right on the website, increasing the potential income you can make from your art.

Absolutely, having an online shop straight on your website can have fees that y'all may not be prepared to pay out for as a beginner. That'southward why amazing marketplace platforms like Etsy , Society6 , ArtFinder are available and extremely popular amongst sellers. At that place are fees associated with these sites, but the costs are significantly smaller than having your ain online shop.

If you're not in the position to impress and bundle all your art prints and pieces by hand from your home or studio, you lot might consider Print on Demand marketplaces that do all of that for you lot! When a customer purchases something from your online art store, a POD prints, packages and ships the work direct to the customer on your behalf. Printful , Society6 , Zazzle , Cherry-red Bubble are all great options

At the very least, if non a website or market shop, you should be utilising Instagram for any visual art or craft brand. Instagram is a brilliant way to lay out all your beautiful artwork in i highly visible identify. Information technology's also a great manner to track appointment, who your followers are, and what people similar. Having Instagram means you can let your following know when you lot'll be at an art fair and promote yourself!

10. Be Organised

Existence organised at an fine art fair tin can make the experience a lot less stressful. Make a 'To-Do' and 'To-Bring' list before yous gear up off. This way you lot can avert that atrocious realisation that you lot forgot something crucial. The side by side few points cover some key things yous cannot miss off your lists!

Download this gear up-made Fine art Fair Checklist and To Bring List!

xi. Bring Cash And A Carte Reader

Y'all'll want to have enough of all cash denominations on hand as well equally the option to pay by bill of fare. Roofing all the payment options increases the amount of people who tin can buy on the day. Services like iZettle, are super simple, intuitive and fast. It connects to iPhones and android, so spare a thought for the mobile data you might need to use, since wifi isn't ever reliable or accessible.

12. Plan Your Production Packaging

People may be buying from multiple stands at an art fair and they tin't agree it loose in their hands. You will need to decide what your customers volition take their purchases home in and have enough for what y'all're expecting to sell. Paper bags are a slap-up eco-friendly selection, but also consider more protective elements if the detail is fragile. We take some great packaging options in our art shop too. You could even slap your logo on the front of it too to heave your marketing attain.

thirteen. Use Props And Staging

Linking back to creating an overall artful, you should definitely consider using some display assist for your stall. Things like boxes, tabular array shelves, display stands/risers, sign holders and pic frames for your prints can increment your visibility and professional feel.

Think height. Your table brandish should e'er have an element of meridian. Whether that's a box, or a table shelf, something to bring the middle upwards and around the products on your table.

To keep costs low, await around your house beginning before yous head out to purchase annihilation. If you're selling jewellery, you'll definitely demand a mirror. Other more decorative elements include table plants or ornaments, only if information technology makes sense to your make style. It helps to picture show what the item on sale will be used for/where it will exist situated in order to use decoration to raise the product.

14. Consider Your Own Lighting

Art like prints, paintings and drawings heavily relies on lighting. You lot never know what the lighting situation will be similar in your art off-white spot, or whether yous're near whatever sockets. And then consider bringing an additional lamp and a long extension pb just in example. Even if you don't end up using your light, another seller might.

As our Dark Yellowish Dot founder Lauren Little explains "I in one case brought a lamp but when information technology was plugged in, it didn't reach the area I needed it to illuminate. I had no light! Someone generously gave me their prune-on lamp that they weren't using. Needless to say, that was a lifesaver".

15. Exercise A Dress Rehearsal of Your Booth

This is another manner to prepare at abode or studio before the mean solar day of the art fair! Get the measurements for your assigned art market place table and map it out on whatever surface you accept access to. This will exist incredibly helpful in your set up-up on the of import day, saving time to get on with other jobs that tin directly earn you more than money.

You'll realise that something you had planned in your head doesn't quite work in existent life. Give yourself time to exercise this. If yous're missing things or could utilise an extra brandish chemical element yous volition have time to grab one instead of realising on the day.

xvi. Start your Email List

It's a skillful thought to commencement collecting emails from interested customers as you keep. You lot can let people know about your upcoming markets, exhibitions, new products and any related art news. This helps to keep your audience engaged and increase the chances of selling products subsequently the art fair has finished!

Simply leave out a clipboard with infinite for the public to write downwardly their details. Or if y'all're feeling really tech-savvy y'all could create a QR code that takes people directly to your email sign-up folio on your new website!

17. Bring Something Productive To Do

In quieter, downwardly times (which there volition be) it could be a good idea to lure people in by showing an insight into your art process. Endeavour sketching or using some watercolour on the side of selling your work.  Plus it's much better than beingness on your telephone, seemingly disinterested.

Being on your telephone is off-putting to visitors and potential buyers. Instead, save some prewritten captions to your telephone so you can easily copy and paste the text if you need to postal service on social media during the art fair. Schedule the mail service for subsequently so yous don't take to be thinking of captions and typing on your phone in the centre of the day when you're supposed to be selling your piece of work. Document your booth using video content or alive streams, this allows you lot to have engaging content for your followers and you're able to repost the footage and perhaps apply it for promotional ads later. Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram Stories, Reels, and Alive are the most effective places to mail video content. Accept a movie of your table just afterwards you've fix and earlier the crowds beginning rolling in.

18. Bring Snacks & Water

Information technology's always a skillful idea to bring some food and water along with you, it volition be a long day! We recommend healthy, energising snacks or seize with teeth-sized foods to munch on throughout the day, instead of big lunches or meals. Information technology's can be a little awkward when someone starts talking to you and you've got a mouth full of hot fragrant nutrient. Y'all want to keep the professionalism upwardly at the aforementioned time as your energy levels.

xix. Expect The Part

Marketplace yourself and stand out by putting some thought into your outfit for the twenty-four hour period. Represent your brand by wearing your products, or matching your aesthetic. Wear something that makes you feel good and professional. That free energy will radiate onto your customers and provide them with a practiced feel. A top tip for art fairs is to wearable comfy shoes every bit you may be on your feet nearly of the time.

xx. Get There Early And Have Fun!

No one likes being tardily to an of import consequence. 45 minutes to an hour should exist plenty of time to go your display in lodge, only factor in your individual circumstances. The apparel rehearsal you lot would have done beforehand will help with this. If y'all've got extra time, get to know your neighbours and have a look around. Remember, art fairs tin be a great identify to network and brand friends. Spare a bit of time to detect out where the bathrooms and exits are to avoid any drastic situations.

In one case you're all set up up and ready, information technology's become time! Call back to smiling and have fun people-watching whilst selling your creations.

21. Evaluate Your Experience

Throughout the day, keep a notebook and pen handy to jot down items that people seemed the most interested in and comments they fabricated. This includes taking notes of items that people picked upwards the most but didn't purchase. Try to figure out why and build upon this for the future.

Subsequently all is said and washed, reflect on your experience to ameliorate your next marketplace. Y'all're bound to come to many realisations about art fairs which helps if you lot make up one's mind to attend another.

Things to ask yourself after the art fair:

• Did this art market cater to my target audience?
• Which type of items sold the most at your stall and throughout the market?
• What made the other stalls more or less successful than yours?
• How tin you lot improve your tabular array display?
• Exercise you demand to bring help next time?

If you found this article useful, share it around to assistance other artists looking for to make money at an art fair! You can as well sign up to the mailing list for posts like this. And if you lot accept whatever unanswered questions, driblet us a message on our Instagram or Twitter (@darkyellowdot)  and we'll do our all-time to help out!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to share your fine art with usa by submitting your piece of work or tag #darkyellowdot on Instagram @darkyellowdot

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Source: https://www.darkyellowdot.com/make-money-art-fair/

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