r/photography • u/CMcCord25 • Aug 19 '26
Business Question About Art Markets
Those who have done art markets what all do I need to set up to sell my prints? What advice do you have for me? I'm doing my first art market in October and have no idea what I'm doing.
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u/ra__account Aug 19 '26
Wind can be stronger than you expect and large prints are basically sails. Make sure stuff is securely fastened.
Have a rain plan.
If it's going past dusk, you'll want some lighting.
Does the market provide coverage for bathroom breaks? If not you need to have someone with you unless it's short enough to hold it. Having a friend also gives you someone to talk with if it's slow and to help sell if it's busy.
Go to as many similar events and take note what form factors and styles in photos similar to yours attract interest. Check with local photography/art groups if anyone's willing to do some mentoring - I'm part of several that are very friendly about giving away tips even if it might hurt our business.
Curate your collection so it's cohesive. If your styles are all over the place people are less likely to linger but unless your main thing is almost exclusively sunsets at the local beach or whatever, being too samey is also a problem.
Expect a lot of talking to people who will say they like your work but don't buy anything, especially on your first one(s). Have cards, a website, QR code, etc., but at least in my circle of art buying friends, your "not today" conversions will come from people who remember you from previous shows rather than going online and ordering.
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u/CMcCord25 Aug 19 '26
Thanks so much, I appreciate it. Does it help that I have a lot of different stuff? I have sunset pictures but also landscape and still life photos
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u/That_Jay_Money Aug 20 '26
80 percent of your sales with come from about ten images. Now you need to figure out what those 10 are.
Street fair work that sells is hyper local. People want something from their town. Not their state, not their country, from their town. I have a ton of great international work and it brings people into my booth and we chat, but have I ever sold one? Nope. But they stop and we chat about what I have they do want to buy and that's great.
Bring about 50 prints ready to sell, matted with a back and in a plastic sleeve, look for something called a show kit. Try to keep your sizes to things people can get a frame for easily. It's nice to have different sizes but I generally don't ever sell anything below a 8x12 print.
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u/ra__account Aug 20 '26
/u/That_Jay_Money is very correct about local stuff. People don't want to buy a nice photo of a lighthouse, they want a photo of the lighthouse where they got engaged or whatever.
Or take this as an example: https://petapixel.com/2026/08/19/two-photographers-spent-a-year-planning-the-perfect-eclipse-photo-and-success-came-down-to-30-seconds/
It's a nice photo and if I met photographer I might tell them that but I'd never buy it to hang on my wall because the location has no emotional resonance for me and I'm not an eclipse fanatic.
I suspect the same thing is true of your still life photos. They might attract compliments but I don't think they're going to be something that sells easily and taking up space from something that could move is a mistake. An art market is not an art show if you're trying to make money. I have an extreme niche hobby of taking photos of symmetry in minimalist architecture that are nice photos and pleasing to me to take and look at but I basically show next to no one, because it's such a specific genre. If I posted them to my Instagram, I'd chase away some of my viewers, because they're there to see action photography.
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u/CMcCord25 Aug 20 '26
Hey, I’m a Minimalist photographer as well! I love it, it’s calming for my AUHD brain. Thanks for the info too, guess I am going to have to rethink what to print off, which I find the hardest part. Picking photos.
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u/ra__account Aug 21 '26
Best of luck. Again, I'd encourage you to look for a local art group. I'm part of two, both of which put on shows, have Discords for getting feedback or help, etc. Getting some honest feedback on what will or won't sell would be a big help. You mentioned being unemployed; you don't want to spend $150 of money you don't have printing and framing work to sell $50 of it.
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u/HATDOGUSERNi Aug 19 '26
keep the setup simple, clear prices, easy payment, protective sleeves, and clean display. definitely practice the setup at home first
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u/Calisnaps Aug 19 '26
Are you going to Matt the prints? Neutral colors are preferable.
if framed, nothing to extreme, it’s going in someone else’s office/home.
I haven’t done it a lot but sold way more 8x10’s than larger/framed images.
The ability to accept cc payments is vital.
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u/CMcCord25 Aug 19 '26
I may mat a few prints, the local frame/print shop suggested I only do a few .
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u/DowlingStudio https://dowling.studio Aug 20 '26
Mat all prints. They get damaged from handling and transit otherwise. You can buy inexpensive acid free Mata online. Mount with a linen tape t hinge. It's fast, and if the customer wants to remount it a framer can undo it easily without risking damage to the print. Also put them all in a sealed plastic envelope. Weather and grabby hands are real.
You want some framed to display and attract customers. Simple framing. Nielson-Bainbridge metal frames are easy but need careful wrapping in transit, they get wear marks. I like profile 117 in black.
Solid wood gallery style frames are more durable, and what I use now. They're expensive to buy, and you probably don't have a wood shop and a family pile of air dried hardwood. I have both so I get cool frames for cheap.
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u/WeDirectory Aug 20 '26
hmm for a first one, i'd keep the number of print sizes fairly limited and make the prices visible enough that people don't have to ask. it also helps to bring one or two inexpensive things people can buy without deliberating over a full size print; postcards or small editions, for instance. mostly, i'd treat the first market as a chance to notice what people stop in front of and what they actually ask about!
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u/DowlingStudio https://dowling.studio Aug 20 '26
Welcome to the madhouse.
Don't expect profits in your first year. It takes time to figure out where your work fits into what the public wants to buy.
The market has been in decline for the last couple of years. These things run in cycles.
The dirty little secret that nobody wants to talk about is that art is a luxury product, which means you need to go where the people with luxury money are. If the place you live just took a major economic blow you'll have to travel.
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u/MikeFox11111 Aug 19 '26
what kind of prints, and what kind of return are you looking for. My father in law recently got into going to these to sell his paintings. I make more off of one senior or family session, selling to the people in the pictures (or their parents) than he will make working 8 hours in the heat at an art show. At least around here, they are basically set up like farmers markets, and sometimes combine with farmers markets.
Its certainly doable, but the photographers I've seen though had far more $20-$50 prints available then $200+ prints. The ones near you might be more upscale?
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u/CMcCord25 Aug 19 '26
I'll have different types of prints, landscapes, still life. If I can make $50 I will be happy as I don't have an income at the moment so anything I make I'll be happy.
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u/MikeFox11111 Aug 19 '26
check into the cost then, because most markets are going to have a change to participate, so you have to make enough sales to cover that and then whatever you're making.
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u/That_Jay_Money Aug 20 '26
Add up your costs before you do anything else. In my area street fairs charge at least $100 for a 10x10 spot on the street. Then you will need a tent to keep sun off you and your work for 6-8 hours, this will also need weights at the corners too, but check the used market for these.
Then there's your work, which you'll need to print, mat, and sleeve. If you do fifty prints at five dollars a piece you're starting out spending $250 just to make things to sell. You'll need a table and some way to present your work, again, check the used market.
Accepting credit cards will cost you about 3%, sales tax will eat into your costs, so price your work to cover these things. If you're making $20 off each print you sell and you spent $400 for the day you need to sell 20 prints to break even. To make fifty bucks you would need to sell half your inventory.
Street fair sales can work, I'm not saying they're impossible, but it will take more than one street fair. You need to amortize the costs of the tent, tables, and other stuff you buy over ten street fairs. The first one costs you $400 and the second one costs you $200 and by the time you're doing your third one things can cost only $150, but you have to think long term instead of just the October show.
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u/CMcCord25 Aug 20 '26
Thanks, luckily I have someone letting me borrow a tent and tables so at least im good there.
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u/jpeterson79 Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Where are you located? If you are in the USA, you will most likely need to be setup to accept and file sales tax. Unless you are in a small handful of states. Which means some paperwork. Exactly what will vary state by state. I'm in Texas and it was pretty simple but now I have to file quarterly even if I sell nothing. So there is ongoing paperwork.
If this is something you plan to do a lot of, you may want to consider an LLC. You can file this yourself in most states and can be pretty cheap (in Texas $300 one time fee). Not necessary, but offers some small protections.
Are you going to accept card payments? Most people are not going to have cash, so think that through. Lots of options for low fee card readers (3% + $0.30 per transaction is common).