How does your work get sold?

[sculptorsam]

I'm curious how people end up selling their work. I'm trying to devise my yearly plan of attack for 2004 and am trying to figure out what I should focus on. So, as a general survey, what are the different ways you sell your work and what percentage of your work sells this way? Do you sell in a gallery, over the net (auction, homepage, gallery), by word of mouth, direct advertising, artfairs? Maybe you sell most of your work by word of mouth but feel it come from advertising at artfairs and direct mail? Also, please specify the type of work you do as that will have an effect on how it sells. (To clarify, I'm not asking what percentage of your work you place in galleries or advertise online, just what led to you actually selling a piece.) Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Sam

[Roy Tamboli]

99% of my sales come from word of mouth. Usually mine! Whenever someone expresses a desire to have a piece, I follow up. Partly because I like money but also because it's important to me to try to make sure someone who really likes my work gets to own one. The galleries never sell as much as I do and I really like the whole client relationship, the selection process or comission, getting to know new people and having them over. I like selling art, it;s like ice cream everyone is happy. I think my web site is great for clients to get an initial overview but they really need to see the actual work then we get to know each other.

[Araich]

I would guess that:

70% buy being only aware of the work in a gallery or sculpture prize exhibition.
30% buy aware of website and/or word of mouth.

90% direct gallery sale.
5% sculpture prize exhibitions.
5% web and friend/family.

I chose the gallery route, because I wanted the work to go into good collections, and because I didn't want the price ceiling you get by being perceived as a small business, or coloured by money. Also, I'm really only interested in making new work, not in talking with buyers etc.

I keep a large (202 pages) but simple website that I would guess 90% of owners have seen. An increasing amount of buyers are aware of the 'body of work' before making a purchase, and many go on to buy a second work or commission.

I get many direct requests, but very, very few end as a sale. To this end I've now removed any price details from my site. The site has however given me several paid image reproduction deals, and supported me in picking up high quality gallery representation.

I now expect to hardly ever make a sale outside of a gallery/dealer.

[sculptorsam]

Thanks guys. This is why it's so difficult to create a business plan for sculpture. Different ways work for different people. I have leaned away from galleries simply because my work is so large it generally can't be exhibited in one. But I've been giving them a second look. The ability of a gallery to command a higher price, as you mention Araich, is attractive. And to have someone else do the sales would be nice. But the thought of giving up 40-50% of a $15k-50k sculpture makes me queasy.

I too do outdoor sculpture exhibits and a thought just came to me. They don't result in sales as much as I'd hoped they would. Maybe people already do this, but maybe it would be a good idea to compile a mailing list of art collectors/patrons/galleries/etc. specific to the area of a new show and send them out to coincide with the opening? Has anybody tried this? Does it sound like a good idea?

[fritchie]

sculptorsam - You and Araich probably have the best sales volume of people on this site, it appears to me, and I thank you both for your statement of approach and for the answers it has generated.

My problem is production rather than sales; not that the percentage of completed work which has sold is that great, but that I took on more outside commitments than I probably should have as I retired from university teaching several years ago, and I don’t feel I can abandon them. This really cuts into my sculpture.

Probably 80 - 90% of my sales have been through galleries, local only. And largely for the same reasons as Araich. I prefer to do the work and let someone else handle sales. On percentages, both my experience and that of other sculptors I know suggest that the sales price through a gallery will be raised to offset much of the commission. That raises the issue that prices have to be more or less consistent in different markets, so if you do go to different areas, you need to manage that in some way.

Locally, the tradition in most or all galleries is that inquiries directly to you are referred to the gallery, with commissioned works handled jointly.

[sculptorsam]

Well, I guess if the impression of success is required to generate success, I am succeeding at something, Fritchie! In reality, I haven't sold a sculpture for probably about 4 years now. That is why I am trying to devote more time to figuring this thing out. I think my goal is to sell 3 major works next year and if I did that, I'd be dancing in the street.




Locally, the tradition in most or all galleries is that inquiries directly to you are referred to the gallery, with commissioned works handled jointly.

I have placed one of my large sculptures on temporary consignment at a nice gallery and the owner immediately raised my asking price for it by nearly 100%. So maybe I should swallow my pride and go the gallery route (though that work has not sold yet). But if the artist has works in more than one gallery, which one would you refer it to in the case of an inquiry? This is one of the things that deters me as well. I would probably continue to try and drum up business more than a gallery owner representing a dozen artists would do on my behalf. But, any work I generate will get cut in half as it is passed over to a gallery. I guess I should worry about this more when I actually SELL some work, but this is another concern none-the-less.

So far, we have 2-90%+ sales in gallery and 1-90%+ sales on own by word of mouth. Keep 'em coming folks!

Sam

[fritchie]

But if the artist has works in more than one gallery, which one would you refer it to in the case of an inquiry? This is one of the things that deters me as well.
Sam

My policy has been that the N. O. gallery represents me in that area, broadly defined, and if I get inquiries from well outside that region, I am free to make my own arrangements, assuming the stimulus was my ISC Portfolio, this forum, or some other source.

Even here, I might go through the gallery, as it has advertized my work more or less worldwide in the art press, and there would be value in letting them do negotiating, shipping, and so on. So far, I have only this one local gallery. If I had others, I would try to direct inquiries to the mot likely source of the interest.

[Araich]

Much of what a gallery does in representing you is not at first apparant. If they are worth while they will put your work into good collections, keep problem buyers at a distance, keep your work on view in the stockroom and give you at least a single month long solo and/or a couple of group shows per year. Just think of the rental for that alone.
More importantly they should continue to show your work when your not selling. In any career you will have periods when you are out of favour, but a good gallery will stand by you and continue to sink money in.
Having a single point of sale in a market also makes you exclusive.
They should also be willing to iron out disputes, and manage a modest archive of your work and history.
The way I look at the percentage split is simple, their slice was never mine to start with. Just keep your eye on your 60%.

Until a year ago I had but a single gallery representing me statewide. The logic of this is simple, if they are to put time into your success, they have to be assured they will benefit in it. And it's not always about money either. Good dealers have a profound love of art.
I currently have 3 dealers in 3 states. That's enough. But I show one off in other places too. The second and third galleries are each in a higher order, with more mature and arguably better artists, bigger bugets and better physical gallery spaces. This would appear a natural progression, and recently I've felt the power shift back towards me. You start out jumping at their request and with luck you end by making choices based on your own personal needs as an artist.

What it really comes down to, is the picture you have of your future self. In mine, I have a big comfortable studio, and I work. All the other nonsense is handled professionally by other people.

[sculptorsam]

The way I look at the percentage split is simple, their slice was never mine to start with. Just keep your eye on your 60%.


That is a very good point, Araich. I will remind myself of that every time I think about it. I agree that a good gallery does more than you realize. The problem is, the good ones are outnumbered by the bad or just indifferent. I was in a couple local galleries in high school that were a waste of my time. Has anybody has any dealings with an artist rep? I know that finding a good one would be even harder than finding a good gallery, but that seems like it would possibly work well for me.

Sam

[fritchie]

Artist’s rep
The question of an artists' rep came up somewhere here before, and at least one, seemingly knowledgeable reply detailed a long list of negatives, compared with galleries. They could cover a greater area geographically, but you would have double commissions, for one thing, whenever they went through a gallery, and generally they won’t have the physical presence and continuous or continual showing of your work. I don’t know any artists who work with a rep.