It's a little cold today, although sunny, in Florida and I came up with this silly idea. We should have a Priceline for Artists, where we can name our own price for booth fees at art fairs. What do you think?
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This has serious potential. Wow, Barry you may have just invented the next big thing in the art fair world!!!!! I like the idea alot, I agree with Alison, there would have to be some kind of verification to keep the buy/sell out, but I think it's do-able.
How would they know? One the other hand, do people who pay more for hotel rooms or plane flights get pissed at those who pay less?
With the more desirable shows, the problem wouldn't be paying less, it would be the inclination to bid higher for a rare space. That's why the bidding would stop at the show fee, plus, our 5% fee, of course.
I'm buying the domain ...
Loving this whole concept, Barry. You've hit the nail on head, you and Alison. Things happen. Artists have to cancel, spaces open up -- this is doable. Heck, Barry, you've found your next career. Me, no I'm not looking for another website to run, but run ideas around, for sure ...
... so there's this wrinkle. Won't the artists who paid full fee be pissed?
Well, this was strictly tongue-in-cheek as a way to reduce show fees. As I thought about how it could work, I came to the same conclusion as you Alison. It could work as a giant wait list for artists and shows. Artists and shows would sign up as participating members. Artists would put a few pics up, maybe a resume. Shows would give a short description of their show. Just like Priceline, artists could pick an area and a level of show 1-5, instead of stars we would use a glass vessel or an earring, and then put in a price they would be willing to pay for the space. Lets say a show had a last minute cancellation. The show could come to the web site and look over the artists and the work and pick from those people waiting. A show could pick an artist on the quality of the work, not necessarily the highest bid. Then the artist gets an email and races to the show to get set up. It would have to work like Priceline, in that the artist pays immediately, with no cancellation, and has to take the show given, in case there are two shows in the same area, at the same time. Think Ann Arbor with 5 concurrent shows going on at the same time.
Like with Priceline, where hotels reserve a number of rooms that go through Priceline, shows could reserve a couple of spaces for artists using this service. This could be great for artists that get rejected from a show, like St Louis. With Bids for Booths, an artist could get a second chance at a show. We all know how biased juries are. A really good artist would be able to bid on a space after getting rejected and get in the show. In this scenario, we would have to have a rule, created in the software, where artists can't bid higher than the actual booth fee.
Shows that have a hard time filling spaces because of bad reputations, or too many shows in an area, or too high booth fees, could fill their spaces with people who would be willing to do the show at a lesser price. Smaller or newer shows that have a hard time getting artists could suddenly fill every space. I like the idea for these shows because the market would determine the booth fee, instead of a director. Artists would pay what they think the booth fee should be.
Connie, I don't know if you were joking, like I was. I find it hard to believe shows would sign on for this service. But who knows, they bought into Zapplication so it's not out of the realm of possibilities.
At first I thought it was kind of funny, but you know, this could work. You'd have to take geographies into account because I wouldn't want to bid for a show and end up with one in California. Say I've got a free weekend coming up. I didn't get into my first choice and I didn't apply to any fillers. So I go on biddingforbooths.com on Thursday and bid $50 for a booth spot within 100 miles of my location. I end up at a small show that had last minute cancellations which may or may not work for me but at least a show has the opportunity to fill a booth with an artist instead of having an empty spot and I get some exposure.
There's one issue though. There would have to be some sort of, dare I say it, certification, to make sure the buy-sellers don't jump on the wagon.
It would be great for artists on the road who are looking for a show either on the way to the show or on the way home. It would be great for some of those lesser known shows to fill a booth with an artist instead of buy-sell.
It could work.
Hmm... It looks like I am going to consult with a large event soon. Do you suppose I should offer this idea to them? Maybe this is a new online service you could run, Barry, taking a little commission along the way, www.BiddingforBooths. I just went to godaddy.com and it is available as an url for only $9.99 a year. Should I buy it? Do you want to run this yourself or go into partnership with me?
omg Barry, that may be the best story I've ever heard !funny.
actually this comment I wrote as a reply to your story in someone's discussion,( about setting up your own Art Show in a parking lot & taking Parking cash) . I don't know how it ended up here, but THIS is good idea too . (kinda nervous about hitting "add reply" button, not sure where this reply is going to end up).
Brilliant!!!! LOL