How will rising gas prices effect your decision on traveling to art shows, as show fees go up and sales go down , how will handle another expense ?
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How will rising gas prices effect your decision on traveling to art shows, as show fees go up and sales go down , how will handle another expense ?
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I travel in a small vehicle and get about 30 mpg, so up to a point, the price of gas isn't as much of an issue for me. For me the big expense is lodging. This year I'm going to try to camp some if I figure out a way to get even a tent into my small fuel efficient vehicle :) or stay at hostels when I can and I won't be eating at resturants as much. I've also raised my prices... we'll see how that goes ;).
Geoff Coe raised this same topic less than a year ago, it's still a concern for artists and I don't see the concern changing but neither do I think that all artists will stay home.
We'll be traveling further this year as we make at least 2 trips to Northern CA (from Seattle), we're making sure we have multiple shows to make the trip worth it and one of the road trips will be combined with our planned vacation to Yosemite. We're also finding RV storage for our travel trailer between trips so we're not hauling it up and down I-5 multiple times.
Here's the link to last year's discussion:
http://www.artfairinsiders.com/forum/topics/what-are-you-doing-to-a...
I think the rising gas price is more of a problem for the people attending or not attending shows than for the artists. They'll start thinking more about what it costs each time they leave the house and think more about what they want versus what they need.
Additionally consider the shows you're signed up for and whether they depend on people attending from a distance. Ann Arbor depends on people traveling to attend as it's not as well supported by locals anymore. Reston on the other hand draws attendees from the local community. Smaller shows may be in the cards for many more artists because locals tend to attend. Same with one show (not more than two) in a location annually. For example, the Cleveland area in the summer probably has almost as many shows within a 90 minute drive as any community in Florida.
Time to pay attention to the demographics of any show you're thinking of applying to.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
I raised my prices and size offerings this year (photography). And customers are getting discounts only for multiple purchases, not so that my prices follow the crowd. No other business model--including lowering prices and making smaller sizes--was cutting it.
I'll still go north to do shows this summer, but only established ones. And I'll fly back and forth from Florida rather than stay up north until November. (The gas has something to do with that, but there are other reasons too.)
Our recent round trip to Florida from Pa cost us over $400 using a cargo van , that was the beginning of Feb when gas was still under 3.50 gallon. , not sure what to do if prices go much higher over $4 gallon, there is a limit you can raise your prices and still sell. My husband's material steel doubled the last time gas went up several years ago, not sure how this rise in oil with will hurt steel prices. I am going to try to sell more of my art online to cut out a couple of shows .