Some of my best pieces are slow to sell. They are priced higher and have been getting a lot of very positive attention but so far have not sold. Should I mark them down to expedite the sales or remove them for awhile from my inventory? I've been told by one artist to lower the prices of older pieces because people don't like to see the same items over and over. Another artist told me to leave them as they are because someone will love them and take them at full price. I'm torn as to what to do. I believe they are fairly priced right now. But I can see where my customers get tired of seeing the same artwork show after show. What do you all do with older stock?
You need to be a member of Art Fair Insiders to add comments!
Replies
I like to move my work as quickly as possible. My booth has mostly pieces created in the last few months. The bigger pieces take a little longer to sell. If I had a particular piece in my booth for over a year I may bring down the price a little on the tag, but I am a lot more negotiable. The older stock must move. If a particular price point isn't moving I ask myself these questions: Is this size painting priced too high? Is the presentation (matting/framing) appropriate for the buyer who spends this much on a painting? Am I not confident in my presentation of these pieces and not asking buying questions at the right time? If something is not selling, there must be a reason for it. I always try to find out why. If a particular product is not moving, it is taking valuable space in my truck and my booth and I have to deal with it.
Another risk of keeping older work around is that the evolution of my work and brand makes the work unsellable or a poor reflection on me if I hang it. Month to month and even one year to the next, my work doesn't change a whole lot, but over the years my work has evolved and improved to a point that the older work is inconsistent with my new work. As a retail business, my value as a brand has improved not only with my skill, but also with my consistency in style. Having older work in my booth is a disadvantage and I will find a way to move the work. I feel it is a lot like fashion. Retail clothing stores will do what they have to to make sure this year's styles are not hanging around next season. I feel I need to do the same thing.
All very good, valid points!!! I too experience this, an I do "retire" an item for a period, or season. I run special promotions- usually with older stock that I need to move.
I had a helper at this past weekend's show. She pulled out a pair of earrings that were old and I hadn't been showing them as I didn't like them (but of course, I still carry them around for no one to look at) and put them out on display. Blow me away if someone didn't buy them. They weren't discounted. Maybe we lose sight sometimes of what the customer MIGHT like!
too true!
I also don't take every piece to shows. I have a certain design of earrings that are more for the Agricultural/Street fair or music fest crowd- these don't go to my bigger/ higher end shows. I try to tailor my displays to the type of show. Depending on the show, with Jewelry, you get vastly different audiences!! Not to mention, seasonal designs= I have a line of "Holiday" Jewelry= this only goes with me from October through December, along with the small tree I use to display my Ornaments. I started a line of tree ornaments, and those are only for Christmas. Fortunately, my home studio allows me to display it ALL year round! And I will have to start phasing all that in soon, and phasing the summer stuff out!
are your customers getting tired of seeing these pieces or are the same batch of lookers getting tired of your museum not changing out the show? one thing I have learned doing art shows is you never can tell what will spark that "I Love That Piece of Art" that you need for the more expensive work. I keep the prices roughly the same for similar work and if it is a piece I am tired of, I might let them haggle me down to last years price. But ultimately it depends on what you think the work is worth that matters.
My wife & I have just started out in the art show festival scene and have had the same problem..Yet we sell reproductions of the older pieces all the time..I think old stuff can look tired to the artist but not the viewer.
I may remove an older piece for a year since I'm bored with it. THen I drag it back out and people gush over it saying how wonderful it is and its sells. You never know when that moment of kismet happens (when a buyer finds "IT").
Here we go again Gloria, thinking the same way! LOL! I don’t know how many times I have unpacked an older piece at a show saying to myself, the next show you're staying home! Other times, thinking about redoing the piece, only to sell it at that show. Sometimes I leave pieces out of a show, and in the next just to mix it up a bit. I or should I say Joe (my Husband) moves pieces during shows, so if someone comes back the pieces may not be in the same place. Not sure if that is a good thing or not. Each year I up my prices a little to help cover the cost of replacing one that sells. Oddly enough I have found that older pieces sell when I do this…
Good question GLoria. I tend to want to mark down my older work also,(sometimes because Im sick of lookin at it!h HA but mainly because of the amount of wear and tear theyve gotten by shlepping them around! I might be tempted to mark some down because it would free me up to make more! Although sometimes the opposite happens and I go to a show when all of a sudden one of my older expensive works sells at the full price (Right when i was contemplating marking it down!).
There's not an easy answer to this for sure. I hear ya!!
The oldest piece in my booth (about 4 years) sold at a slow show last weekend.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next