Exhibition Sales Advice

nellipope

Member
Sorry if I have posted this in the wrong forum area.

I'm an Illustrator / Photographer, my work is a mixture of the two. I have been asked to hold an exhibition with another photographer at a local gallery. This is great, but I am really unsure as to what to do with sales. I really don't anticipate selling my work, as it's quite dark and is not exactly decorative. However the rules of the gallery are that work must be for sale (gallery take 20% commission). The other photographer has 6 images for sale, mounted and framed and he is selling them for around £200 - £300. I really can't charge that much, I have had to hand cut my mounts and my frames although classic black were cheap. Also they are simply C-type prints, they are not archival quality. I simply cannot justify it.

So I wanted to sell open edition prints from the images exhibited for around £60 - £95 a piece. Does this sound reasonable? The gallery are not sure, but surely if I make the image size, quality and detail that the images are not mounted or framed then this shouldn't be an issue. My other option is to allow people to order a mounted and framed print, I have found a company in Bristol that will professionally mount and frame a print for me, but there are issues with frames differing from that in the exhibition and also I would have to pay up front.

Anyone have experience with this, and can offer advice?

If you want to see the artwork it's here Strangelight | HOME
 
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It really depends what you want to get from the exhibition.

Your images are great. As you say, some are quite dark and look a little too personal, but some are definitely saleable I think.
£95 does sound a lot for a loose print, if that's what you're saying. Presentation is very important. The ones you put on the wall
should look professionally mounted and framed and the loose prints should be mounted well too. You can get ready-cut mounts
from various places for a few pounds.

It all really depends on what you are charging - you can't really charge £50+ if it's not mounted properly. £300 does sound a lot
for a framed print unless they are very large or exceptionally good.
 
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