Ever sold anything?

Paul Watson

Ok firstly I don't think I am good enough yet to sell my photographs. That out of the way; Today I was wandering through a flea market and there was a chap selling his wifes photographs. They were fine, nothing stunning though the framing technique used was good. Each photograph in the matte art cardboard frame was being sold for R130. To put it in perspective a whole roll of film costs R80, the frame for one photograph about R40 and developing of a whole roll of film R50. So the cost of one of those photographs is; (80/36) + (50/36) + 40 = R43.61. So at R130 that is a healthy profit. Obviously there is her own time, petrol getting around, her equipment etc. but those are minor and I fully understand the price. The general rule is to double the costs when selling photographs. Anyway. I was wondering if anyone here had sold anything at a fleamarket/craftmarket? What is it like? Any tips?

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Macbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er DavidW wrote: You are totally mad. Nice.

peterchen

Paul Watson wrote: So at R130 that is a healthy profit. less so if you assume around 5 "frameworthy" pictures per roll - OTOH you can sell more than one copy of a successful photo. Excluding "artsy-fartsy" stuff I've never seen any hobbyist trying to sell some, or someone buying it. But if you try, please tell of the results...

Italian is a beautiful language. amare means to love, and amara bitter.
sighist | Agile Programming | doxygen

Paul Watson

peterchen wrote: you assume around 5 "frameworthy" pictures per roll 2 is a more realistic number :-D peterchen wrote: Excluding "artsy-fartsy" stuff I've never seen any hobbyist trying to sell some, or someone buying it. But if you try, please tell of the results... LOL, I shall. Either happily or buy throwing my camera away... ;) What other kind of photography is there apart from artsy-farsty? :omg: ;)

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Macbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er DavidW wrote: You are totally mad. Nice.

peterchen

Paul Watson wrote: 2 is a more realistic number I initially wrote 2..3 but then, in my unlimited optimism, I thought "maybe others are better" ;) With artsy-fartsy I mean the B&W "is this her elbow or her ass?" nude and semi-nude photography, and person-less photos that apply the same style.

Italian is a beautiful language. amare means to love, and amara bitter.
sighist | Agile Programming | doxygen

Marc Clifton

I sold some computer equipment in a flea market years ago with a friend of mine. Total waste of time. You usually have to pay a "vendor" fee, droves of people walk by ignoring you, more droves of people walk up, fondle your goods, and leave, and maybe 1 or 2 people actually buys something. At the end of the day, you're hot, disgusted with people, and as poor as ever. Maybe is was what I was selling, but the point of a flea market is to sell junk, isn't it? Take an hour an watch a booth or two and see what happens. Study which booths move stuff, and which don't. Talk to the vendors. They're more than happy to chat. Maybe that's my problem. Deep down, I can't stand people. Now, some people I've talked to actually make good money. Here on the east coast of the US we have a lot of Indian pow-wows where the local "Indians" (ha ha ha) sell stuff. Some of it is good quality, but mostly people flock to these things to buy Indian made junk. Regarding photographs-- Some of the best photographs I've bought were from outdoor photo shows. It doesn't matter if YOU think you're not good enough to sell your photographs. It matters whether I think your photograph is worthy of my money. The two can be very different concepts. Plus, don't wait until you think you ARE good enough. You'll lose out on valuable experience, and you'll be disappointed because your expectation will be "now I'm good enough", instead of surprised "wow, I must be pretty good!". It's all attitude. Marc Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files"

Megan Forbes

Marc Clifton wrote: It doesn't matter if YOU think you're not good enough to sell your photographs. It matters whether I think your photograph is worthy of my money. Sadly so true. My mom's an artist, so I learnt from an early age that it isn't the truly artistic stuff that sells. It's the stuff that the layman likes that makes the cash. A really good photograph of almost any subject can't compare with a baby baboon riding on it's mother's back. Intellectually very sad, for those of us wanting to sell, this stupidity can be a real bonus. :)

It's much better than the term "embedded," though. I'm tired of hearing about embedded reporters. That must be a lousy job, like having a career as a suppository. - Roger Wright

Marc Clifton

A really good photograph of almost any subject can't compare with a baby baboon riding on it's mother's back. But there's a strange backlash to this too. There's art that is so intellectual it takes a plaque with a five hundred word essay at the NY Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art just to explain the nuances of the artist's "intellect". And the picture? A 10 foot by 10 foot photograph of the southern sky. Riiiight. Or in geek terms, spaghetti code becomes modern art. Marc Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
Sensitivity and ethnic diversity means celebrating difference, not hiding from it. - Christian Graus
Every line of code is a liability - Taka Muraoka
Microsoft deliberately adds arbitrary layers of complexity to make it difficult to deliver Windows features on non-Windows platforms--Microsoft's "Halloween files"

Megan Forbes

Marc Clifton wrote: Or in geek terms, spaghetti code becomes modern art. :laugh: ROTF

It's much better than the term "embedded," though. I'm tired of hearing about embedded reporters. That must be a lousy job, like having a career as a suppository. - Roger Wright

Chris Losinger

Marc Clifton wrote: spaghetti code becomes modern art http://ioccc.org/2000/dhyang.c[^] -c

Image tools: ThumbNailer, Bobber, TIFFAssembler

Paul Watson

Marc Clifton wrote: but the point of a flea market is to sell junk, isn't it? True, a fleamarket is for selling junk. I should have said I wandered through a craftmarket today, not a fleamarket. Paintings, frames, wooden things, baskets, pot plants, home made clothes and rosenkuchen (sp?) *drool* I would not try and flog photographs at a fleamarket. Marc Clifton wrote: Study which booths move stuff, and which don't. Talk to the vendors Yeah. I was quizzing the guy who was selling today as I flipped through the photographs. The good thing is the craft market is a once a month thing in a very posh suburb i.e. money to burn. He says he sells 50 a day easily. Not "OMG I am rich" but pretty good. Just have to find out the fees I have to pay the craftmarket owners. Marc Clifton wrote: It doesn't matter if YOU think you're not good enough to sell your photographs. It matters whether I think your photograph is worthy of my money. The two can be very different concepts Very true. I took a roll of film for a sport even there awhile back and submitted twenty of the shots to a paper in London (they asked.) The three they used were the three I thought were the worst :-D The other 17 were far better IMO, but they were not what the newspaper needed. The three they used were technically and artistically poor, but they provided the context and were right for a newspaper. Amazing stuff. Even when friends flip through my photographs the non-photographic lot pick favourites which are totally different from the photographic lot. Thanks for the reply.

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Macbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er DavidW wrote: You are totally mad. Nice.

Debs 0

Megan Forbes wrote: Intellectually very sad, for those of us wanting to sell, this stupidity can be a real bonus. Our major product is a database with a GUI front end. The GUI has to look really whiz-bang: this is sometimes more important than the back end features. The people who make the financial decisions to buy our product (who are rarely the end users) have to like what they see. OK, so the features are important, but the way you present something can make the difference between a sale or not. btw, isn't it bizarre that low-end hi-fi has more LEDs and bigger, flashier (uglier, IMO)speakers than top end expensive stuff. People are sometimes easily deceived/impressed/whatever. I suppose that's how advertisers earn a living :) Debbie

Debs 0

Paul Watson wrote: Just have to find out the fees I have to pay the craftmarket owners. This can vary wildly in the UK, depending upon venue. I've some friends who have a hobby business selling stuff, and their stall costs vary from £50 to £350 (I was gobsmacked by the latter figure!) You also may have problems with availability of pitches in oversubscribed markets. In your case it could be fun to try it, though. I imagine you'd get a buzz from someone paying their (potentially) hard-earned money for your artistic endeavours even if you don't make much of a profit? Debbie

Paul Watson

Debs wrote: I imagine you'd get a buzz from someone paying their (potentially) hard-earned money for your artistic endeavours even if you don't make much of a profit? :-D Hell yeah! I get a kick out of someone asking me for the original so they can put it on their desktop as wallpaper. Debs wrote: £50 to £350 350? That is just insane. Must be one of the famous ones, Portebello etc. Thanks for the reply.

Paul Watson
Bluegrass
Cape Town, South Africa

Macbeth muttered: I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o'er DavidW wrote: You are totally mad. Nice.

Debs 0

Paul Watson wrote: Must be one of the famous ones, Portebello etc. Not exactly, it was in Manchester, at the G-Mex. Theirs is very much a specialist market though ;) Debbie