Selling Wholesale Prints and cards
If like me you fancy having a go at selling your Art prints or greeting cards to wholesale, you would probably be looking for sources to tell you how to do it?
Getting the information
That’s exactly what I did, I considered selling my original art work as prints to give myself a base line income from selling directly to galleries or independent shops, without having to present myself too them. It would also give me the opportunity to get my work into shops and get me seen within the art community. So where do you begin? I am not a sales person, and I have a keen phobia to numbers.
I began looking for a book to give me a few pointers, all of which were mainly about selling many things but not art work, I tried good old you tube and although yes there are a few videos (all American) there was nothing, as if it was an unspoken thing that just kind of happens?
From the few you tube videos I found, they all spoke about needing line sheets, which are all the things you are offering in a form of a booklet or just simply on one piece of paper. This made perfect sense, a way to show your work, but is a line sheet an American term?
The pricing
Then there was the pricing, I did find out that the amount you charge will be roughly around half of what the shop/gallery will sell them for. Giving them the chance to make a profit. With this in mind you start to think about the numbers game, because you obviously want to make a profit too or what’s the point.
So, I worked out what it cost to have 1 print printed and how much I (or a shop) would realistically be able to sell it for. To make money I obviously had to add extra money to each print that I will be selling. Now for the fun part, if you have more prints printed, like in bulk, the printers should reduce the cost to have each one printed, bringing down the initial price you pay. This can be passed onto your customer or, you, if you are selling the bulk lot to many customers you can add this extra income to your own bank.
Selling greeting cards comes with a very fine margin, to get any decent amount of money from selling wholesale you need to buy in bulk to get the price per card reduced.
Attending a wholesale show
I have signed up to attend a Wholesale show Artisan Made UK in North Yorkshire, spread over 2 days. The next job was preparation.
catalogue
I needed line sheets or a print catalogue as I called it. I wanted a really professional looking booklet and luckily for me I have a background in graphic design and access to all the software I needed to produce this booklet.
This catalogue took an age, which I had to fit around everything else I was working on.
Things I included:
About
I decided to create the very first page “about Dawn”, an introduction about where I’m from and what I do. I also included who I thought my target audience is, to give customers a chance to know who to pitch it too.
Print information
The second page would tell the reader, what I was offering. I also included; the dimensions of each print I offered plus the kind of paper they would be printed on.
Photographs of my work
Using photos of my work in an actual living space will hopefully communicate how or where I see my work hanging, again who would buy it. I had to photograph all my work individually, making sure they are of a high quality as these will be the images that I would sell from.
Pricing
I decided to add the pricing to my catalogue, the thinking behind this was that I would most probably be adding more products to this next year and so made this my 2023 catalogue. This would also give the customer every bit of information they could possibly need in one booklet.
Terms and conditions
On my last page I included some terms and conditions, this tells customers your lead time and how many prints they can order at a time, so a minimum order amount, to make it worth your while, this amount can be reduced for the next time they purchase from you.
Also, where and how they can buy from me, a bit obvious I know but I decided to make everything as clear as possible even though I have added my email and phone number etc. it leaves the reader feeling clear about what to do next.
Website wholesale page
I also thought why not use my website to allow businesses to order from there, so I created a wholesale page where a pack of my catalogue and order form can be downloaded, this will also be mentioned in my catalogue.
Show preparation
You do obviously need to have work printed, to show examples of what you are selling. I also will be taking a few of the originals with me, to also advertise my work.
So, I have, a print catalogue and original work to take with me. The last thing I will be taking with me is a piece of new work, I am hoping this will show how my work changes and evolves and it would demonstrate my originality.
The last thing I did was print out order forms, as I have never attended a wholesale fair before I didn’t know if that was the thing to do or not, so at least I was prepared!