Selling to coffee shops, etc. How do you start?

[LHill]

I have spent the last three weeks selling prints at my local city market. It has been great exposure and I've made several connections. However, I'm not selling a lot and starting to think it's not the best venue. I would like to look into having my work displayed at coffee shops, etc, but have NO IDEA where to start. Ask them to buy the prints? Ask to have the prints hung for sale and they get a portion of proceeds? Anyone ventured into this arena??

[WadeCourtney]

Originally Posted by LHill

I have spent the last three weeks selling prints at my local city market. It has been great exposure and I've made several connections. However, I'm not selling a lot and starting to think it's not the best venue. I would like to look into having my work displayed at coffee shops, etc, but have NO IDEA where to start. Ask them to buy the prints? Ask to have the prints hung for sale and they get a portion of proceeds? Anyone ventured into this arena??

I know a guy who does this. Coffee shops don't like to have bare walls. So you could approach the owner to hang your art in his shop. He may or may not want part of the proceeds, that is a business deal for you to make.

The key is, from what I understand, that this is not a fire and forget situation. The guy I know, goes around to the shops that he has stuff hanging in, and sits and meets the people in the shop, makes connections, and sells his work. From what I gather, he has been pretty successful at it.

I belong to the Photo Arts Group in Escondido, CA, we have work hanging all over the place, but usually as a group. Maybe there is a group in your area, where you can do the same. I would check with municipal galleries, that is where our group meets.

Hope this helps.

Wade

[karen_s]

Do you have a local arts center or council? If you do, you might contact them for some ideas. My small towns art center is well connected to the galleries, local shops, and art festivals.

If you have a portfolio, take it to some of the local shops and ask to speak to show them to the buyer or owner. You may not sell anything but you might get some insight at to what does sell.

[Biomech]

A lot of the coffee shops and starbucks in the UK have an "artists wall", where local artists get to put up their stuff, usually in 2 week stints. That's what I did, went in and said "how do I get one your wall" :P

[melsam]

I'm not trying to discourage you, but making money from exhibiting at coffee shops is hard. Let me explain why. I have experienced both sides of this business - I'm personally a photographer who has hung (and sold) art in coffee shops, and my close relative owns a retail store where we invite local artists to hang art.

Most coffee shop owners are small businesses who aren't knowledgable about art or photography. They are not trying to become art curators or gallery owners, and don't want to get into the business of talking up art. Their goal is to simply fill up walls with reasonably artistic and colorful material, so their patrons find the venue interesting and "artsy". So in general, they will pick an artist or photographer who gives them art at the lowest cost (meaning free), for the longest term, with the least restrictions. All a coffee shop owner needs to do is put an ad on Craigslist saying wall space is available. They will receive dozens of responses from people interested in showing work for free, with no expectations of sales. So you're competing with tons of local photographers who simply want to show their work, and are not trying to make money. These could be art students, housewives, kids in school, non-profits, etc. The coffee shop owner isn't trained to appraise fine art, so he'll arbitrarily pick whoever he likes best based on random criteria which have nothing to do with your art.

Also, think about customer intent. People visiting coffee shops aren't going there to find art. They're generally not in a mood to buy art. People go to coffee shops to relax, work, mingle, think, dates etc and rarely does buying art cross their minds while they're doing all this.

So in order to sell any art from a coffee shop, you have to have 3 things:

1) An owner who understands your work and is willing to promote it by showcasing it prominently as art for sale (as opposed to just decoration on his walls)

2) A piece of art so good that it would entice someone to go inquire about it

3) A customer who would leave what they came to do and start shopping for art

Getting all 3 of these to align is extremely rare. It may work in some artsy districts (like the Mission in San Francisco), but in general it's pretty hard.

So why do I exhibit at coffee shops? I use them to my advantage. I do gallery shows every couple months. Sometimes in between two gallery shows there's a gap of few weeks when I have to bring all the artwork home. Instead of hanging it on my bedroom walls (where no one sees it) or putting it in storage, I hang it at coffee shops where more people can enjoy it. Occasionally I do sell a piece, but that's not my goal - it's just a bonus. My main goal is to keep my work in circulation so more eyeballs fall on it.

Hope this explanation helps. I don't mean to sound discouraging, but understanding why art doesn't sell at coffee shops is important to avoid getting frustrated.

[karen_s]

Originally Posted by melsam

I'm not trying to discourage you, but making money from exhibiting at coffee shops is hard. Let me explain why. I have experienced both sides of this business - I'm personally a photographer who has hung (and sold) art in coffee shops, and my close relative owns a retail store where we invite local artists to hang art.

Most coffee shop owners are small businesses who aren't knowledgable about art or photography. They are not trying to become art curators or gallery owners, and don't want to get into the business of talking up art. Their goal is to simply fill up walls with reasonably artistic and colorful material, so their patrons find the venue interesting and "artsy". So in general, they will pick an artist or photographer who gives them art at the lowest cost (meaning free), for the longest term, with the least restrictions. All a coffee shop owner needs to do is put an ad on Craigslist saying wall space is available. They will receive dozens of responses from people interested in showing work for free, with no expectations of sales. So you're competing with tons of local photographers who simply want to show their work, and are not trying to make money. These could be art students, housewives, kids in school, non-profits, etc. The coffee shop owner isn't trained to appraise fine art, so he'll arbitrarily pick whoever he likes best based on random criteria which have nothing to do with your art.

Also, think about customer intent. People visiting coffee shops aren't going there to find art. They're generally not in a mood to buy art. People go to coffee shops to relax, work, mingle, think, dates etc and rarely does buying art cross their minds while they're doing all this.

So in order to sell any art from a coffee shop, you have to have 3 things:

1) An owner who understands your work and is willing to promote it by showcasing it prominently as art for sale (as opposed to just decoration on his walls)

2) A piece of art so good that it would entice someone to go inquire about it

3) A customer who would leave what they came to do and start shopping for art

Getting all 3 of these to align is extremely rare. It may work in some artsy districts (like the Mission in San Francisco), but in general it's pretty hard.

So why do I exhibit at coffee shops? I use them to my advantage. I do gallery shows every couple months. Sometimes in between two gallery shows there's a gap of few weeks when I have to bring all the artwork home. Instead of hanging it on my bedroom walls (where no one sees it) or putting it in storage, I hang it at coffee shops where more people can enjoy it. Occasionally I do sell a piece, but that's not my goal - it's just a bonus. My main goal is to keep my work in circulation so more eyeballs fall on it.

Hope this explanation helps. I don't mean to sound discouraging, but understanding why art doesn't sell at coffee shops is important to avoid getting frustrated.

Great info, thanks for the insight. Using the wall space for building your name is a great idea. I might try that someday.

[digirebelva]

Originally Posted by melsam

My main goal is to keep my work in circulation so more eyeballs fall on it.

Therein lies the key...the more eyeballs that see your work, the more your name gets out there, the more your name is out there, the better your chances of selling, and you never know to whom those eyeballs belong to...

[lonni]

You really need to sell yourself, so your best bet is to take your protfolio, an introduction letter, business card and go meet the owners or managers. Make sure you have some images to leave with them, as they probably wont make a decision on the spot.

I think the sucess really depends on the area you live in. I live in a touristy area that is rather lacking in arts so touristy prints sell gangbusters.

I actually have postcards that people can take home or send to friends in coffee shops, i give the coffee shop a cut if i sell a print from the post cards, if i get the name from the customer. It works great as the coffe shops push my work. In this situation the prints on hte walls are just advertising.