Before I get to our pricing structure, there is one more concept I need to explain. Wholesale vs Retail Pricing Most consumers know that the price they see in a store (retail) is not what the retailer paid for it (wholesale). At the end of last post I quoted a retail markup that may be […]

I had several ideas about what to write for this final installment of lessons we learned selling art.  The one that scared me the most was to bare it all and explain our pricing. I was (am) afraid people will argue with me, call us greedy or unreasonable.  Once you put out a number someone […]

I am not normally this cynical sounding.  But in my experience… Art shows are not in the business of selling art.    What do I mean by this seemingly contradictory statement?  Of course an art show exists to sell art!  They have art, with price tags. That’s what I thought, at first. But after a […]

4. Networking and stalking (online) are your BFF Last post I spoke about the importance of finding our target market.  Despite very few sales at the first few art and craft fairs we attended, we learned valuable lessons.  Good things can come from events that are financially a “failure”. Similar to being an engineer, as […]

…And You Shouldn’t Try.   When we first started selling our LED jewelry, I thought I could (and should) sell to everyone. After a few craft shows with NO sales, I realized this was patently false.   The one or two customers we did have were geeks and nerds like us.  In hind sight it […]

When I started selling art, the second thing I noticed was…. 2. I received a LOT of advice, most of it unsolicited. I wrote a rant about this last year.  Why people feel compelled to randomly say the dreaded phrase “you know what you should do….” is beyond me.  Maybe it’s an American thing. That’s […]

  #1. Most artists are not making a living from their art. At the above talk to a room of 60 local jewelry artists, the first question I asked was how many sold their jewelry.  About half of them raised their hands.  I then asked how many were making a living off of their art.  ALL […]

Another common question we get at show is: “Are these boards recycled?” Oh man, I wish! In 2010, the US produced 2.4 million tons of E-waste, and only 27% of it was recycled. The remainder went into landfills to leech toxic elements, often in 3rd world countries.  Yuck. I absolutely would recycle old computers into […]

“You should make (insert idea here)” People often give us design suggestions.  I love this, it helps me know what is on my customers minds. And I keep a list.  Currently elephants are trending.  And turtles. However many of the suggestions are from popular movies, comics, and sci-fi franchises. The designs are therefore protected under […]

Now that we’ve dispelled 6 common myths about being an engineer, how do you know if you are one? You may be an engineer if: You love solving problems and puzzles, especially in novel ways. You are tenacious and won’t go to bed till you solve that game level.  Just 10 more minutes Mom! You […]