Selling my Art was a whole new experience. Read to know my experience of selling my art products for the first time.
I began with learning about how to make them to a sell able finish - How to create a product which looks beautiful and handmade yet finished. Soon I began to notice the small mistakes in my products and got the eye for the neatness.
The next step was thinking about pricing and packaging. How much should I sell the Art. At one side I wanted to keep it cheap so people would buy but on the other I wanted to value my hard-work and of course earn some money!
Most confusing in pricing was calculating the raw material cost, I mean how do I calculate the glue or the paint used in making a single product?
I felt so blessed to have people surrounding me who are ready to guide me, teach me and generously offer space in their stall table for me to display my items and 3 partners in crime.
The morning of the stall begin with learning how to set up a stall - looking at things from the perspective of selling.
Then came the selling - talking to customers, explaining my products, stating the price. The anxiety of whether my things would sell. Observing customer behavior was interesting.
Customers asked questions like is your mandala tray washable? What is the life of your product? Will the earring break or come out because it is handmade and so on. These questions did not even occur to me when I was making but when they asked I thought about and for some questions like is it washable I realized I need to do product testing before selling and the questions definitely gave me new perspectives. Also customers asked for a visiting card or Facebook page so now I know what's important before doing an exhibition again.
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When I went around the exhibition and saw other Art stalls I got an idea of what is selling in the market, I realized how decoupage, handmade jewelry, dream catchers and painting is being done by so many people and its nothing great anymore, I understood the value of having a USP in my products which for me I feel is Up - cycling. I also got lot of inspiration seeing so many artistic works.
I felt good when people appreciated my art, said it was nice, creative and innovative. I was happy that people where liking my art and I got encouragement.
The biggest learning for me was to value my own Art. I realized giving a right price in terms of money gives my Art its deserved value.
When a customer bargained with me for the mandala tray - I originally priced it 200, but I brought it down to 150 as the exhibition was coming to an end and I really wanted to sell my tray. Due to travelling there was small chip on the edge of the tart. The customer seeing that said that she would buy it for 100 as it was damaged. At that moment I couldn't think and couldn't put my foot down and respect my hard work and my skill. I felt so adequate in my skills because I made a mistake and gave into the bargain and later regretted it and learnt from it.
How do I price my art so I respect myself and the customer is a question alive for me!
I began with learning about how to make them to a sell able finish - How to create a product which looks beautiful and handmade yet finished. Soon I began to notice the small mistakes in my products and got the eye for the neatness.
Most confusing in pricing was calculating the raw material cost, I mean how do I calculate the glue or the paint used in making a single product?
I felt so blessed to have people surrounding me who are ready to guide me, teach me and generously offer space in their stall table for me to display my items and 3 partners in crime.
The morning of the stall begin with learning how to set up a stall - looking at things from the perspective of selling.
Then came the selling - talking to customers, explaining my products, stating the price. The anxiety of whether my things would sell. Observing customer behavior was interesting.
Customers asked questions like is your mandala tray washable? What is the life of your product? Will the earring break or come out because it is handmade and so on. These questions did not even occur to me when I was making but when they asked I thought about and for some questions like is it washable I realized I need to do product testing before selling and the questions definitely gave me new perspectives. Also customers asked for a visiting card or Facebook page so now I know what's important before doing an exhibition again.
.When I went around the exhibition and saw other Art stalls I got an idea of what is selling in the market, I realized how decoupage, handmade jewelry, dream catchers and painting is being done by so many people and its nothing great anymore, I understood the value of having a USP in my products which for me I feel is Up - cycling. I also got lot of inspiration seeing so many artistic works.
I felt good when people appreciated my art, said it was nice, creative and innovative. I was happy that people where liking my art and I got encouragement.
The biggest learning for me was to value my own Art. I realized giving a right price in terms of money gives my Art its deserved value.When a customer bargained with me for the mandala tray - I originally priced it 200, but I brought it down to 150 as the exhibition was coming to an end and I really wanted to sell my tray. Due to travelling there was small chip on the edge of the tart. The customer seeing that said that she would buy it for 100 as it was damaged. At that moment I couldn't think and couldn't put my foot down and respect my hard work and my skill. I felt so adequate in my skills because I made a mistake and gave into the bargain and later regretted it and learnt from it.
How do I price my art so I respect myself and the customer is a question alive for me!
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