What would you ask your print buyers ?

[Jim Jones]

. . . It would be very nice indeed if the survey could be conducted with potential buyers rather than actual buyers. But there is no real way to identify them amongst other web surfers. Replies from people who are not serious about buying prints are not useful. Those people are more than 99% of web traffic. So far the only way I could think about identifying those serious about buying prints is that they actually bought some.

Post a link to a survey on your website. Offer a modest discount to prospective buyers who return your survey. File the returns into buyer and non-buyer folders for analysis. The more intelligent or intriguing returns could form the basis for a mail list of future photos.

[David_Senesac]

I doubt you are going to get reasonable responses to some of those questions. The shipping/handling question is probably worthwhile. Those that really like what they received are most likely to respond. Those that bought a large print without ever it might be disappointed because the web images are so tiny. That is a major reason why most of us don't sell many images like that but rather after someone has already seen a print that we had exhibited. But if someone did spend a few hundred bucks buying a large print they never saw, I'd bet most would be too embarassed to complain. Instead they would swear to themselves never to buy another print like that from any artists that are not well known. I'm guessing this actually happens quite a bit because a lot of larger prints I see at art and craft shows and even in some galleries made from smaller formats really don't have near the sharp resolution I expect in larger prints. Of course many photographers have web galleries with images that neither identify the equipment used or image capture methods for specific images. ...David

[QT Luong]

But if someone did spend a few hundred bucks buying a large print they never saw, I'd bet most would be too embarassed to complain.
Instead they would swear to themselves never to buy another print like that from any artists that are not well known. I'm guessing this actually happens quite a bit because a lot of larger prints I see at art and craft shows and even in some galleries made from smaller formats really don't have near the sharp resolution I expect in larger prints.

I don't understand why that would be embarassing to them (rather than to me). I've had people return prints (I offer 100% money back warranty, which is only fair since they have not seen the print) for reasons like "Didn't match the color of the wall painting the way I thought it would" or "Expected a vertical print instead of horizontal (huh ?)". But out of hundreds of prints sold only one person complained about the fact that his prints were made from 35mm.

The fact that the artist is known doesn't prevent him from printing big (sometimes very big) from 35mm. You and I have some expectations, but the mistake is to think that the buying public have the same. For many, that's the emotional response to the image that matters the most. For instance, in the lobby of Calypso there used to be images by Franz Lanting printed at the maximum LJ size (48x72). My wife (although obviously married to a LF photographer :-)) didn't find them objectionable.

[David_Senesac]

I would be a bit afraid to offer a guaranteed return policy like that because one might end up eating some pricy prints that might not be later sellable simply because a customer wanted to see what it looked like. Apparently you haven't had that problem thus far so your policy is serving you well. Of course there are a number of reasons why ordinary folk are less likely to be critical than photographers but printing large begins to enter the realm of more sophisticated art buyers. Some of the 20x30 inch prints I've seen the last few years hanging at art fairs are pretty lame.

So your wife liked Lanting's pic of that chameleon haha! I have to admit some of those billboard sized prints of his from the small format would do well if hung in appropriate locations.

best of luck
...David

[Graeme Hird]

Hi QT,

I personally don't like the idea of the formalised survey, mainly because you have not defined why you are asking the questions. What are you hoping to achieve by surveying buyers? Rather than helping to cement your relationship, it serves to dissuade your customers from buying again ("Am I going to get an onerous questionnaire each time I buy a print from Mr Luong?")

I think you would be better served by personally contacting the buyers (by phone) after a week or so and speaking with them. You might ask the very same questions, but you will also be able to let the conversation drift into areas of research you had not expected. A follow-up phone call is also a great way of introducing customer loyalty because the print owner feels they "know the artist" after the call. That converts the survey into a marketing tool.

The return policy is an excellent idea, and I think I'll adopt it myself for online sales. People are always afraid of purchasing online because they have not seen the print in person until it arrives: your solution removes that obstacle to making the purchase.

Cheers,
Graeme