Selling large format prints on ebay or Amazon?

[Big Fish]

Greetings....

What is the experience if any of selling $1000 large format fine art prints on Amazon or Ebay? Craiglists? What about exposure on Facebook??

Thanks.

[Kirk Gittings]

I don't sell prints via any of those venues, but I think you need to ask yourself, would you? I wouldn't. Some of my prints sell in that price range and no one has bought them off the web without seeing them first.

[Brian C. Miller]

Several blocks down the street from me is a little gallery with ugly acrylic paintings. Since this has been there for maybe a year, I'm guessing that it makes enough money to pay its rent. Every successful artist and photographer has one thing in common: they open up a gallery. People will come and see a gallery.

I was told of a gallery in California which was actually a guy's apartment, called the Bumstead Gallery. He did it as a joke, and filled it with things like maniquens hanging in hammocs, and other assorted garbage. Finally someone came along and said, "this is all a bunch of crap." The guy whipped out $100 and handed it over, saying, "You're right! Here's your prize." Then he closed his gallery. I don't remember how many people came to view his apartment before that.

An actual gallery that I used to frequent was in a barber shop. No, I didn't go there for the paintings, but for a good haircut at a good price. The barber had filled his walls with paintings, and said that people did come in there just for the artwork, and he did sell paintings. But mostly I think he made his money cutting hair.

[Robert Hall]

Ebay? Don't waste your time.

[Gary Tarbert]

I don't sell prints via any of those venues, but I think you need to ask yourself, would you? I wouldn't. Some of my prints sell in that price range and no one has bought them off the web without seeing them first.

I agree with Kirk, on a computer screen it is hard at times to tell the difference between LF and DSLR it is only when you see the difference in the flesh you can see the stunning beauty of a LF print , Selling LF prints on Ebay , Do Wallmart stock Rolls Royce or Porsche yet ? Cheers Gary

[Pawlowski6132]

I don't know. I, like many other people, live in parts of the country where we have absolutely NO access to galleries. I have been in this hobby a couple of years now and never seen a LF print other than my own. I was on Ebay the other day and I was looking at the silver gelatin prints. I was tempted and willing to take a leap of faith based just on the digital image. Of course, not in the $1,000 price range though. But, you get the point.

That goes for the sale part too. If I ever had anything worth selling, how else would I do it?

[windpointphoto]

I agree with Kirk, on a computer screen it is hard at times to tell the difference between LF and DSLR it is only when you see the difference in the flesh you can see the stunning beauty of a LF print , Selling LF prints on Ebay , Do Wallmart stock Rolls Royce or Porsche yet ? Cheers Gary

Oh good grief.

[Brian C. Miller]

I don't know. I, like many other people, live in parts of the country where we have absolutely NO access to galleries. ... That goes for the sale part too. If I ever had anything worth selling, how else would I do it?

Of course there are galleries! There's a large format gallery wherever you choose to sell your prints. Yes, so it's right beside the black velvet singing Elvis and Dogs Playing Poker hangings, but park your rig and show your stuff! Just be ready to go if the cops take an interest.

(Very typically nobody gets a permit, because they're not supposed to be there in the first place.)

[jp]

I don't know. I, like many other people, live in parts of the country where we have absolutely NO access to galleries. I have been in this hobby a couple of years now and never seen a LF print other than my own. I was on Ebay the other day and I was looking at the silver gelatin prints. I was tempted and willing to take a leap of faith based just on the digital image. Of course, not in the $1,000 price range though. But, you get the point.

That goes for the sale part too. If I ever had anything worth selling, how else would I do it?

If you are in South Bend like your profile says, you'll probably have to burn some gasoline and go to Chicago if you have no good museums or galleries showing large format stuff. We have a ton of galleries where I live, but they focus mostly on painting, digital scenic stuff, and mixed media. Museums is where I've seen what I know to be large format photography and I've had to drive to see them. 3.5 hours away from me is the Worcester Art Museum. 2 Hours away from me is the Portland [me] Museum of Art. Between these two, I have seen the work of many many of the people you'd read about in photo history books, some of their less famous contemporaries, and all sorts of other stuff. Most recently 10 miles away, a commercial gallery had an exhibit of Karsh portraits. Not advertised as large format, but it was pretty evident.

It's worth getting out and seeing with your own eyes what is considered special and some of the styles used throughout the history of photography. We can do most of it in our own ways if we are so inclined, so it's pretty direct learning.

Hunt down some other LF photographers in your area too. I'm sure some would get together once in a while to contrast photos.

As far as selling on Ebay... I don't hold much hope for it. Tastes vary so much and you need to see it in person. Big ticket things like luxury cars can be sold on Ebay because the VIN provides provenance that it was indeed built by Porsche or Rolls and you can depend on people like carfax or seller provided documentation to be sure it is what they say it is. You also know exactly what you are getting for materials with cars on ebay too as they were all generally built the same and with the same materials and quality for a given year. Furthermore, probably 90% of potential car buyers would not be comfortable using ebay to fully meet their used car need. Art is different and afaik there is no way you can pay a mechanic to do a 20 point inspection of a photograph to verify that it is of a quality that will please you. Other things like clothes on ebay are often counterfeited and it looks right, but might not have the quality or fit you expect of the manufacturer. Since photos are easy to counterfeit I see no reason why they'd be next if they were to sell in volume as new items for sale.

If you have good stuff to sell, and there are no galleries, you could find a well trafficked business that has clean blank wall space and let it double as a gallery. They might welcome some sort of commission and beautification in return for your access to their customer base and real estate.

[jnantz]

i have sold many things on ebay and other online venues ..
mainly when i am selling+donating all the profits to a charity.
last year i sold prints on ebay and all
the proceeds went to help people in haiti.
if that sort of thing is your plan, they have an organization
set up that takes care of everything ( all you have to do is package+ship )
and all your ebay fees are waived and they "trumpet" your listing.

ryan mccintosh and christopher nze used to sell on ebay often
but i think have moved on ... ryan is at risd ( doing other things )
and i think i have seen christopher's work on esty.

ebay isn't a brick/mortar gallery, and while getting yourself represented is great ...
unfortunately, right now the economy is bad enough that some galleries ( new york and boston ) aren't looking
at "new work" for at least a year and a half.

good luck !
john