Framing of pictures to display for sale

I am thinking of assembling some of my bird and eagle shots and hitting a few of the smaller art festivals in the area. Would you suggest having them framed and matted or just placed in a nice frame ?

Mate,

I have been markets etc for about 12 months with my images and found that a mixture of framed images and just matted ones work the best. Someone after a higher priced art work will be tempted by the framed item, but a bulk of people will take the smaller (and most likely cheaper) matted images.

A couple of further suggestions if you are interested:
- If using framed images stick to using the same type of frame for all images
- The best frames are plain black or plain metal type ones (goes with anything and usely can take a couple of knocks)
- Consider sealing the matted prints into a protective bag (looks very professional).

hope this helps

Know your market. I'll explain by example.

I have my prints going to 3 arts and crafts fairs within the next few weeks. I unfortunately will not be going with them for personal reasons but have someone very trustworthy handling it for me.

The one sale I am going with a small sampling of very basic metal (read cheap) frames and a larger selection of mattes. This is in a smaller community that has a predominantly agricultural based economy. It has a population of about 45K with a service area of maybe 70K

The other two are in cities of about 1 million each and a service area much larger than that which are supported by the oil industry and money seems to be no object in them these days. At these I am going in with more framed, and very nice ones as well. At these ones I am doing more large prints 16X20 and up that are suitable for house decor. The economy here is just booming with the housing prices jumping in the tune of 30% increase year over year in most of the new neighborhoods.

I made a deal with a framing shop to buy a certain amount of frames and mattes. She lends me the rest on spec. I also have a fairly wide selection of the frame samples that they can overlay on a print to see what they will look at. I am in the position to take orders and have a guarantee of supplying the print within 10 calendar days of the customer ordering. I have set it up with my color lab that they already have the images and I just have to email or call in the amounts and sizes and they will ship within 24 hours. The frame shop will do my order within 48 hours of them getting them.

I have only ever done local fairs where I live before which similar to the first community. Large prints didn't go over well here and price was what dictated the sales. This is going to be the first time that I have ever done the larger fairs and am only doing this because of talking to other photographers that I have spoken with that have done these two shows. It is a big risk but they attract a higher end clientele. The booth cost 1200.00 for the 3 day show which I am sharing with another person, they are doing the sales for me.

The point that I am trying to make is understand the kind of people that you want to sell to and/or the kind that will be in attendance. Make your booth presentable. Those that have a table and few items thrown on them don't attract as much traffic as those that have something that catches their eyes. No matter which way you do it, it is a risk. Most people want to walk away with their purchase. If you are taking orders you have to present yourself like you are not going to walk away with their money. At these I insist on full payment upfront. Know what sells in your area. My girlfriends daughter works as an interior designer for a house builder so I bent her ear for awhile to see what the current trends are in this area.

Disappointment is not hard to achieve at these. The first year or two that we had done these I lost my shirt on the smaller market ones. I actually had second thoughts about trying it again this year but got talked into it. One of my fellow photographers at my camera club has done them for many more years than I and says that he has outstanding success and to some degree I have used parts of his model.

The other thing to pay attention to is lifestyles in the area which you are selling. In the first sale this year (this weekend) there is allot of hunting and fishermen, so I am going in with a significant amount of wildlife and associated interests. The other ones I have more decor type shots as hunting is frowned upon more there, it is much more urban setting. I know you are concentrating on a couple of very specific types of shots. I just want to encourage you to make sure you think that those will sell in the area that you are heading into.

I'm not saying that my approach is the right one. I'm going out on a limb this year but have minimized my risk by making the framing and printing deals but that in itself poses a risk in that the customer cannot walk out of the pavillion with their purchase.

Good luck.

Thanks Ken and Sheldon. Sheldon, thanks for the indepth analysis. You brought up some very insightful observations that can only be aquired through practice. I will try to implement them as I go.

Frames are much too individual in their appeal. You might have a killer photo beatifully matted, but the potential buyer hates the frame and won't buy it if that is included in the purchase price. Would be better to display matted photos with some fairly unobtrusive and simple frames, but price the photo matted and without frame. That way the buyer can choose a frame if they want.

Wilt wrote in post #2263253
Frames are much too individual in their appeal. You might have a killer photo beatifully matted, but the potential buyer hates the frame and won't buy it if that is included in the purchase price. Would be better to display matted photos with some fairly unobtrusive and simple frames, but price the photo matted and without frame. That way the buyer can choose a frame if they want.

Yes, I would go with plexiglass frames or some thin metal frame - black or silver. They are unobtrusive and easily reusable. Price with or without the frame but make sure you can put the pic in something to protect it, if they go without the frame.