Hey guys, I just got back from an art fair where I sold a ton of prints. I have very specific feedback about this topic.
Quality: Never skimp on quality, even if it means your margins are less. You aren't selling a print to a customer, you are building a relationship with a customer. That means long terms sales. Many of my patrons buy a $4 card, then they buy a $45 print, then they buy a $65 bigger print, then they buy a $2000 original. At no point in this process do I want them to question the quality. Think long term and keep buyers for life.
Archival: If you are just selling an open edition of an image, I wouldn't worry too much about this just yet, but it never hurts to think about it early. Going back to my previous point, if one of your prints fades after a year or two (an it will fade btw if you aren't printing archivally) your customer will be pissed. They will think of you as sort of scamming them. Never a good thing.
I use an epson 4900 printer (which has 11 inks that are archival), Canson Watercolor bright white paper (on a roll and in 50' lengths). In the beginning I used a cheaper Epson 2880, but it was still archival inks and paper. I shoot all the images myself with a Nikon 22 megapixel camera. Each image shot close up and two shots- bottom half and top half. I put it back together in photoshop.This gives me a huge beautiful file to work with.
If you are having an online company print and ship your work, make sure the quality is at the highest level. Again, think long term here, even if it cuts into your margins. You also need to figure out which prints will actually sell, so finding a print on demand company can be a great idea in the beginning. Then spend the money to do it yourself once you know sales will be there. Like Jake said, you don't need a fortune to get it going. Don't be like the masses of artists who don't think it takes money to start a business. I spent a lot (time and money) to get this business going. Jake had to invest in his as well. We all did and you will too. The trick is figuring out upfront cost vs. demand.
To pull this off, think of your sales as being divided into a couple of phases:
Phase 1: Testing the market: Printing with another company using good quality materials. Cost is high, but you won't be printing a ton. Just enough to see if people will actually buy the work
Phase 2: Streamlining: This is where you know there is a demand for your product. Here you can start buying in bulk a little bit and trying to cut down your per print cost. Trying to get it as low as you can while keeping the quality good.
Phase 3: Makin' 'dat cash : This is where you have the whole thing down to a science. You have your costs down and the margins are great. Your effort will go up here because you are doing everything yourself. But it pays off. I make roughly $42 on a $45 print. So the margins now are off the charts. But it took a lot of incremental steps to get to this point.
Note: All of this will be confusing to you as you try to figure it out. That just goes with the territory, so know that it is a part of it. When in doubt, lean towards keeping your upfront costs down while keeping the quality up. Sacrifice margins in the beginning in favor of understanding your market and demand. Start small with a single table at a con or fair. Work your way up to the bigger stuff as you figure all of it out.
but I don't think I can find any cheaper here
and thank you so much Lee, you've just changed my life! lol