Have you ever thought of creating a commercialized line with your art talent? I lived and operated the Art Rush Gallery in Golden, B.C., with my husband, Paul. Golden is in the Canadian Rockies, surrounded by national parks with an abundance of wildlife. The place attracted many international tourists looking to purchase souvenirs of the area, but there was a lack thereof. Seeing a niche in the market that we can fill, we designed a line specifically for them. That winter, Paul and I created a commercialized line specifically designed to sell to our international tourists. I did nine paintings, and Paul did all the graphics. The gift items that we have created are Prints, Magnets, Tote bags, T-shirts, Journals, and Cups. (You may check out the line of work here on this YouTube video.) The collection was popular among the visitors, and surprisingly, locals loved them too. The products were perfect for anyone looking for locally made products with an emphasis on the area.
If, you are thinking about creating a line of art gifts to expand your revenue streams. Here are 2 important points that you should consider. 1. Make sure you have the appropriate venues and customers to sell your gift items. When creating products with your art and assuring that the products will do well for your bottom profit line, you have to consider location and target customers. This means you have to ensure that you have the right venue to reach your potential customers. To achieve these two points can be challenging, which is why you need to do your due diligence before you commit. 2. Pricing your products accurately. In any economic cycle, pricing your products accordingly is critical to your business's success. Mass Quantity does not mean selling your gift items cheap either. Pricing the Products too Low When you sell your products too low, your customers may see your product has a lesser value and may not think it is worth the price. Customers are unwilling to purchase from sellers that lack confidence in their goods. The other crucial disadvantage to pricing your items too low is that you are not making enough profit to cover your cost and time, which will negatively affect the sustainability of your business. Pricing the Products too High On the other hand, if you sell your products too high, it could have a disastrous impact on your bottom line. Here is the effect of overpricing merchandise, your potential customer may be looking at your competitors for better pricing, which will undoubtedly have a detrimental outcome on your profit. Pricing the Products Correctly To price your items correctly, you have to know your total product cost. This will be determined by adding the total direct labor costs, packaging materials, and manufacturing costs. Next, take that amount, double it for wholesale, and quadruple it for retail. Other Considerations The value of your product has to match what the mass is willing to pay. You also have to think about what your customers are willing to pay for a particular product, for example, most people are not going to purchase a T-shirt for $39, but they would buy a Giclee print for up to a few hundred dollars. Compare your products to what the mass is willing to pay for and do your product calculation properly so that your business comes out ahead of the game. Other Options Since Paul and I make most of our products, we were able to produce them at a lower cost and selling them at a fair price, making our profit margin attractive, profitable, and sustainable. Paul and I were also able to test our products and their prices very effectively by tweaking them to maximize our sales. Licensing your Art If you don’t have the resources like we do, and your art has a wide appeal that suits commercialized products such as gift items, you can also go with licensing companies. When signing with a Licensing company, you earn money a royalty fee which ranges from 2-10% of the product sold with your art on it. The good thing about that is that you retain legal ownership of the work. The company that you sign up with does the leg work at no additional cost to you. Third Party Providers If you don’t want to work with licensing company, you can get your work created by Third-Party Providers, such as Vistaprint.com, Printify.com, ArtofWhere.com, Society6.com, and Redbubble.com. Most of these companies allow you to set your own prices and sell your products on their site, you upload the image, and if a customer finds your product, they will make it and ship it, so it’s pretty much passive sales for the artists. Conclusion Remember running an art business is no different than operating any other business, the bottom line is sustainability and profitability. If you have enjoyed this hands-on knowledge and would like to learn more about the Art Business, come join my FB Group. I would love to help you with your business growth. With Creative Joy, Ting
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Ting YuenI am an artist and art marketing strategist that is passionate about creating meaningful art and courses that inspire your life, business and home. Archives
February 2025
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