Info please about eBay

I'd like to hear from people who've had some luck selling prints on eBay.

I sometimes check and see OK prices on prints. It looks to be nudes sell quite well as do quality platinum prints. I'd consider selling a few prints but to be honest, I don't want to try and make a lot of money with silver prints as I don't know if people are getting decent returns on the work involved - it's a question of the average eBayer caring or knowing about what's what.

It seems it would be cost effective and fairly simple to offer nice toned cyanotypes or even (look out) archival inkjet prints, but I'd like to hear from those who have done so successfully, or not, first.

Mostly, I'd like to do this for fun and to pay for some of my own printing if possible.

Thanks.

feebay is getting way to expensive. Also if you want to sell prints over $75 it will be hard to sell on ebay. Most of the time prints sell from $10-50 unless of course you are really known.

There are also other sites out there where you can sell for example;

http://www.hibidder.com
http://www.biduptoday.com
Dead Link Removed
http://www.artbyus.com/

All free to list and very modest final value fees and some no fees at all. eBay jsut shot themselves in the foot with yet another rate increase.

Kev

One more thing fake prints do not do well. A fake print is anything that is not created traditionally such as INK, GLICEE (spelling) !

I appreciate the reply. Of course 'fake' prints are now in many galleries and major museums, especially color images, but I understand how collectors would want more traditional methods. I wonder if the people who pay $25 on eBay care or just need something that looks nice?

With the fees, I don't know if it's worth it especially when you add in PayPal.

I've looked at a few people selling on eBay and many seem to sell a number of prints to one person who enjoys their work. So if that happens, maybe you can make a few bucks.

Do those other sites get traffic? I'm thinking you put the word 'nude' on eBay and you get dozens of lookers, so it's a numbers thing.

Probably more bother than its worth when it comes down to it.

I gave it a whirl.... I posted my best work, all 8x10's, and tried to sell them for $60. I had a couple prints up at all times for a three month period.
I didn't get any sales.... so ... maybe the work isn't of interest to others, maybe ebay is not the place.... would I do it again, yet maybe in the fall, if I can get some Christmas sales.....
I also had a ebay store for my prints and had no interest...
I've had a bit of success selling at local art shows this summer.... I did two shows and sold $1500 worth of prints.... seemed to be a way better use of time, although still small numbers.
-Rob
www.bigcameraworkshops.com

Rob Skeoch said:

I've had a bit of success selling at local art shows this summer.... I did two shows and sold $1500 worth of prints.... seemed to be a way better use of time, although still small numbers.

Click to expand...

Well I think that's great. If you do that a few times a year you could pay for materials or a nice photo trip.

I think if you put what you make into buying some books or a lens or something you enjoy its worth it.

I've had a bit of success selling at local art shows this summer.... I did two shows and sold $1500 worth of prints.... seemed to be a way better use of time, although still small numbers.


You need to pick your shows carefully if doing this. $1500 may sound good but if you have to travel, cover the entry fee etc its not enough to make it. Good shows cost big money to enter 500 and up for some of them, not to mention buying the display and tent etc. Anyway you can make good sales at art/craft shows but try to enter the ones that demand all works be hand made. Also I do most of my sales close to the end of the year, for obvious reasons. I also do about 75% of my sales around this time of year. I try and set up shows for Oct to Dec time frame and it does take a year or more to get in some of the good shows if not years for the really good ones.

Really interesting thread this one, I'm glad I signed up!

I used to sell on eBay and got good prices for silver gelatin and VDB's and often had 5/6 bids for each item I put up. I always started at $10 and often sold for 50 or 60, but, that was 3/4 years ago.

Now I'm lucky to get one bid and very lucky that sometimes I can get $30 for a print.

So what to do, well I got a page on Absolute Arts and got lots of advice from Janet who runs it, she's a sweetheart, at first I had the freebie bit, but then coughed up the dosh, so that I could load a lot more images.

After about six months a gallery in London contacted me and they now sell my prints. Not a lot I hasten to add, most of the English still think that photographs are just snaps and don't go in for buying them, but, it is changing albeit slowly and I now sell about one print per month, at first it was one every three months.

Stick at it is the best advice, most of the people who've 'made it' in some way or other, I email them to find out, say that it took them years and years before they sold a print and the images they now sell are years and years old as well.

Regards - Jim

Lately it seems that on eBay it is getting harder and harder to sell prints. I am very rarely seeing prints sell for over $50, it is sad, especially with all the work going into a handmade print. If you do get a buyer base established they will pay your full price once they know the quality of your work, but starting out it is hard. Another thing I have noticed is that some month’s bring in no sales as people are either on Vacation or a holiday arises. There have been times when I have gone months without selling a single print and others I have sold 10+ at full price. It really is a waiting game, but if you do decide to go this route and sell your work, you have to make sure you show your potential and current buyers you are always creating new work, even if it is only 1-2 images a month.

ON the fake prints I was referring more to the inkjet. With color work form what I have seen collectors do buy image that are Fuji Crystal Archive and Kodak Metallic printed images. It just seems that those selling ink are having a harder time selling as I think the thinking is, why buy it when I can get a print like that at home off my own inkjet printer. That is all I meant.

At as Jim said you really need to be in it for the long haul. If you don’t, I believe the ones that do buy your work will not think you are in it for the long haul. Don’t give up whatever you do.

I wish you all the best and if I can offer any help at all please feel free to ask anytime. It is hard but well worth it.


kev

I would have some concerns about selling my work on eBay if my ultimate destination was to have it shown/sold in a Gallery. It would be suprising to see a Gallery having an interest in representing you if you were using eBay to market your work. I've seen some of your work and wonder if you have approached any galleries about showing it. It is certainly of that quality. Bill Barber

Dear Bill,

Your quite right Bill aim as high as you can, but do beware of the gallery that charges a small fortune for exhibiting your work. Some of them make more money out of doing this than they do from selling to the public.

This applies to both 'real' and online galleries of the sort that makes more from showing than actually selling.

Kind regards - Jim

It's interesting to me that a 'traditional' wet color print has all the silver removed with only color dye remaining, yet it's a 'real' print. A pigment based ink print on high quality paper is 'fake', yet the two prints contain similar color components (one contains dye color, one contains pigmented color). This is disconcerting to say the least, considering I've spent thousands of dollars for a printer to create 'fake' prints. I won't even mention the work required to create a salon quality 'fake' print..... and yes, I've done tradtional wet darkroom for over 30 years. Digital photography has certainly spawned a ton of photographic garbage, but just because it's film doesn't make it better quality or 'real'. <end of rant>

Regarding ebay, several years ago I was selling prints, but it has gotten worse and worse, with prices falling to the point of not even being worth the effort. My best efforts have been in my gallery sales, both 'real' and 'fake' prints. Maybe it's me or where I live, but it seems to be harder and harder to sell these days. The Walmart mentality is killing a lot of art sales, IMO, and trying to ebay art is almost ludicrous, but that's where a lot of the country is. The last show I did (February), it was well attended and so many people were 'oohing and ahhing' and just loved what they saw. After it was all over, sales were dismal to say the least. What a bummer...

Kindest regards to all,

Jack

Disclaimer: Everything I've said is just my opinion.... I may be wrong

:~)

The Walmart mentality is killing a lot of art sales, IMO, and trying to ebay art is almost ludicrous, but that's where a lot of the country is. The last show I did (February), it was well attended and so many people were 'oohing and ahhing' and just loved what they saw. After it was all over, sales were dismal to say the least. What a bummer...


I dont think Walmart has anything to do with it. Market where the money is and to people who respect the arts not Walmart shoppers. Go where the money is and choose your shows carefully. Location location location! Showing at a cafe or little gallery is tough buisness I have to tell you. Also Galleries that charge to show work shoud be more than willing to offer up their sales records and if not then it should be obvious there is a problem. Ask how many prints they have sold in the past couple of months and if they hesitate then you should hesitate. If you want to sell your work go to where it sells. If you join an online group get some facts about what they are selling. If they cant tell you this information then it should be obvious they dont sell anything. Just my thoughts.

Hi.

Although I've been lurking here for a while, I registered on the forum purely to post a reponse to this thread. I don't work for Ebay or anything, but my experience of buying and selling prints on Ebay has been very good.

In the last year or so I've sold about 150 of my old prints which, to tell you the truth, I didn't really want or have the space to store anymore. The trick IMHO is to start the bidding really low (99p in my case) and to do a bit of emailing around to make sure the people who might want to buy from you know you are selling. So far, the average price I've been getting is around £40, but in some cases it's been considerably more. You couldn't live on it but it isn't at all bad, I don't think.

One gratifying element is people definitely know what they want and they seem to genuinely value a decent silver bromide print. My feedback has been uniformly good too.

So I would suggest that anyone that has had a bad experience of selling on Ebay consider trying again. The community is growing rapidly every day and amongst the many millions of Ebay users there is always liable to be a lot of people out there that want want you have. You just have to find them.

Look at it for a minute

You've heard quite a bit by now -- maybe more than you wanted to, but I feel a need to chime in.

First, eBay fees just aren't that high. There is no other place where you can display your work to the entire world for so little money. If you have a gallery represent you or if you have an exhibit, you'll pay them nearly half of your price. If you open your own gallery, you're looking at a huge expense.

That said, I've not had much luck selling on eBay. Perhaps my work hasn't been as good as I'd like to think it is, or perhaps I should persist longer, but I just haven't done much. Back when eBay owned Southeby's, things were a bit better, but remember too that people buying on eBay are usually looking for a bargain. I just believe there are better markets for art. Even if you pay a gallery or exhibitor half of, say, $250, that's better than 95% of $25.

I've been selling my 8x10 AZO contact prints on Ebay for several years now, and it has become my ONLY source of income. I simply make my living off print sales alone, and I truly believe that without the small photography market on Ebay...this would not be possible at the moment.

Ebay has opened my photography up to a HUGE group of collectors, museums, galleries, individuals would just want artwork for their house, ect. Out of all the people who purchase my work, it's the COLLECTORS who are the most important buyers. They are the ones who will continue to purchase your work over long periods of time and will account for over 2/3rd's your sales.

One cannot just throw abunch of prints up on Ebay and expect them to sell, and when they do not....you just give up! By doing something of the sorts, you just proven to any collectors (who may have been interested in buying your work) that you cannot really 'stick with it' and keep putting good work out constantly. When you first start selling on Ebay, you will have ZERO print sales, but if your work is of high quality and people see your actually sellings prints, more people will start to buy.

Regarding prices, I don't want to hear people complaining that they can only get 10-50 dollars for their prints! YOU SET YOUR PRICES, NO ONE ELSE! If you do not want your prints selling so cheep...then simply DON'T SELL THEM FOR SO CHEEP! In the photography market, there is no "set price" for a print. How can one photographer sell their 8x10 silver prints for thousands of dollars, and you struggle to sell yours for $10? Think about that question and let me know what you think.

Right before leaving to Iceland to photograph, I had a $3,500.00 print sale which would not have been possible without first selling on Ebay to get my work into certain collectors homes. My currently 8x10 print price is only $175.00, however I will be raising that to $250.00 at the end of this month. When I first started selling on Ebay, I started selling prints for only $50.00, and to tell you the truth...I was selling LESS prints when my prices were that low! DON'T SELL YOURSELF TO CHEEP BECAUSE IT MAKES PEOPLE THINK LESS OF YOUR WORK! That is the secret.

Well, hopefully this will help you out abit. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Ryan McIntosh
www.RyanMcIntosh.net