The last two bullets in my first entry (Rather than, & When I sell) could certainly could be a marketing trick
But not necessarily. I’m aware that not everyone has the same ability to pay. For example, at my church, which is VERY diverse (and I love it for that), there are people ranging from homeless to millionaires. If I sell my framed 8×10 photos at $20.00, that’s a LOT for a poor person, and pennies for a rich one. My goal is to make my art available to people in a wider range of means. I’ve modified my plan to have placards that read: “Price is from $10 to $30. Pay what you like.” As an experiment, I’ll see if it averages anywhere near the $20.00 I’d like to get. An economic revolution can only occur when enough people adopt an idea. There’s NO CHANCE I can do it on my own. But I can have FUN trying out new things.
Comments:
Hmmm....
That’s a very interesting business concept, Tim. I’m always looking for a good deal, so I guess it would be a good growth experience for a person like me to walk up to your table and check out your work. It would definately be a gut call for me and the price I ultimately pay. Do you think it would make a difference if you “dressed down”, or had someone other than yourself sit the the table? I know I would be more apt to pay the $30 to a young beginning artist as I want to see them succeed. Just some thoughts.
Yeah, I could sit on the stairs of the Church in rags & beg, also.
- It doesn’t matter what the average is
- It doesn’t matter if I get taken
I’m not sure it will work. I’m going to have “throw-away” 4×6 photos for the kids for $1.00 or $.50 (I’m still making a profit). And give away some small freebies as well.
I can also imagine that if I price the range from $10-30, and get an average of $12, when I want $20.00, I’ll have to re-work the idea.
The earlier idea I had was to state the price as $20.00 and then have a sign that says: “if you’d like to pay less (or MORE) than the stated price, please talk to me.”
Which idea sounds better to you?
I think having the sign is an added barrier so you would get less variance in the average takings.
No harm in trying things out though!
The vote is 2-0
Thanks for your comment, Jase. I think I’ll stick with the range for now. Thanks for being part of my marketing strategy test team!
By the way, I grew up in Bolivia, South America, and LOVE Llamas.
Some thoughts...
I like the range idea. I think it lets people think for themselves. There is a lot to be said about what goes on those minds of ours. You’d probably be more apt to stay closer to your $20 average if you have people talk to you about paying more or less. Some people are just nonconfrontational. Although they might be thinking about giving a little more or even if they only have $12 in their pocket, they can just hand the money to you and walk away instead of having to approach you about the concept.
Additionally, I don’t know what kind of photography work you do, but if it’s flexible, this might be a good time for you to “contract” some pictures. I’m thinking a birthday gift to grandma of the house she grew up in but no longer lives in, or an aniversary gift of a snapshot of the place where the proposal took place. Some thing to think about anyway.
Maybe it would be better for a sign to read
$10-$30
Pay what it is worth to you(or what you think it is worth)
You know? I mean I’d like to pay $10. But I might pay more, especially the more I thought about it.
