Photo sales are plummeting

<p>People are getting very concerned about this economy and are buying way, way less photos. Every first Thursday of every month from April through November I participate in a "street gallery" where artists sell their wares between 5pm and 10pm in a street in Portland, Oregon where 3 city blocks have been closed for traffic. This year at the early July event I sold less than 1/3 of what I sold early July last year. Same time of year, same location, same gorgeous weather, same products. I'm afraid things won't improved for years to come. What has been your experience?</p>

<p>Another reason for this could be advancement and perfection of digital technology, that makes people "instant photographers" overnight, and therefore reduced the need to purchase finished photos.</p>

<p>It's the economy. A pastel artist friend just explained that she participated in a similar event and sales were unusually poor.</p>

<p><em>same products<br /></em><br />That's rarely a good sign. You're selling art. It's a frivality. Something people simply don't <em>need</em> in the way they need a jillion other things. And that means that makes what you're selling especially subject to fashionable whims, changing trends, and competing interest in other media, artists, and markets. <br /><br />I spent most of my day today helping to man my wife's booth at a farm market / art fair. I don't show my photographs there (yet), but there is guy there who has been selling photographic prints (mostly landscapes, flower macros, old barns... that sort of thing) for several years running. He says he's having his best year ever, but he's getting cleaned out of prints that used to never sell, and the stuff that he used to sell all the time is now sitting unappreciated.<br /><br />While I was standing there, a woman walked up and said, "Do you have any Eiffel Towers?" And he did! From a trip to Paris 20 years ago. But since he doesn't take credit cards, no sale.<br /><br />Five minutes later, he sold a $100 11x14 matted print of a wooden dock along a local lake, against fall colors. Why? The guy who saw the print recognized the wooden dock where he proposed to his wife, just one year ago. He was very emotional, and couldn't wait to get the print home to his wife. He had to run to an ATM to get some cash, but did come back to consumate the sale.<br /><br />Photo sales may be plummeting for some sellers with some products in some places, but I would avoid sweeping statements like that. Art is a very finnicky market, impacted by a lot of variables. I'm sure that people feeling tight, financially, are being more thoughtful about when and how they spend their art money, but that's going to be a highly regional thing, no doubt.</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>same products</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Except what I sell are infrared and pen style images of landmarks in the Portland area: bridges, old buildings, looks over the city from the West Hills, marinas, etc. Not exactly stuff that's subject to fashion or trends. My gallery is here: <a href="http://www.picasaweb.google.com/frans2001">www.picasaweb.google.com/frans2001</a></p>

<p>I'm not picking on you, Frans! Just saying that people's art-buying whims seem to shift because of a lot of very interconnected variables. Localized material, as you describe, does always seem to be strong for walk-up art fair venues - I doubt that's every going to change over the long run.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Localized material, as you describe, does always seem to be strong for walk-up art fair venues - I doubt that's every going to change over the long run.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I agree. And that's why I think that my drastic fall in sales is due to the current economy and the dire economic outlook for years to come. That's why I named this thread "Photo sales are plummeting".</p>

<p>You see no prospect for economic improvement in your local area for years to come?</p>

<p>Don`t know but the Chicago Tribune today is predicting a jobless recovery. Unemployment& underemployment are at 16% AND predicted to keep going up. And the poor slobs like me who had no part in the creation of the mess are expected to pay to try to finance a recovery.</p>

<p>I think it was put nicely by one of the talking heads about a year ago, profits are privatized, losses are public. I really want to know how to get in on that business. Guess you just got to know somebody.</p>

<p>I am fine right now, but pleanty of people are in serious trouble. Stores are selling less. Auto companies are selling less. You can`t sell your home.<br>

So I don`t think there is a big market for luxuries right now.</p>

<p>I think it is partly the economy. Either people are jobless, or have taken pay cuts (which is just about everyone I know), so it's think before you buy.<br>

The other thing, though, is people are so into digital. Digital photo frames, pictures being passed back and forth, etc.<br>

I know you are talking 'art' but I would think there is just less demand for it, even without the economy and it's problems.</p>

<p>Trust me, prices are up and sales are down. The company I used to work for was thought ot be resession proof because of its diversity. They let me go in February and then 10% of the corporate staff the week before last. The real bi**h? The "board members" making 6-7 figures, all still there and that 10% doesn't add up to one of their salaries.<br>

I am having a hell of a time trying to get my photography business flowing. I get the occasional call but not enough to save my savings. I am 2 months from having to put my house on the market. I have a good 20-30k equity in it but where do I live when thats gone too?<br>

Something has to break sonner or later. I just hope its not me.</p>

<p>Oregon has the 3rd highest unemployment in the country right now, just behind Michigan and RI. You have to put your business hat on and do things totally differently. Gallery sales are way down and many are worried about going out of business. Gallery owners are not very marketing savvy, and I've even had to work with them to re-do their marketing. My personal gallery sales were way down at the end of last year, but I had to rework my marketing strategies. I use a lot of social media right now, combine new products (books, special edition books, things that add to my credibility and differentiate myself from other photographers, etc.), use mailing lists, and increased the price of my work. I also found alternate places to sell my work (designers, etc.). I've had one of the best year's I've had (so far), but I've also had to work really hard for it.</p>

<p>Michael, I didn't notice your message until after I posted. I'm really sorry to hear you're going through a tough time. Let me also add to my last post that I am also diversifying my work. I worked up some lectures and instructional classes that I offer through some galleries and studios. I work with clients to do social media, content creation, and other complementary services. My first book has done pretty well in sales, and it made me realize that having a few books out there could add up to some real money, so I'm just about done with my second book, and have three more pretty far along. I'm just working hard to turn out as much product as I can to get sales wherever I can get them.</p>

<p>I was also lucky to have happened to cut back on all my expenses last year, making it easy to hit my monthly nut. I'm also focusing on things that are important to me (my dog, family, friends, relationships). I've never been happier in my life.</p>

<p>I don't know if this is useful, but at the end of last year when my gallery sales tanked, I made a list of all the ways I could make money, and prioritized them according to payback and effort and resources to make it work. I had everything from scanning images for others to portrait work, and even stuff I didn't want to put down, like wedding photography (no offense to anyone, it's just too much stress for me). May I recommend a book by an author I worked with for a few years. You can buy it used pretty easily. It is by Jay Abraham, entitled, "Getting everything you can out of everything you've got." Jay offers up a lot of different angles for figuring out how to maximize revenue. Best of luck to you.</p>

<p>The national unemployment rate is near 9.5%... we are talking about more that the total populations of LA and NY NY put together are without jobs. That's something to consider.</p>

<p>Recessions are made up of two elements. The first is the actual contraction in the economy which results in a minority of people having less-maybe much less- to spend. The second is people's reaction to it whether their own income has fallen or not, out of fear for the future and in particular a feeling that they have to get their borrowing down and their cash availability up. The latter almost certainly has a much bigger effect on the demand for luxury goods than the direct effects of the recession itself and affects far more people. </p>

<p>Increases in demand for luxury goods will be driven by a change in consumer confidence, rather than directly by key economic indicators (like employment , GDP growth and bankrupcies) though I accept the two are linked. It is probably entirely different from the trends at the top end of the art market where long term appreciation is the objective. Personally, I don't think things will get much worse and will start to get a little better well within the "years " horizon put forward. I do think though that it will be years before things get back to how they have been in recent times. That said I have never found it easy to sell prints to consumers at worthwhile prices even in a good economy- and I think there are other dynamics in play than the state of the economic activity.</p>

<p>I have noticed a decline in the income per image I generate through stock agencies too, though again I think that there are other , perhaps more enduring factors sitting alongside economic issues there too.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Harry Truman said that he needed a one armed economist because every economist would say that on one hand this can happen and on the other hand that can happen. Unfortunately that's all that any honest economist can do because there are just too many uncontrollable and unpredictable variables to construct a foolproof econometric model. It's like a meteorologist who cannot say with certainty that it will rain, but that there's a 40% chance of rain. All any economist can do is lay out the possibilities and give his/her best estimate of the probability of each occuring.</p>

<p>In other words noone knows when this recession will be over. The best guess of most economists is that things should start to improve in the fourth quarter of this year. Other smart economists think that recovery will be slow and that unemployment will continue to rise well into next year. Others think that there is a looming dollar crisis in the near future and things can get much worse.</p>

<p>When faced with uncertainty it's best to diversify. Look for other areas of revenue and cut costs as Michael Axel did. This is my free advise and it's worth every cent you paid for it.</p>

The REAL unemeployment rate is MUCH higher than 9.5% - the unemployment statistics only track those who are currently recieving unemployment benefits - once they exhaust those, they are droppped from the calculations! They have then "found work".

Sad they dont use a more accurate method.

<p>Thousand dollar and up prints certainly are not selling now like they were eighteen months ago. I live/work in an area that was one of the fastest growing in the country. New homes were being completed at a fast rate and those homes required all types of art, and galleries in my area were doing well. The situation has changed dramatically. I find I now have to address price points that reflect reality. $35.00 matted prints, note cards, $75-200 frame prints, CD ROM slide shows, are the take away items that are now keeping the doors open plus, thankfully, some large windfall corporate sales. Times are certainly a lot tougher than a year ago.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>You see no prospect for economic improvement in your local area for years to come?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I believe the main reason for significantly lower sales is the state of the economy and I see a further downturn, possibly from the current recession into a depression, for the whole country for years to come. In the Great Depression, it is said, people spent more money on things like movies and theater to take their mind of the misery, but that kind of escape mechanism doesn't seem to apply to art, not now at least.</p>

<p>You might consider the timing of the 4th of july too... sometimes when a holiday falls on a weekend, sales really slump because of it. I have no clue where 4th of july sat last year, but it might be something to think about...</p>

<p>a local florist told me that valentines day on a weekend absolutely kills sales, but they know that going in so they order many less flowers.</p>

<p>I own 2 separate businesses. In addition to my Photography I am a Licensed Contractor (carpentry) here in MA. Between the economy & weather I worked 4 days in June as a carpenter! Because I am self employed the 16+ days that I didn't work are not counted as un-employed days! I bet there are a lot of others who fall into this category. With the Photography I also have become more open to allowing my work to be used on items that I never would have in the past like coffee mugs, magnets, messenger bags etc. As for the Carpentry? It is dying a slow painful death. A lot of home owners are trying to have work done for next to nothing and they will look the other way (unlicensed, uninsured, illegals) to save a few dollars. I have gone from building and working on multi million dollar homes with a crew of 3 employees, to taking work from a property management company who will pay me 20% more than the types previously mentioned and to working alone!</p>

<p>Portland is a tourist destination. Tourist destinations are hurting because people have stopped traveling. If tourists don't buy work from public (tourist-oriented) photographers, who will?</p>

<p>It'd be interesting to compare Portland experience to, say, Des Moines experience.</p>

<p>Another solution is to diversify. What you identified as your market is tourist oriented photography. Try stock photography. As in most areas, there are probably millions of subjects that stocks photography companies are screaming for. In an economy like this, stock works because corporate customers can get a similar image for much less. I hear of photographers using istockphoto pretty successfully. You may sell your image for cheaper, but you are likely to make up for that or even exceed that with volume sells. Get the book, How to Sell and Resell your Images by Rohn Engh. I think it is in its 5th Edition now. </p>

<p>Sorry to hear that Portland street sellers are not doing so well. Portland is my breakaway destination of choice this year---only five and a half hour trip ,enough for my old back..... I was hoping for this July, but may have to postpone it to September ( I can't remember if September is a yucky wet month, Frans, any prediction---?) I like the street markets and closed traffic areas. A walking and biking city, with enough lodging I can afford and the light rail. Portland has <strong>the right stuff</strong> . It will prevail, has to (fingers crossed). If the States of course can survive. Folks from Washington will cross down to Oregon to avoid sales tax, I know....I guess the <strong>arts</strong> are going to be in a tough battle now. I support by membership a small museum, called the 3-D Center, in downtown Portland on 1928 Lovejoy Street, a non profit. I want it to survive, because for me it is a national treasure for this type of stereo photography which I I dig.</p>

<p>I hope dire predictions are not fulfilled. The job numbers are not encouraging at all. Oregon has been thrifty in state spending vis a vis others. And the city Portland has won me over...</p>

<p>Gerry,</p>

<p>Yes, Portland is a great city and most of my images are from there. September is nice most years, but your mileage may vary. I see nothing already in the works and on the horizon that makes me feel optimistic about our economic future.</p>