Did You Ever Try Selling Your Images?

After spending a significant amount of time taking pictures, and accumulating a large library of images, it can be a daunting task looking for a way to sell your work.

With the right approach and a vast amount of hard work you soon may see a return for all the hours spent outdoors.

One of the easiest ways to begin with is holding a local gallery in your town hall, inviting all your family,  friends, and especially local businesses. 

This first gallery can be used as a learning point. The place where you make mistakes, but you should learn from them. Good friends will understand or even make fun at your mistakes, but will know it’s the start of a new business.

When selling prints in a gallery don’t make unnecessary claims about the durability of your prints. Give advice on how to take care of the prints, such as: don’t store them in humid conditions or don’t expose them to direct sunlight.  Try to print on good quality paper.

Choose your time carefully when holding your first exhibition. Don’t hold it in early January; most people spend a lot of money over Christmas and don’t  like spending  too much in the new year. Pick a time where there’s a lot of visitors coming to your town. Local images should sell well with tourists. Don’t try selling an image that you think is just “OK“. If an image isn’t good enough to hang on your own wall at home, it is not good enough to be exposed to the public.

There are plenty of other ways to sell your photography.  Stock Agencies require a minimum submission of 500 - 1000 images, and regular submissions thereafter, with very low returns. Sometimes it’s better to go it alone promoting your own work, especially if you’ve got the drive to become a salesperson. And no better place to start than in your local town with your first exhibition.

After getting the feel for exhibits, there is no reason why you can’t go to other towns or cities. Galleries all over the world are always looking for new upcoming photographers. 

There are no rules to what makes a picture sell. Sometimes having them in the right place at the right time can attract a client or customer. Images are used throughout the world to sell products and ideas, and there’s no better place to start than with your local community.

If your pictures are good enough to be entered in competitions, or hang at home on the wall, they are certainly good enough to sell.