Art Reproduction Market - 2008

Are you wondering what type of market there will be for art reproductions this year? Well you are not alone - it seems that every publisher, distributor and artist producing prints or other reproductions has a concern about where the market is headed this year.

With recession looming in many of the United States and in Eastern Canada, the mortgage and credit crisis and reduced housing starts across North America - many of the new markets are indeed drying up and wholesalers of art are feeling the pinch.

Add to that the inexpensive (make that cheap) art being imported from other parts of the world and sold through the big box stores and it becomes hard for many to remain positive.

There are a few bright spots though - and it will encourage artists and boutique publishers. The buyers are still out there - but they are looking for that magic formula.

Quality - Price - Service. This three-legged stool of commerce has been around forever and is extremely difficult for a company to provide in a competitive environment. If you have good quality - then your price is often too high. If your price is low - then both quality and service may suffer. Great service and low prices will not ensure success if the long-term product quality is not there.

It is far easier for a small company or an individual artist to provide all three. Here small is better! You can ensure that quality is provided - price fairly because overhead is low, and provide service because you care!

Keep these three in balance and the buyers will knock on your door and come back again!

The Menu

As per last weeks post - I wanted to take time to spell out a possible menu of services that artists may want and expect from a publisher distributor and I am hoping that if anyone reads this, they might respond with ideas and comments.

Some of the possible menu items might be:

• Your own website (developed for you by the Publisher and promoted by them- but also directly available to you for update, edit and promotion)
• A "Portal" website where your existing website - tied to the publisher for promotion can be exposed.
• Printing services - a place where you can get your printing of reproductions done at a reasonable price allowing you to wholesale and retail your work.
• Framing services - as above - the access to low-cost materials, labour and options to allow you to re-sell your work
• Fulfillment services - a place where you can count on the publisher to package, ship and ensure delivery for you of your work to a client.
• Show Services - rental of trade show booths, available to you for local or national shows, shipping, framing, display and graphic material support. All the logistics to assist you in getting to and from a show venue and successfully displaying and selling your work - originals and/or reproductions.
• Wholesale Distribution Services -where the publisher/distributor would stock some of your popular reproductions and sell them to retailers providing you with a commission.
• Art Licensing - the opportunity for you to have someone represent you and arrange for license contracts with manufacturers etc - where the publisher would oversee and negotiate the contract on your behalf - ensure your royalties and/or fees were collected and paid to you and ensure the terms of the contract were adhered to.
• Digital Services - Someone to work with to capture your work, digitize it at high quality and help you archive it as well as re-size as necessary for various projects.

Anyway - I am sure there are more - but here is a beginning list. Hopeing to hear from you!