Selling your work online

Boid

All-Pro
Location
Bangalore, India
Name
Rajiv
OWpQYYb.jpg




A dear friend has started an online art gallery with the intent of curating photographs and have photographers reach out to a discerning audience.

The artist is responsible for pricing his/her own art, printing on archival paper, and delivering it to the patron and retains complete creative control over the process.

The artist obviously retains all rights to his/her images.

The gallery charges a 20% commission on all works sold through the site.

Patrons are free to contact the artist directly to commission works independent of the site. For artists who do not have a web presence, the gallery will make introductions.

A photographer can submit up to 10 images to his gallery. Listing is free, along with a short bio/artists statement.

Currently they are looking for more artists to list on the site. One can apply to the gallery through their online submission form.

The site can be reached here - http://www.piktle.com

Do let me know what you think of the venture. Any suggestions/feedback you might have regarding the site is most appreciated. I will make sure to pass it on to them.
 
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Sounds like a good idea - I have no idea if something like it already exists (probably does), but I might very well be interested in showing my work on a site like that at some point.

How is the name supposed to be pronounced?
 
Looks decent.
[curmudgeon]
But, apart from displaying images and a bio, what does this place offer that a person running their own site and shopping cart does not? What does the 20% pay for? Seriously, I think the site creator needs to be offering more, for that.

If I was serious about wanting to sell, I'd probably choose Zenfolio or Smugmug and the like, which at the very least have arrangements with printshops, before I would choose this site.
[/curmudgeon]
 
Thanks ever so much for your responses/queries. All great questions. I forwarded the link to my friend and this is his response -

"
This is probably the first, or at least one of a very few curated Online Galleries that cater to Photography only. With other large Galleries, photography is one of the various categories and often gets lost among paintings and sculptures and such. Since Piktle is Photography only we feel we can cater, be responsive and build around the needs of the medium in a much better way.

We plan to market in person, print, online through SEO/Ads and through social media. Our initial goal is to market B2C. As we grow and expand we intend to add B2B. SEO could take a few months to fall in place.

The basic difference is that the site will be curated with a comparative low volume. So instead of having to sort through a very large number of images, to pick the one you like we will curate to a much smaller group of very awesome Artists and work. The gallery is free to Artists and based on a commission only if you sell your work. SmugMug and Zenfolio have a very different business model. You are paying a fee, immaterial if you sell your work or not, their income stream is guaranteed. This is a great business model but not one that benefits an Artist who has great work but not a lot of volume. Plus you have to market and maintain your website. Piktle does offer printing services and we are tied up with one of a very few Hahnemuhle Certified printers in the country. We are geared and aligned to offer a very high level of quality and images. Additionally most advanced and professional photographers have already developed a relationship with a preferred Printer. The 20% commission is on the low end. Depending on the Gallery you could pay anywhere from 30% to 50% as commission.

"
 
What happens if you already have 10 images submitted, and you want to add more? Do you ask for specific images to be replaced? Is each image you submit evaluated / curated, or is it "once you're in, you're in"? And how many images would you need to submit for them to be able to decide whether or not to accept you?
 
Thanks for your question Bart, here's his response (I really wish he'd make and account here and answer all this himself, I know he is following this thread)

"
You can keep unto 10 images and switch out existing images with new ones. Each image is not evaluated. The Artist is evaluated on a portfolio of 6-10 images submitted in a pdf format and any other info the Artist may choose to provide.
"

I think the logic is that the artist once accepted would be responsible for maintaining the quality of his work, and should be able to change his catalog depending on what sells. This last bit is my own inference though.
 
ask him to look at my Flickr pages and tell me if any of my bird or Dragonfly images are of a quality that are any good to him.

Also how good do you images have to be for them to be attractive to him and what spec, size etc., does he need

My Dragon/Damselfly images are towards the end

but I'm no "artist" .... I just take digital images

https://www.flickr.com/photos/billn_france/
 
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I'm not sure why this is being described as a "curated" site

It seems to be a word used quite indiscriminately these days to describe any old collection of stuff.

If the images to be shown are self-selected by the photographer, and there is no selectivity enacted by the site owner, it's hard to understand where the "curation" comes in.

Here's a good discussion about the curation craze that's been rampant for the past decade or two:
‘Reading lists, outfits, even salads are curated – it’s absurd’
 
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Piktle does offer printing services and we are tied up with one of a very few Hahnemuhle Certified printers in the country.
"
Then that needs to be made very clear, because it isn't, on the site. In the "For Artists" section, its stated clearly that you (as artist) are responsible for printing and shipping.

At one point (which I don't admit to very often) I imagined that someone might want to buy something of mine, so I looked at what was out there, took a free Redbubble account, ran my own website, and photographic links all pointed to the Redbubble shopping section. I wouldn't do that now, because RB has relegated photography to a back room, where it was what they did best when I first joined. They took a hefty commission, but they also took care of the printing, framing and shipping, as well. And you got to decide how much to charge, based on how much you wanted for yourself after commission was paid. Also, I now realise that there *is* so much photography out there, most people are doing their own and mine is no better than anything else. Nobody will buy it so I'm not selling.

Professional photographers do already have a relationship with a print shop. But most also already have their own sites set up with portfolios and galleries...

I remain unconvinced, and curmudgeonly.
 
Hopefully the website will be hit, since there is so many that gives the images nearly free. Interesting article from a travel photographer to show how to make some income from different sources:
How I Make Money as a Travel Photographer in 2015

vs the one sold half a billion $ worth of prints online:
Photographer Peter Lik Has Sold Nearly Half a Billion Dollars in Prints
Peter Lik’s Recipe for Success: Sell Prints. Print Money. (Published 2015)

It is more marketing then just photography...
 
Thank you everyone for taking the time to review and provide your comments.

Bart - The site is pronounced as PIK-TL

Sue - We will clarify what we offer for Printing Services. We imagined the site to eventually include Antique Processes, Silver Halide and various other printing techniques, besides Digital. We would like for the Artist to have full control of what is delivered to the Buyer, if the Artist has a printer they trust and would like to use, we are OK with that. Our Printing Services are an Option and not something we want to push the Artists to use. For professional photographers who already have their work extensively available, a large enough following and who print in small editions, Piktle would probably not be their primary choice for generating sales, it could be a value add. However there are a large number of very accomplished image makers, with awesome work that do not have as much print sales momentum and are looking for an added avenue to get their work out and make print sales with minimal overheads (or 0 overhead in the case of Piktle). Piktle would be a great fit for this group of Photographers.

Polly, Serhan - Thank you for the links. I see your point about the curation aspect of the work. As the site grows and we have more Artists to work with we hope to define this better.
 
The website you linked seems to be password protected now.

Anyway, I think if you really wanna sell your photos, you should establish yourself as a credible photographer first. Whether that be as a business or as a freelancer. Then you create a website portfolio (If you want a free website or an affordable one, I highly suggest that you use a website builder like hPage.com for example) where you put up work samples. Then you start selling photos there as well and put up a Paypal button.

It's also much easier to market your website through social media and it makes you look more professional. Then you get all the revenues of the photos for yourself.
 
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