Brick And Mortar Vs. Cyber Galleries.

I'll throw out a few at a time....

Nothing beats face to face communication and contacts. PRO brick and mortar

Online is a venue conducive to deception and fraud CON cyber

My Mom's been trying her hand at painting.
Until recently, I had only seen much of her work via photograph.
Upon seeing them in person, I realized that the photos did not offer near the same impact that the originals do.
I then realized that it must be the same thing when showing my work online.

I agree fully with Marlene.

I need to add that many people in my area have a heard time moving their art. Hartford is a great location for SOME artists, but not galleries. Con galleries

No inventory is needed for a POD. Pro POD

Dave

There are pros and cons to each. There is also a great deal of variance in quality of B&M galleries though, some are really good and value their artists and are professional, work hard and know the business, and some are quite bad, even going to far as being somewhat adversarial with their artists, or just lazy or incompetent.

Joe and Marlene hit on why I'm asking in the first place. When I was at the deYoung Museum last week I was struck by the power of the work when seen first hand compared to online or reproduced in a book. On the other hand as David King said there are good ones and bad ones.

Yep - there is nothing like having your work seen up close and personal - and it almost always a good thing - IF you can get in a good gallery that has plenty of foot traffic.

On line - just way too much competition - just look around FAA/Pixels - and as for marketing - it's more than 2 X's the work.

The real world has much that the virtual world can't offer, especially when it comes to 3d visual arts.

I have sold quite a few personally but little online. Showing on a phone or tablet - people look, maybe one will get back to you, Showing originals - several people buy on the spot.
I expected PODs to increase my market - seems to have helped focus local markets.

Online - Pros

- access to worldwide buyers 24/7
- No physical inventory
- No chance of damage to images
- No investment costs to produce and transport art
- no need to pick the images you think will sell
- Long tail inventory strategy
- No need to pick out sizes you think will sell
- No need to get dressed up.

Online - Cons

- shipping costs and handling
- No wine and cheese opening
- No communication with buyers
- No artist talk
- No immediacy (always for sale)
- No salespeople to talk up the work.
- No physical viewing of the work

Ron,

Location location location.......that is the first thing about galleries. The next thing is location in the gallery, location in the gallery, location in the gallery.

Dave

I sell my paintings online exclusively, for several years now. My clients are always pleasantly surprised when they see the real thing.

My initial comment was referring to face to face between people,however.....real, live connections with people that you will make long standing relationships with.

Brick and mortar for me. Online is massively over-swamped with millions of same-y images. You can push it all day long on SM and have 0 results, not a fan of that.

I'm lucky though, I run/part own an office and have my art hanging on the walls, which in turn creates conversation, which in turn creates sales. People love talking to the artist, it's a neat experience for them. I'll be heading out to shows as the art show season gets underway. It's nice to get out and meet other artists and have face time with customers. Impulse sales are not possible online, but face to face you have them right there and sometimes all it takes is a few words to get them to commit to a sale or two, sometimes 3 You simply can't do that online!

Edward has it right about the pros and cons of online selling, totally agree with his assessment.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving

How can you beat, "You've made a sale" and not having to do anything except accept the money and just wait for the next sale with that same artwork.???

Brick and mortar is the largest part of my business. I think of online as a support structure to the real life presentation and sales.

In person, the buyer can see the detail, see the quality, see how it's printed and framed. Hold it in their hands. That's a big big part of selling art. The in-person impact, both of the art itself and of the presentation. It's right there, it's ready to go home with the buyer - so if they see it and love it, there are almost no barriers to them owning it. It's work, though. I keep inventories for 4 galleries, I have inventory at the studio, I hand deliver work, I make myself available on the phone or in person for shows and customer questions.

Buying art online can be a chore. Buyers have to pick the materials, figure out the differences, think about shipping. Many folks don't mind that, or they even enjoy the options. But you have to recognize it's still a process, and one that may be foreign even to people who shop online for other products. But it's passive income. You've already done the work, and the sales that come in (organically or through gallery exposure), usually don't require any additional effort from the artist.

RE: R Allen Swezey posting

Maybe seeing the smiles of those that like and want your work enough to use their hard earned money to buy one.

I guess the choice is for each of us to make

I do much better in galleries----I am in a couple that have real good traffic

I think it's a question of fit.

The key question in my mind is: Where does this piece of art fit in the best?

The answer is always:
It fits in this brick & mortar venue, and not that one.
It fits in this online venue, and not that one.

I'm not sure there is a one-size-fits-all answer. Although venues with traffic, and people coming in to see the art are usually a better bet than ones that don't have a lot of traffic.

Obviously it pays to avoid the fraudsters and the people who have very sloppy business practices, if you can figure out who they are before you do business with them.

It all depends if your able to keep your name and brand in the cyber gallery. Brick and mortar for the most part you never loose it. The prices are higher in brick and mortar galleries as well, giving the artist a better return. Most brick and mortar are curated, cyber mostly is not. Depends how good an artist you are if that matters to you.

To me Brick and Mortar hands down

Most of my sales are face to face.

VERY PRO Brick & Mortar! Have had much more success via the physical reality ;)
Can't beat the face to face relationships with the customers! Went down to one of the Galleries yesterday to drop off a framed print and ended up chatting with some customers who were browsing and sold a print & a couple cards! Nothing better than the personal touch and interaction!

Same thoughts as Marlene, it seems the online cyberworld is prone to deception, scamming & fraud. It works for certain things such as selling prints, etc, here on FAA/Pixels but not for selling originals online.

I mostly do brick & mortar, but I don't restrict myself to art gallery venues, there are brick & mortar places to show art that aren't traditional art galleries.

I do a lot more business with B & M, hands down. It's the best place for original art, at any rate.

But on-line is a good supplement.