Recently, I was at an art festival in Tualatin, Oregon. I was not the only photographer there which means when I was trying to sell my prints I had competition. Right? No. While there may have been people that were looking for landscape art it didn’t necessarily mean I fit their budget. 

    It hurt me in this scenario going niche in the way I did. There were three other photographers selling landscape prints, but I was the only one offering proper editions. This means I am priced well above the others that were established at this festival and the clientele that was attracted to the event were not looking for the level of art I provide. I was competing in a league nobody attending the festival wanted!

    Normally, I am a big fan of getting niche. I have done well selling metal prints and edition art at a different festival in the past, but that was because I was in the right market for it. This weekend of failing to sell a single image taught me a valuable lesson about being a niche business especially on the high end. You need to know who you are selling to!

    I of course wish I could have up-sold people on the fence. It isn’t always possible to convey the value of having a part of a small edition compared to unlimited editions. I will tell you here though that if you are looking for something worth holding onto as art it should be original, artist proof, or of a small edition below 100. (check out this article for more)