How to Present Your Art Prints for Sale in Markets

Offering art prints for sale is the best way of scaling your art business. This post offers advice on all aspects of presentation based on my experience selling my own art prints for over 20 years. 

Ive made plenty of mistakes in my time and some are not so obvious for a newbie. It takes time to pick up the nuances and subtleties of selling art prints

Presentation is key, but not in the way you think. 

How Important is Presentation? 

Listen up, selling art is retail, you can dress it up as something more elevated but in the end, it’s a product and you need buyers. 

Your art must stop people in their tracks. It must turn heads. There is absolutely no point in making a fancy color coordinated tasteful display, that harmonizes with everything, and gets noticed by noone. 

Now let’s be straight talking, most of us will never produce award winning, jaw dropping artwork that demands attention. If only that were so. 

No. we must make the best of what we have and present it in a way that’s most impactful. 

Heads must turn your way if you are to stand any chance of a sale. If you are selling prints in an art fair or market setting there are distractions everywhere. If your passing trade is not looking your way, you are finished. 

Your display must be ‘in your face’. In other words, forget subtlety. Your prime motive is to get passers by to stop and look. 

It’s only by arousing curiousity that you will have the opportunity to interact and sell yourself. 

In effect, you are using your display to present yourself. Make no mistake, selling art is not about the art itself, it’s the story that accompanies it that is key.

Art doesn’t sell itself.

Put ego to one side, very few artists make art that speaks immediately to the viewer, at least, not initially. The viewer must be nurtured and when they warm to you, they will start to see your artwork in a different way. 

The presentation facilitates the soft sales pitch. 

How to Present Your Art Prints

You have a number of options and they will differ according to your circumstances.

Each option has it’s pros and cons:

Sell Loose Prints (My Preference)

I wanted to stay mobile and carry the least amount of stock. That was because I was severely restricted with vehicle access to my street market pitch.

I chose to sell loose prints and sold them unframed and unmounted. 

The customer could choose from the prints on display and from those in my portfolio folders. Note that these sample prints get grubby over time and will need replacing occasionally.

People will feel the paper and leave finger marks and grease stains. It is what it is. Factor it in.

I had my stock of prints in a box and showed each print to the customer for approval before slipping them into an A3 board-backed envelope at the point of sale.

I hung a few prints on my display boards. I stuck them to corrugated plastic backings and wrapped them in cellophane/polypropylene. I used velcro strips to hang them.

My life was simpler but, my profits were lower as a result. It’s a trade-off.

You’ll need to know how to print artwork: How to Make Prints of Your Art: A Complete Printing Guide

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Sell Mounted Prints (Matboard)

Presenting your art, mounted and ready to pop into a frame, adds a premium to your presentation. Not only does it vastly improve the look of your print, it also cuts out one step in the framing process for customers. That’s a major plus. 

On the flip side, to be viable you’ll need to have the space and time to cut mounts at home or contract the work. 

You will have to wrap them in cellophane or clear polypropylene and have backing board.

This option is most viable if your prints are all the same commercial size, and hence, easy to cut in bulk and sell ready to pop into an inexpensive frame.

Selling Framed Prints

To maximise your profits, offering framed prints is the way to go. 

People will pay for convenience. If you have a picture ready to hang on the wall, as soon as the buyer gets home, you are onto a winner. 

If only frames survived transit!

In all honesty, moving frames around is a nightmare. Glass gets broken and frames get chipped. When it works, it’s lucrative, otherwise it’s a total pain.

This is a trade off. The profits are there, but so is the stress and extra work that goes with it.

It’s not just about transporting your frames without damages, it’s about buying frames in bulk, buying matboards to in bulk and carefully inserting the prints yourself. You must also have packaging at the point of sale.

And if that’s not enough, you’ll need damp free storage space for your stock.

Believe me its more involved than you imagine.

This might help: A Quick Guide to Framing on a Budget: No Fluff

Your Physical Display Options for Art Prints

Having invested time and money on your prints, you must present them to the public in an attractive way. These are your options:

Display Panels

DIY or professional panels? I’ve used both with varying degrees of success.

Commercial modular exhibition panels are expensive but if you want to appear professional they are a viable option.

I’ve used them and I can tell you, from first hand experience, they look great at first, but wear and tear takes it’s toll.

Firstly. that nylon Velcro covering loses it’s grip eventually, and your display prints become increasingly hard to hang. That’s an issue for sellers who trade everyday and who like to rotate their displays.

The second problem arises when you’ve had a perminant display and decide to make a change. The nylon fades in the sun. You are left with faded patchy panels that look awful.

Do not use these panels in outdoor events or where they’re in direct sunlight.

DIY display panels need to look good and it took me a few years to figure out how to make strong lightweight panels.

I cut polycarbonate sheets to my desired size and used sticky-back velcro to attach my prints. I tidied up the panels using edging strip. It worked a treat.

Learn how I did it: Cheap Art Display Panels: Make Your Own For Art Shows

Picture frames are a different issue. You’ll need heavier panels that will take the extra weight and be more stable in a public space.

Artists often use Gridwall panels. They are tough and heavy, but not so pretty, in my opinion. 

They are good for indoor events but I know from experience they rust easily, so be warned if you use them outdoors

Portable Browsers

The public loves to flick through a rack of pictures. It’s an automatic reaction.

Put your most appealing image in full view and place the browser in a prominent position at the front of your stall. 

There seems to be an unwritten permission that allows people to rummage through a rack at will.  It makes some people take a quick look and the activety will arouse the curiosity of others.

A browser also acts as a barrier between you and your prospect and consequently they relax. It’s a psychological thing. 

Display a Portfolio Folder

I lay two portfolio folders, propped open, on a table top, one showing open edition prints and the other showing limited edition prints. 

I feature my most popular drawings and encourage people to have a look. It works, but curiously, not as well as a browser. 

People are more reticent to look through a folder. It’s a more tacit commitment for some folk and they shy away from touching. That said, it’s a minor issue. People who will not touch, seldom buy.

For those that are happy to look, I keep a spare folder handy should a small crowd gather.

Making an Eye Catching Print Display 

If the trick is to make people stop, then bold is best. That can be acheived in a number of ways, it all depends on the type of art you are selling. 

Remember, this is your first impression so you need to make it count. 

1. Have a Featured Art Piece

If you have a standout work of art that always grabs attention, put it center stage.

It doesn’t matter if you think it’s the best or not. Figure out what people like and give it to them. 

My approach was placing an easel at the front of my stall with a popular print or original prominantly dispayed. I liked to have an open portfolio of prints below to encourage curiosity. 

2. Enlarge a Print as a Banner Ad

What happens if your art is too small or not colorful enough to catch the eye? You invest in a large banner print and put it on display. 

You can have it as a backdrop or even on a display easel. 

I did this with some of my more dramatic drawings. They had much more impact as enlargements and it works.

There are some drawbacks but the pros far outweigh the cons. 

First of all, even brilliant enlargements lose quality. The image, in my experience, is always grainier. It figures. Take that as it is, it’s a compromise you need to accept to make people stop and look.

Now some people will love your giant print so much that they will want to buy it. Fine, if you have the where-with-all to supply them, go for it. I didn’t.

The cost for giant prints was too high for my audience and the logistics of carrying enormous prints to and from a market was beyond me and my modest set up. 

It didn’t matter. 

The purpose was to get people looking at my stall and that’s what counts. As every trader will tell you, people attract people, and that translates into sales.

3. Create a Gallery Wall

If you don’t want to make a glorified poster advertising your presence, make a gallery wall instead. 

Select some of your best work and create a visually stimulating collection that introduces your work. 

These prints will attract potential customers, some of whom will be intrigued enough to want to see more. 

You should aim to have the best images at eye level for maximum results.

The way you retain attention is to title each piece of work and have a brief caption explaining something about the image. 

I’m not talking about pretentious art-waffle, I mean storytelling. People want to know the background, what you were trying to acheive, techniques you used, or better still where you were and how the picture came about. 

These captions and titles should be well-crafted, short and snappy to work properly.

Read this: How to Name Your Artwork: Find a Title That Sells

Your aim is to encourage prospects to read each caption one-by-one and spark enough interest to react in some way and hopefully ask a follow up question.

One of my best captions made people laugh. That was always my excuse to chip in and say something. 

You can appreciate how small tweaks to your display presentation can have a significant impact on sales. 

Advertising Your Art Print Prices

Never be afraid to advertise your best prices. Price to entice. If you have a good deal, tell the world, why not? 

When a customer sees the price they should be pleasantly surprised. 

It can’t be too cheap because that raises suspicion that something is wrong. Neither can it be prohibitively expensive. 

You must find a sweet spot somewhere in between.

Better read this: How to Price Art Prints: A Practical Guide For Beginners

When you’ve determined how much people will happily pay for one print, make a sign with the price and below it advertise an offer 

The way to create value is to bundle a deal and encourage multi-buys.

Let’s use a simplified example for arguments sake.

Let’s say you sell a print for $20 and it cost $2 to print. You stand to make $18 in profit. 

Now if you advertise 2 prints for $32, the customer sees a real bargain and will be tempted to buy. Your costs have risen to $4 but your profit is now $28 instead of $18.

In one sale you make an extra $10. That’s how it works. 

Restrict Choice and Display Less

Never display everything. Hold stuff back. Choice is a curse. You may think that giving people many options is a good thing but believe me, it’s overwhelming and you will lose sales.

Give people a selection and when they show a real interest and a desire to see more, then you can offer extra choice. It’s easy enough to have a portfolio folder handy.

The other scenario is to offer your ‘hidden’ folder to customers about to leave. They may not buy anything, but the prolonged interest will attract more browsers.

Displaying Art Prints: Final Thoughts

Don’t get too caught up in having a perfect art display. You must look professional and use the sales ploys I have suggested but being neat and tidy is enough.

Make sure the basics are in order. Check your captions for typos, print out your price signs (don’t write them by hand), wipe down your surfaces when they get grubby, align your prints. Simple stuff.

In my experience, a few rough edges are barely noticed by the public. You’d think that everything should be like a polished to attract buyers. That’s not the case.

Posh art galleries intimidate people, and your task is to make them feel relaxed and comfortable.

A market setting is less highbrow and the public are far more forgiving than you think. The key to selling your art prints has less to do with the display itself and more to do with how you present yourself. Remember that.

If you thought this was helpful, you should check out my guide. It covers every aspect of selling art prints.

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Here are a few more posts that relate to selling art prints:

• How to Sell Your Art in Galleries: Is it Worth it? The Truth Told
• How to Sell More Art: 10 Selling Tips For Artists
• How to Sell Your Drawings: 10 Steps to Success
• How To Sell Landscape Paintings: 13 Ways to Make More Money
• Pricing Original Art For Beginners
• How to Sell Art on The Street: By a Street Artist
• What Kind of Art Sells Best? All The Secrets Revealed
• What Size Art Sells Best? Frames and Apertures – FREE Chart
• How Do Artists Find a Target Audience? The Best Tips!

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