Camperjim Offline Upload & Sell: On
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I suspect this belongs in the Pro Digital Forum and the moderators will move it. In any case I can make a few comments that might be of interest.
Selling photography is difficult and there is a lot of competition in most areas of the country. You will be lucky to break even unless you are really good and spend years promoting your work. I do know some semi-pros who make some money with sales.
There are sales opportunities at flea market/art walk and similar venues. Typically you will need to invest several hundred dollars in a display canopy in addition to a selection of prints. From what I have seen of this, the typical sale is a canvas print at under $100. It takes quite a while to make any significant money and most people who do this seem to just enjoy the flea market vendor experience.
By all means, make the circuit of the local galleries. In my area that is all but impossible. The major galleries sell investment art from known artists; i.e., the masters such as Adams, Cartier-Bresson, Stieglitz and the like. There are several smaller "vanity" galleries. Typically these are artist coops and the artists pay to have their work displayed. Sales are way less than the member dues. If you live in a tourist area, you might find opportunities in local galleries but even then the competition is usually tough.
Internet sales are also difficult. It is easy to use Zenfolio or one of the other hosts to set up an online sales webpage. There are tens of thousands of them. You will need a unique, specialized product and you will need to learn and spent a lot of time on promotion.
In addition to the tens of thousands who have had the idea of making some money on photography sales, there are countless others whose goal is just to get their work displayed. I belong to several local galleries and art leagues and some have an annual member's exhibition. I also submit work for national, juried shows. I am very selective as some of the juried shows seem to exist primarily to make money off applications. I apply to those of reputable, well known organizations, museums and galleries. Application costs are typically less than $50 but acceptance rates are typically well under 10%. I have had considerable success in being accepted, which just means additional costs for shipping my framed works. Out of roughly 15 exhibiions over the past 3 years, I have only had one print sold and that was bought by the museum. I spent 10 times that amount in application, printing, framing and shipping costs.
Best of luck with your endeavor.
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