What happens to my inventory if a gallery I work with goes out of business?

If a gallery closes, you typically get your artwork back, which means you now have inventory you can sell at full profit margin without paying a commission. However, this is a double-edged sword. If you’ve been building your own direct marketing and have a following, this is a windfall—you have inventory you can move quickly through your own channels. But if you don’t know how to market and haven’t built an audience, you’ll struggle to sell that inventory even though you now control it at 100% profit. This is why building your own direct business alongside any gallery relationships is crucial—it prepares you for the inevitable moment when third-party relationships end.

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Asked by synthesized from teaching · Answered by Patrick Shanahan and Nick Friend · art-marketing-podcast · 2020-06-15