Does it make sense to take orders at an art fair without carrying inventory, and ship later?

Absolutely, 100%. With print-on-demand, you don’t have to carry tons of inventory. You can have samples at your booth and simply take orders, then ship the final product to customers later. People understand space constraints. Just tell them ‘What I have here are samples, I’ll ship it to you’—they won’t bat an eye. This is especially great for tourists or anyone who doesn’t want to carry purchases around.

---

Asked by a young digital artist planning to do art fairs · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-08-12