Should I run percentage-off sales at in-person art fairs?

No, do not advertise blanket percentage discounts like ‘25% off all prints’ at art shows. This approach frustrates customers and makes your booth look cheap, like a retail clearance sale. Instead, if you want to offer discounts, mark specific individual pieces with a red line through the original price and write the sale price next to it. This makes it look like you’re selectively discounting certain pieces - perhaps for inventory clearance in your studio or because you’ve had the piece for a while - rather than running a desperate sale. This maintains the perceived value of your work while still offering deals on select items.

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Asked by an artist planning art fair pricing · Answered by Patrick Shanahan and Bob Gherardi · art-marketing-podcast · 2024-11-14