Artists Alley Information Thread

Selling at Cons is best during the...

Spring	11.4%	[ 99 ]
Summer	29.9%	[ 261 ]
Fall	7.0%	[ 61 ]
Winter	5.2%	[ 45 ]
Any time!	46.6%	[ 406 ]
Total Votes:			[ 872 ]

[ninniku]

CactusJuicy

sweatdrop Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I notice people in Artists Alleys often sell fan art, which surprised me since I thought it was illegal to sell anything containing copyrighted material such as characters. So how is it possible that they can sell it?

Technically it is illegal, but the likelihood of the actual copyright holders making a fuss about it isn't that big so it's allowed since that's what most fans come to the con for, finding their fandom. Some conventions have strict rules, or occasionally ban the practice outright. If you're attending a con to sell, be sure to read the rules carefully. What is against the rules at (probably) all conventions is using plagiarized material, taking official art and selling it as your own, for instance.

[CactusJuicy]

ninniku

CactusJuicy

sweatdrop Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I notice people in Artists Alleys often sell fan art, which surprised me since I thought it was illegal to sell anything containing copyrighted material such as characters. So how is it possible that they can sell it?

Technically it is illegal, but the likelihood of the actual copyright holders making a fuss about it isn't that big so it's allowed since that's what most fans come to the con for, finding their fandom. Some conventions have strict rules, or occasionally ban the practice outright. If you're attending a con to sell, be sure to read the rules carefully. What is against the rules at (probably) all conventions is using plagiarized material, taking official art and selling it as your own, for instance.

Ah, ok thanks for clearing that up.

[Miri-love]

I'm going to Otakon again and have a table <3 If anyone would be so kind as to fill out my poll so I can start planning my items, I would be very grateful ^^
POLL HERE

[Niamh the Fae]

Is anyone else doing Tora Con? It's going to be my first AA biggrin

How many business cards should one bring to a con with an attendance cap of 2,500-ish? I remember there was a number somewhere for how many business cards to have for the number of attendees somewhere in this thread, but I forget which page it was on. Also, if it makes a difference, this is a con at a university, and people say there's less interest in the art than at most cons (plushies and buttons sell well, prints hardly sell at all some years).

I know people often have a bulk discount sort of thing for small items ($5 or 3 for $12 sort of thing), and I'm doing that for almost everything I'm selling. I'm not really sure what to do about my large size plushies ($25-ish), though. Offering a discount for two seems a little pointless because I don't think people would want more than one big one. The two other sizes are $15 and $5.50, so what would be a decent discount for one size would make the other practically free. And I'm not sure if I want to get into % off, since the math would be annoying and I only have change down to quarters.

What kinds of prices are people willing to pay for 9x6 inked portrait (as in bust) commissions? I'm aware of the usual time + materials way of pricing, but I guess I always worry I'm charging more than most people because I'm slow. The style would be sort of like this, but with a bit more detail in the clothes. I'm thinking it would be an "old fashioned you" sort of thing and I'd take a picture of the commissioner for reference. Might also do fictional characters with reference, but I'm a bit iffy about that because I have trouble getting the face shape right when the reference is a less detailed style.

[Kaxen]

I wouldn't discount plushies. Though in my case, it's more that I'm already paying myself terrible wages to make them...

Though you'd be surprised how many plushies some people want. I once got a commission for 8 plushies (though it also made me vow never to give bulk discount ever again) and some people did buy one plushie and come back to buy another even though I was selling plushies at the $20-$30 range. This Anime Expo, I am attempting to sell two 2-foot-tall plushies at $200 each and 2-plushie set at $100 (because Sherlock and John take a lot of knitting and hair styling and it's fundamentally wrong to separate the two.)

I ask $6 for 9x6 commissions. I have terrible sales in commissions, though.




I'm thinking of making a 4-10 page comic to sell or give as freebies (like an ashcan thing) to help promote my webcomic, but I can't decide how many to print and what to charge.

[Niamh the Fae]

Kaxen

I wouldn't discount plushies. Though in my case, it's more that I'm already paying myself terrible wages to make them...

Though you'd be surprised how many plushies some people want. I once got a commission for 8 plushies (though it also made me vow never to give bulk discount ever again) and some people did buy one plushie and come back to buy another even though I was selling plushies at the $20-$30 range. This Anime Expo, I am attempting to sell two 2-foot-tall plushies at $200 each and 2-plushie set at $100 (because Sherlock and John take a lot of knitting and hair styling and it's fundamentally wrong to separate the two.)

I ask $6 for 9x6 commissions. I have terrible sales in commissions, though.




I'm thinking of making a 4-10 page comic to sell or give as freebies (like an ashcan thing) to help promote my webcomic, but I can't decide how many to print and what to charge.

Well to some extent what I'm doing is more like adding a little on when someone is only getting one |'D I'm probably not getting the best pay for myself, but I keep my designs simple and buy materials on sale, so I'm probably not doing /too/ badly. I wouldn't be discounting if mine were as complex as yours, though. (I don't even try to sell human ones because they take so long. The ones I'm selling are food and simple animals.)

(Wish I could help with the comic pricing thing, but being a newbie and all, I wouldn't know.)

[Cetriya]

Actually got into Otakon this year. Even though I have plenty of stuff, I'm still sharing it with a friend of mines since she didn't get it and I know the feeling of not getting into a con.

Hope to see some of you guys there =)
wish me luck with my sales. I don't really sell much fan art (only have megaman and sailormoon) but have some good strategies.

Obvious need to provide different products, will have the cosmetic purse but now everyone has them so need to make more zip top totes and messenger bags. Those sold well at NY, and hope I get a good amount of commissions!


What colors seem catching this year?

[Kaxen]

I'm not really sure what colors are in style this year.

Totebags sounds cool.


Guh, I want to try Spoonflower, but at $18/yard at least, I'm not sure if I want to do that. But it would be so cool to have custom patterned bags.

[Cetriya]

Kaxen

I'm not really sure what colors are in style this year.

Totebags sounds cool.


Guh, I want to try Spoonflower, but at $18/yard at least, I'm not sure if I want to do that. But it would be so cool to have custom patterned bags.

you could just get a 8" fat quarter.



On another note:

What image should I use for this year's banner?

The poll on DA: http://cetriya.deviantart.com/journal/poll/2777344/

To expand my question, 'Lady in Red' seems to catch people's attention, especially the guys.

"Buttercup Lolita" got a DD so I figure more people would recognize the image at Otakon

"Her's" Sells out pretty quickly and is a steady seller.

They're all good, but I only have space to put 1 huge banner then fill the area with regular posters at the size that I sell them. I will print 2 but one will be a the very top at Otakon, at other cons they both will share equal spacing since I'll have a full table.

[Enigmatic Phantasm]

Cetriya

On another note:

What image should I use for this year's banner?

The poll on DA: http://cetriya.deviantart.com/journal/poll/2777344/

To expand my question, 'Lady in Red' seems to catch people's attention, especially the guys.

"Buttercup Lolita" got a DD so I figure more people would recognize the image at Otakon

"Her's" Sells out pretty quickly and is a steady seller.

They're all good, but I only have space to put 1 huge banner then fill the area with regular posters at the size that I sell them. I will print 2 but one will be a the very top at Otakon, at other cons they both will share equal spacing since I'll have a full table.

The Lady in Red is really eye-catching in colors and composition. It's really bold and has great contrast, and so would be really BAM! eye-catching from a distance. Anyway, I voted in your poll. Nice gallery by the way! ~stalks~

[Kaxen]

Cetriya

Kaxen

I'm not really sure what colors are in style this year.

Totebags sounds cool.


Guh, I want to try Spoonflower, but at $18/yard at least, I'm not sure if I want to do that. But it would be so cool to have custom patterned bags.

you could just get a 8" fat quarter.



On another note:

What image should I use for this year's banner?

The poll on DA: http://cetriya.deviantart.com/journal/poll/2777344/

To expand my question, 'Lady in Red' seems to catch people's attention, especially the guys.

"Buttercup Lolita" got a DD so I figure more people would recognize the image at Otakon

"Her's" Sells out pretty quickly and is a steady seller.

They're all good, but I only have space to put 1 huge banner then fill the area with regular posters at the size that I sell them. I will print 2 but one will be a the very top at Otakon, at other cons they both will share equal spacing since I'll have a full table.

Maybe. Thought it's a quarter that costs more than half a yard.

....Maybe I should just buy a ton of tote bags from Michael's with a coupon per week and draw on them with fabric markers instead... I've been meaning to try Sharpie Stained since my teacher recommended them he he runs around with shirts he's drawn flowers on so they seem pretty resilient.

I like Lady in Red. It's nice and attention-grabby. I like Buttercup Lolita too.

[Niamh the Fae]

Kaxen

Cetriya

Kaxen

I'm not really sure what colors are in style this year.

Totebags sounds cool.


Guh, I want to try Spoonflower, but at $18/yard at least, I'm not sure if I want to do that. But it would be so cool to have custom patterned bags.

you could just get a 8" fat quarter.



On another note:

What image should I use for this year's banner?

The poll on DA: http://cetriya.deviantart.com/journal/poll/2777344/

To expand my question, 'Lady in Red' seems to catch people's attention, especially the guys.

"Buttercup Lolita" got a DD so I figure more people would recognize the image at Otakon

"Her's" Sells out pretty quickly and is a steady seller.

They're all good, but I only have space to put 1 huge banner then fill the area with regular posters at the size that I sell them. I will print 2 but one will be a the very top at Otakon, at other cons they both will share equal spacing since I'll have a full table.

Maybe. Thought it's a quarter that costs more than half a yard.

....Maybe I should just buy a ton of tote bags from Michael's with a coupon per week and draw on them with fabric markers instead... I've been meaning to try Sharpie Stained since my teacher recommended them he he runs around with shirts he's drawn flowers on so they seem pretty resilient.

I like Lady in Red. It's nice and attention-grabby. I like Buttercup Lolita too.

I'm not sure if this would actually be cheaper, since craft store pricing can be weird sometimes, but if you have a sewing machine, you could also make them from plain tote bag fabric. Or maybe find a place that custom prints ribbon and use that for the handles...