I’ve had several artists email me and suggest that maybe the best way to sell the art isn’t on an individual basis, but to display it all as a series at an art gallery and then auction it off. This thought greatly appeals to me and comes with advantages, but it also comes with some problems.
The main advantage (other than it would be a damn cool art show and be a great opportunity to get the word out more about Penny Experiment) is that it would likely bring in a lot more money for the artwork than if I sell each on an individual basis. That would mean more money for the couponers to use which would mean more food for the food banks.
The main issue against this approach is time. I imagine it will be until the end of January before I receive all the pieces (and possibly longer if there are some cancellations). Combine that with the time to get the art show ready and it would mean several months before there would be any money to give to the couponers to begin buying food for the food banks. I’m hoping to get them started as soon as possible.
So I am currently looking for creative ways to possibly solve this dilemma, and placing a shout out to all to let me know their ideas on this topic.
You could set your goal on tax-return time, people are feeling more flush then, & you’d have plenty of time to receive all the art & have a showing. If you find a gallery then you’ll know the show date… & thus a natural date for bidding to end. So you could start open bidding now, drumming up interest & prices (!) through that date.
It does not solve the dilemma of immediate cash to the couponers, but it sure could rack sales up!
The online bidding does sound nice… what about setting up an Ebay store? That way you can have the pieces up as the come in and then keep adding them as they arrive. You can have info about the cause on the Ebay site and also link this site to get more traffic and maybe if the people aren’t interested in buying the art but maybe could help with couponing and spreading the word? You can set a minimum price and also a buy now price for each piece so that you know the minimum you would get if you sell all the pieces.
Jeffrey, It’s your project. It’s a wonderful idea. You go ahead and do it the way you want to do it! We’re all grateful for the opportunity to participate in such a worthy cause. Thanks for letting us share a piece of our artwork in your project!
Katherine
Try two ways of selling the Art.
Keep All the Original Pieces together and have it tour as a collection going to various galleries (like Laguna Beach, N.Y., S.F., L.A., Washington D.C.) And have a silent bid for Parts or the Whole collection at the galleries where shown.
While that “card show” is touring (if places will show it, etc.) Go to A Publishing House and see if they’ll make 2 sets of 50 Post-Cards each and sell them like you would a box of christmas Cards…
And then Later next year, Do a 4 set card box project – with 25 of the cards in each (Set A to D) and make some special X-mas cards (like 5 Xmas Penny cards) and put those in 5 of each – to make 50 Card Sets for next year Christmas Cards, since this year is already History.
And the profits go to the food program after cost.
Just an idea.
Chris
A 2nd Idea –
I went into an Albertson here in O.C. California a few days ago… They have Food Donation Cards – maybe you get stores that don’t have these programs to carry your “Donation” style (mass produced) Postcards for like $1 donation each for this Food program?
Chris
Someone said: “You could set your goal on tax-return time” – Be aware of “TAX” things. Just because this is for a charity type thought doesn’t mean the government won’t try to tax the money you raise if it gets to be serious money (anything over 10 grands) Try to get a tax exempt status from Uncle Sam, then use it for Getting those stores to help if you deciede to do “Donation Cards” – similar to tax help the stores get for hirering the handicap, etc.
Just a heads up, so you don’t face problems down the road with taxes.
Chris
I agree with the idea of an eBay store. While you do want to get more input for it, perhaps you could figure out a way to get eBay to feature it on their front page at some point? Maybe just a small blurb. I have no idea how much money that might cost you or if they’d be willing to do it for free. Spin it as awesome, free publicity while you’re still trying to get it some attention, perhaps?
Having the eBay store will create something people can bookmark and come back to check on if you decide to do a second or third round (or even make this an annual thing). it’ll also mean people can link it to friends and share it, and all you have to do is post up pictures and descriptions – or have someone help you with it if it gets down to crunch time. I’ve seen a few charities go this route.
http://www.1968pennies.com/
Donate at least one 1968 penny and your link will be listed on the website forever! It is a very interesting site and concept.
Jeffrey, I think whatever works best for you is what you should do. If you have the time/energy, maybe this can be a project for the “next” 100 pennies? It seems like a lot to switch gears in mid-stream.
Cheers,
Cindy
I can see the dilemma you’re in. I think the most important thing is to do what works best for you (whether that means do whatever is most convenient or what feels “right” when you listen to yourself or whatever). I just want to say that whatever you decide to do, it’s going to be great. You’ve already done such a great job at pulling artists together and inspiring people.
Just another thought in the line of them…
Another organization I always send a donation piece to is VisualAIDS. They also request postcard sized piece of art, but how they deal with the sale of is this: They post all of the thousands of pieces they receive in a space (specifically a gallery, but that wouldn’t be necessary in this case), have an opening night where peeps can put their red dots on pieces they want, then they have a free-for-all the following night or weekend. People pay a $25 cover just to get in and look at the pieces (again, just a detail that wouldn’t be necessary in this case).
The thing that makes it a little more manageable, is that ALL pieces are sold for a set amount — in the case of VisualAIDS, $75. The person buying it doesn’t know whether they’re getting a “known” artist, or an emerging artist — they’re paying $75 for the piece, and only learn the artist’s name once they’re taking it home and can read the back of it.
Just tossing it out there — don’t know whether the flat rate would appeal to the demographic that will be buying these pieces… I can see it both ways…maybe more money will be raised if people can buy things for 10 bucks, or 200. A flat price could bring in less or more…I suppose it’s a crap shoot…
Whatever you decide to do, kudos to you for doing it!