Student art sales are a great way to help support yourself while
you’re working toward your MFA. Not only will you earn some extra cash, but
you’ll also get your name out into your local community and better understand
concepts of pricing, marketing and production. You’ll begin to see what sells
and you’ll learn more about your customers and how to appeal to them. Even if
you’re not planning to go into retail or production work, creating this type of
work is an opportunity to improve your technical skills, explore the commercial
side of art and help build a greater community that understands and appreciates
art – something that benefits all of us.
If your discipline or area does not yet have an organization
that sells student work, you can be the one to start it up! Universities offer
students the opportunity to create their own student organizations – search
your school’s website to find out how. It’s usually free and requires minimal
information such as officer names, a mission statement and a minimum start-up
membership. Gather your classmates and make it happen! It can be within your
specific discipline (ceramics, glass, printmaking, etc.) or more general
(crafts disciplines, all art, etc.). You’ll also need a bank account for your
organization and a credit card reader if you plan to accept credit card
payments (a great way to increase sales!).
For example, I am a part of the KSU Jewelry/Metals Student
Co-op. Our group includes undergraduate and graduate students and has officers
such as president, treasurer, PR and secretary. A portion of our sales go back
to the Co-op and we vote to use those proceeds toward needs for the studio,
such as books for our library, or for student travel, such as to this year’s
SNAG conference in Toronto. The students keep the other portion of their sales
as profit. In order to encourage participation in the running of the sale, we
have it set up so that those who do not help out split sales 50/50 and those
who do help out split sales 75/25. It’s a great incentive to make sure we have
enough people on duty.
To set up your sale, find a venue at your university and
contact the appropriate department well ahead of time to reserve the space. Create
a sign-up list for members to cover shifts at the sale, including set-up and
break-down. Decide on how you will display the work. Ours is very simple –
cloth table coverings, wood boxes to hold the jewelry and a banner with our organization
name. The Co-op purchases additional displays that we share as well as jewelry
boxes in bulk that members buy at the reduced price.
To advertise, we use social media, flyers posted on campus
and our university’s website and newspaper. You can also look to low-cost
advertising opportunities within your community to drum up business. In time
you might decide to bring your sale to other venues or to participate in
outside events. For example, KSU Co-op participated in a holiday sale at the
Akron Art Museum last December and this summer we will have a booth in the Kent
Art and Wine Festival. These events do the advertising for you and bring in a
larger audience.
It’s very important to have a system to keep track of
inventory and sales. We have each student label their pieces with initials and
a number. Mine, for example, would read “JMT01, JMT02,” etc. Then the student
fills out and turns in a corresponding inventory sheet that looks like this:
Inventory
Sheet
|
Initials: JMT
|
Date: 5/28
|
Name: Jessica Todd
|
Inventory Check IN
|
Inventory Check OUT
|
Inventory #
|
Description
|
Price
|
Sold
|
X
|
|
JMT01
|
Sterling
silver ring with garnet, size 7
|
$60
|
|
X
|
|
JMT02
|
Sterling silver
ring with peridot, size 6
|
$60
|
X
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Etc.
The Co-op then keeps a Daily Sales Inventory Sheet for all
participants (in alphabetical order) for each day of the sale. As sales are
made, they are marked as “sold” on the individual’s inventory sheet (above) and
then the inventory number and price are recorded on the Daily Sales. At the end
of each sale day, the treasurer totals all of the sales and ensures that our
cash box, checks and credit card charges match up. After the semester’s sales have
finished, the work is inventoried out and the treasurer calculates and writes
checks to the sellers.
Date: 5/28
|
Daily
Sales Inventory Sheet
|
Location: Art
Building
|
Seller: CAS
|
Seller: DSM
|
Seller: JMT
|
Seller: RSG
|
Item #
|
Price
|
Item #
|
Price
|
Item #
|
Price
|
Item #
|
Price
|
25
|
$40
|
11
|
$25
|
02
|
$60
|
06
|
$80
|
17
|
$26
|
|
|
|
|
18
|
$60
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
09
|
$75
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total: $66
|
Total: $25
|
Total: $60
|
Total: $215
|
etc.
|
Total Cash at Start: $100
|
Total Cash at End: $125
Total Checks: $100
Total Credit Card Charges: $241
|
Daily Total Sales: $366
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I would love to hear from readers on this one! How does your
student organization run sales? Do you have any tips for advertising,
structure, display or special events? What have you found to be successful or
not so successful? Thanks for your input!
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