Input request

[ellenmillion]

First off, thank you to everyone who's commented on the last few entries. I was visited by a photo fairy! The lavender resources are wonderfully useful, much better than anything I was able to find.

Second off, I'd like to know what you guys think about some EMG topics:

As a shopper:

~ Do you find exclusivity an appealing aspect of EMG, that you can find the things I carry there and only there? Or do you really care if I carry the same stuff Hallmark carries and there's a Cafepress store selling the same designs?

~ How much does a signature add to your perceived value of a print or product?

~ What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions?

~ Do you collect? (If so, what kinds of things? Originals? Sculptures? Genres? Books? Frogs?)

~ What's your opinion of auctions vs. direct sales?

~ List the following in terms of importance to you when making a purchase: quality, price, customer service, convenience (think 'check-out-line' vs having to order something) and design.


As an artist (as many of you are... I'm equally interested in non-EMG-artist input):

~ Do you find exclusive deals too restrictive?

~ Would you make and sell your own products if you had the resources handy and affordable, or would you prefer to do art and let someone else deal with sales and customer service?

~ What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions?

~ Is art your full-time pursuit? (If not, would you like it to be and/or are you working towards making it so? And what do you feel is your major hurdle?)


Answers may be emailed to me: ellen@SPAMBLOCKellenmilliongraphics.com (Remove the SPAMBLOCK, of course....), or you may reply here. Feel free to only answer the questions you feel comfortable answering. Most of these can be one-word replies, but naturally, I'm interested in any insight you may have on these subjects.

I whole-heartedly appreciate any thoughts you feel like sharing! Thank you!!

Comments

[asathena.livejournal.com]

As an artist...

I do feel kind of nervous about exclusive deals, but I'm also not too experienced in the business of art, yet. The deal you have now (If I sell hats you can't sell hats), -- I'm comfortable with that.

My first instinct is to let someone else deal with sales and customer service...I'm not too good at advertising yet, even if I did have experience with handy and affordable resources.

I really don't know much about limited editions and open editions.

Art isn't my full-time pursuit. I'm young and undecided yet, and my major hurdle, I guess, is skill and experience with advertising and such.

Hope that helps!

[ursulav.livejournal.com]

As a shopper, I don't have much opinion on limited editions. (As an artist I do, though--see below!)

I collect masks. And wombats.

I like auctions if I can get a deal, direct sales if not, since I don't have to wait for five days to figure out if I win or not.

As an artist,
I'm sort've mixed on the exclusive deals--on the one hand, I'm really glad you're handling a lot on it, but on the other, it's occasionally mildly inconvenient for me to have to break up an order. But it's never been a big deal, and the occasional "No, you gotta go through Ellen" inconvenience is more than made up for by the "I don't have to pack and mail those orders" bit.

I do make and sell my own products, generally because there's a lot of things that I carry that EMG and various other outlets don't or won't (for obvious reasons--it doesn't cost me anything to throw a prints-available graphic on my tapir babe gallery page, but it's such a specialty item that it wouldn't be cost efficient for anybody else. But it'd be great if I could just do art and hand over all marketing to somebody else--it's the least fun part of the process for me. (I'd get an agent, but y'know.)

As an artist, I like LE prints because it drives the price up. (Ha! I'm crass, I know.) But that only really applies if you've got an option to auction the last few. Generally I find myself doing LE runs of the oversize prints, and open editions at the regular size, so that people who really want the image can get one cheap, and those who really want a collectible can throw money at it.

Full-time all the way, baby.

[drakenhart.livejournal.com]

As a shopper:


~ How much does a signature add to your perceived value of a print or product?
Depends on if I am shopping for me ( then its a lesser point to a sale ) or for someone else ( then it depends on if /they/ care. )

~ What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions?
I like the Collectability of limited ed print runs. :) In some ways it makes them worth more. Usually though, such things would be larger in physical size, or framed, etc..., That's what I normally look for in Limited ed pieces.

~ Do you collect? (If so, what kinds of things? Originals? Sculptures? Genres? Books? Frogs?)

BOOKS! ;) All sorts of things. Gothic-like stuff, like candle holders and knick knacks. Dragons, of course. Wolf stuff also. Tribal / Native styles items occassionally. Toys.,., heh yes I collect toys. :) Comics, those too. Dust bunies..., err I mean.., .oO( gotta clean my room ).

~ What's your opinion of auctions vs. direct sales?

Auction one can often find deals, items at less [rice, or have a chance to try for items /at/ a lesser price. Bad thing is, those who do't uphold their side of the bargin in auctions.

Direct Sales, usually are invovled with folks who do business normally. So you are more assurded of getting your product once you buy it. Plus you KNOW you are getting it in Excellent/new condition 9-10 times.

~ List the following in terms of importance to you when making a purchase: quality, price, customer service, convenience (think 'check-out-line' vs having to order something) and design.

Quality
Convenience
Price
Customer Service

( unless Customer Service SUCKS, then I am totally turned off of the buy. )


As an artist (as many of you are... I'm equally interested in non-EMG-artist input):

~ Do you find exclusive deals too restrictive?
Yes and no. In some ways yes, especially if something is selling well, or the re-sale value is very high. This means less money in the pocket. In other ways, no, because it allows for the item to be a bit more valueable.

Besides money-reasons? *shrugs*

~ Would you make and sell your own products if you had the resources handy and affordable, or would you prefer to do art and let someone else deal with sales and customer service?

I would like to be able to do it myself but, as a lesser known artist, what little I /have/ done doesn't sell half as well for various reasons. Cost effectivness would point me towards allowing others to do the service for me. Allow me to do art more freely.

~ What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions? Same as exclusive. Add a Limited /to/ an exlcusive, the value goes up a bit more. ^.^

~ Is art your full-time pursuit? (If not, would you like it to be and/or are you working towards making it so? And what do you feel is your major hurdle?)

I am working towards making it so. I would like to be able to subsist off of the earninsg of my art, be it animation, design, web work, or illustrations. It would be very nice to be a book illustrator.

as of now, I must work "peon" work to pay the bills. ;) *chuckles*

[victoriagriffin.livejournal.com]

As a shopper:

Do you find exclusivity an appealing aspect of EMG, that you can find the things I carry there and only there? Or do you really care if I carry the same stuff Hallmark carries and there's a Cafepress store selling the same designs? undecided.

How much does a signature add to your perceived value of a print or product? i think signatures would raise the value just a bit...at least, for collectors. :)

What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions? undecided.

Do you collect? (If so, what kinds of things? Originals? Sculptures? Genres? Books? Frogs?) masks...gargoyles. :D

What's your opinion of auctions vs. direct sales? auctions are exciting because they're kind of a gamble...but, there's alot of appeal in being able to just go ahead and directly purchase an item that you want, too.

List the following in terms of importance to you when making a purchase: quality, price, customer service, convenience (think 'check-out-line' vs having to order something) and design. quality, convinience, price, customer service, design.


As an artist (as many of you are... I'm equally interested in non-EMG-artist input):

Do you find exclusive deals too restrictive? well, i like the way you have things set up. :)

Would you make and sell your own products if you had the resources handy and affordable, or would you prefer to do art and let someone else deal with sales and customer service? i like to handle a few items on my own (mostly prints)...but, for the most part, it's alot easier to let someone else do the sales/customer service stuff.

What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions? undecided.

Is art your full-time pursuit? (If not, would you like it to be and/or are you working towards making it so? And what do you feel is your major hurdle?) at the moment: YES. there are things that make it difficult for me to work a "normal" job, so art fills in the gap and makes me feel happy and productive.

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

As a shopper:
~ Do you find exclusivity an appealing aspect of EMG, that you can find the things I carry there and only there? Or do you really care if I carry the same stuff Hallmark carries and there's a Cafepress store selling the same designs?

>> I'm more inclined to buy from someone I know, or from a smaller-press kind of institution, than I am from either Hallmark or Cafepress. Especially Hallmark.

~ How much does a signature add to your perceived value of a print or product?

>> If it's some art I'm collecting, quite a bit, if it's a physically, individually signed thing. If it's just a reproduced signature on a notecard, not much at all.

~ What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions?

>> For collecting, I much prefer it. If it's art I just like and want to have and can't afford the LE, I suck it up and buy the open edition poster-thing. ;)

~ Do you collect? (If so, what kinds of things? Originals? Sculptures? Genres? Books? Frogs?)

>> Steve Lyman prints/posters. Books. Rocks. Miniature pewter castles. Breyers. Maps. Things with dragons.

~ What's your opinion of auctions vs. direct sales?

>> I like the direct sales better, because then I know I'm getting what I want, instead of waiting until the end of the auction to find out if I actually got it or not. If it's just something I'm hoping to get a deal on and I don't really think is necessary to my life's happiness, auctions are fine.

~ List the following in terms of importance to you when making a purchase: quality, price, customer service, convenience (think 'check-out-line' vs having to order something) and design.

>> Quality, price, design, customer service, convenience. More or less. A lot of those are pretty interchangeable for me. Equally important. ;)



As a non-EMG artist:

~ Do you find exclusive deals too restrictive?

>> It sounds sensible to me, in most ways. You have to make your living, and if I were to spread a design around to lots of different places, there would be fewer people coming to buy it from you. I like the idea of a term-limit, though. Ie, for one year, or for this product, or for as long as EMG sells this design... that kind of thing.

~ Would you make and sell your own products if you had the resources handy and affordable, or would you prefer to do art and let someone else deal with sales and customer service?

>> I do make and sell my own stuff, just not with my artwork. ;) I think that trying to do it with art, too, would really make my life too complicated, so probably I wouldn't try. I'd prefer to let someone else handle that end of it.

~ What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions?

>> Hey, you know... if I was ever made art that people would buy... ;) Well, from my experience in what little art collecting I've done, I think that each kind of edition has its place. LE is for people with money, open edition is for everyone else. I wouldn't want to be exclusionary. I've seen artists with a full-size LE and a smaller open edition, or a black and white open edition, or a "detail" type open edition... all sorts of things. I like it. I like the range of choices as a buyer and I THINK (never having sold my art, I can only speculate) that I would like to keep the less affluent people in mind as an artist.

~ Is art your full-time pursuit? (If not, would you like it to be and/or are you working towards making it so? And what do you feel is your major hurdle?)

>> Art is not my full-time pursuit. I doubt it ever will be, but it's a fun hobby. In my oh-so-plentiful spare time. ;)

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Hope that helps!

Thank you, it does!

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Hmm! Very useful indeed. Thank you!

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Oo, another dustbunny collector! :P

Thank you much!

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Thank you! This was very useful. :)

[ellenmillion.livejournal.com]

Thank you! This was extremely helpful. :)

[mersades.livejournal.com]

~ Do you find exclusive deals too restrictive?

I have mixed feelings. I guess it depends on whom I'm doing business with, and what pieces of my work are involved. At the moment, I like having just one person to go to for things. I like the fact I've met you and seen your products, because it gives me a bit more comfort.

~ Would you make and sell your own products if you had the resources handy and affordable, or would you prefer to do art and let someone else deal with sales and customer service?

I'd much rather let someone else handle customer service, deals, and whatnot. I'm not a big marketing person, and I have a lot of trouble "selling myself." I'm also inexperienced and would rather have someone who knows what they're doing handle that aspect so I can concentrate on my work. :)

~ What's your opinion on 'limited editions' as opposed to open editions?

I don't really have a preference.

~ Is art your full-time pursuit? (If not, would you like it to be and/or are you working towards making it so? And what do you feel is your major hurdle?)

No, but I would love to find a career in it somehow. I get bored real easy if I don't have something that keeps me challanged and creative, and that changes from day to day. I think I'd like to be an illustrator - maybe illustrate kids books or something, although I would really enjoy being part of an original project someday, whether it's a graphic novel series or what have you. My major hurdle is probably time and the fact my name isn't well known. Like I mentioned. . .I don't enjoy selling myself and putting myself out there. I haven't had a lot of time to practice and improve lately, either. . .:P

As for the buying side of things, I LOVE the fact you have your OWN products, with your own little realm of exclusive artists. I'm one of those people whom likes things that aren't everywhere in the world. :D I also LOVE to collect things like art books, cards, comics. . .anything bundled together with lots of stuff to look at. As for the list: quality, design, price, customer service, convenience.