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Inside Convention Art Shows:
I will never forget the first time I walked into a worldcon art show. I was amazed by the beauty I found within that room. Strange new worlds and vibrant colors leapt out at me from canvas and off of display tables. I knew this was a world in which I wanted to be a part. When I finally gathered the courage to look at the prices on the bid sheets attached to each work, however, my amazement was increased. Each piece had not one, but three prices. I was perplexed. Just how many prices does one painting need anyway? In searching for the answer to that question I discovered the intriguing world of art show bidding.
Artists new to displaying at convention art shows often feel as perplexed as I did that day upon receiving their paperwork. They are confronted by terms like "minimum bid", "quick sale", "after auction", "Sunday sale" and "Immediate purchase". At first glance it often appears silly to have so many different prices, but in reality, each of the prices performs a very specific function, that when used correctly, helps the artist get the best price for the painting while allowing the buyer every opportunity to purchase the art. The bidding system is designed to allow the market to set the final prices in the Art Show. This is necessary because of the extreme diversity among the economics of conventions and among the fans themselves. It enables an artist to make at least some sales at minimum bids at a small poor convention, while allowing the increased demand for his product at a larger or richer show to push the prices closer to the real gallery price of the item. The key to using this system is in understanding what the pricing structure is designed to do and therefore make it work for you, both as an artist, and as a buyer.
The first component of art show pricing and the basic starting point for most auction systems is the "Minimum Bid". It is also one of the most miss-used by artists. At first glance, the minimum bid seems fairly obvious as the smallest amount the artist is willing to accept on a given piece. Simple, right? Then why do some artist complain if they sell pieces at minimum bid? And why are some buyers unhappy if they have to pay any more? The problems arise for artists when they focus on low minimum bid price as a "stepping off point" to encourage higher bids while forgetting that a minimum bid could easily be the only bid. A one dollar minimum may well encourage the necessary bidding flurry that will get that piece to auction and to high stakes, but it could just as easily be met by only one buyer who is more than happy to cart off a painting or print for a ridiculously low price. The art show staff may not like letting a piece go so cheaply, but if that is the only bid on a piece by close of bidding, they have no choice.
To prevent this I suggest that the artist think of minimum bid as being more like the "wholesale" price of a piece. It is high enough to cover the cost of the item, but there may be no profit to speak of. The minimum bid must be high enough that the artist can live with a sale at that price, yet also low enough, that it does not completely discourage the buyer.
A savvy buyer realizes that the minimum is a bargain price, not what the item is really worth. It is rare that a good piece can be picked up for minimum bid at a large show. It does happen at smaller shows or shows where the buyers are new to the bidding process. When it does happen the buyer can celebrate getting a deal. But if he or she must pay more, it does not mean they are being ripped off, it simply means there are other buyers there who also value that piece and are willing to pay a fair price to get it. A buyer who is serious about a piece should, when possible, bypass the minimum bid altogether and opt for the Quick Sale Price.
Quick Sale Price, also called Immediate Purchase, is a special price that allows for the immediate purchase of a piece that has not yet received any bids. It is the price most often misunderstood by artists and by art show directors. I have found that most artists new to the system set their Quick Sale Price too low. The Quick Sale Price should be significantly higher than the minimum bid. This does not mean it should be priced so high that no one will seriously consider paying it, but it should be high enough that artist, agent, and art show commissions are all easily included within the amount. It must never be the same as the minimum bid.
I like to think of it as the Gallery Price of the item. If this piece was for sale in a Gallery--which in many ways is what the convention art show is--a traveling gallery with lower commissions--What would its price be after the Gallery's commission has been added? Quick Sale price should be at or near this amount. So why should a buyer pay Quick Sale if it is a higher price? The simple answer is, because they then know the piece is theirs. Once a piece is Quick Sold there is no haggling, no worry about losing it at auction. No worry about not being able to attend the auction. A serious buyer will always quick sale any piece they really want unless they are quite sure there will be no competition for it in the bidding. In many ways I consider Quick Sale to be the ideal purchase style because it enables the buyer to secure what they want without competition, the piece takes up no auction time, and yet sells for a good price. Buyers who cannot attend an entire convention or who must miss the art auction also like Quick Sale pricing because it enables them to buy art despite their scheduling conflicts. Shows that do not have Quick Sale pricing have no provision to sell art to those prospective buyers who must leave before the auction. Artists who opt out of using Quick Sale when it is available are also removing their work from consideration by this group of buyers. I have had many occasions where a one-day attendee wanted to buy a piece of art, only to find that the artists had opted to forgo the Quick Sale option. I had to decline the sale. The would-be buyer went home empty handed and, in most cases, the art went back to the artist unsold, despite the fact that a buyer was willing to pay a higher-than-minimum price for it.
But if the Quick Sale is the gallery price of a piece, does this mean that any bids that go higher than the quick sale price are too high? Definitely not. Once the first bid is placed on the sheet the piece enters the auction process where all bets, and all limits, are off. The market at that particular convention then sets the price. If the piece is an original, then the market must decide its true value to the competing buyers at that point. If it is a print, the buyer can take the chance of getting it for less at another show, but it usually requires the ability to travel to a large number of shows.
Once the minimum bid has been met, the true competition begins. The artist's goal is to get enough bids to send his or her pieces to the voice auction. The buyers goal is to get the piece for as close to the minimum as possible, preferably without having to defend it at the voice auction. To this end many buyers will "hover" around "their" pieces during the closing sweep of the show before the auction to be certain that theirs is the final bid on those pieces that lack enough bids to go to voice auction. In shows where there is an unusually high number of bids required for the voice auction, the more popular pieces often end up with minor battles waged over them during the closing sweep. When two buyers are fighting over the same piece the art staff is often forced to hold a "mini auction" right then and there to determine who will hold the final bid on the sheet and win the piece. If the fight goes far enough to provide the prerequisite number of bids for the voice auction, the battle is finished there. If not, it is counted down until on of the combatants walk away and leaves the other as the final bidder. After witnessing a few of these it is easy to understand why many buyers prefer paying the higher quick sale price to avoid the hassle.
But what if the piece receives no bids by the auction close? That is where the After Auction or Sunday Sale price comes into play. This is the most flexible price within the system. It allows the artist to decide if he or she wants to allow a last day sale price, renew a minimum bid sales option, or even penalize a last minute buyer by raising the price above previous levels. There are no real rules for setting the After Auction price. In general it is a personal choice that comes down to deciding how desperate the artist is to move that piece. Since this price only comes into play after the bidding is over, it is assumed that the piece has already missed being a hot seller, and a "sale price" may be necessary to make it attractive to a buyer. Perhaps someone who may have missed winning their first selections at the auction and has decided to take a closer look at their secondary choices. On the other hand, people who have missed the show previously or who have money left after the auction are, in my experience, quite willing to pay a "Quick Sale" level price for a piece if it appeals to them. When in doubt, I recommend to artists that they use their quick sale price as the after auction price. The after auction price is usually an optional price, but I never recommend skipping it entirely unless you want to miss part of the sales opportunities your panel fees are paying for.
Some shows do not allow any sales after auction close, sending any piece without bids or Quick Sales back to the artist. Still others opt for a simple sales approach by making these pieces available for the Quick Sale price. This is in effect an "after auction price", but one that does not allow the artist any last day bargaining room. It does, however, simplify things for the buyer. As one director who uses this system put it: "If they want to wait until the last day to buy art, they can darn well pay full price for it!"
Science Fiction and Fantasy fandom is incredibly diverse. So too are the conventions and their art shows. But all conventions with art shows have one thing in common: artists who want to sell and fans who want to buy. Of course the quantity, quality, and volume all vary drastically from one show to the next. The bidding system has evolved as a way to attempt to deal fairly with both buyers and artists while taking the diversity into account Those adept at using the system have a better chance of being rewarded with good sales or good purchases at the end of the show. It takes a lot of experience and a variety of shows for an artist to find the optimal pricing for their work, but watching how they buyers respond to the bidding system helps remove some of the mystery. If after several conventions too many pieces sell out at Quick Sale price, chances are that the items are priced a little too low. If nothing moves except at minimum bid, chances are that the prices are a little too high. And if no one bids or buys at all? It may mean the fans all went broke in the dealers room, or ... it may just means the artist needs a different con and a different audience.
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