What Sells in the Artist Alley?

[MittyMandi]

So this will be my first year selling at Fanime in the Artist's Alley, and I'm curious as to what tend to sell and what doesn't.
I'm pretty accustomed to cons where original, commissioned art is the biggest seller, followed by prints, non-commissioned original art, and sometimes things like buttons, keychains, etc.
For those with experience in the AA, what sells?

[PyronIkari]

This is very subjective. I know for some artists things like bookmarks, key chains and the such are their best sellers, but with other artists it's comissions. I mean, it's more about you as the seller. If you're going to make a hodgepodge of stuff, then you have a hodgepodge of stuff. but most sellers kind of specialize in what they sell. Some aim towards certain things and while they'll have some prints and what not, that's not their specialty item. Generally that's how every convention AA is like and I've been to more than my share of cons over the past 13 years.

So asking what sells is really a hard question to answer. But to some it up...

"Quality items".

But something to keep in mind is that, people that shop at AA aren't looking to spend a large amount of money generally. So while people do buy prints and comissions and the such, small items sell well because they're generally inexpensive. So it's up to you to aim what you want to sell. Larger more expensive items in less volumer or a larger volume of small inexpensive items. I see both generally selling well, enough for artists to keep coming back anyways.

[kookiekween99]

From what I've seen in my previous year of attending Fanime and three years of staffing ASAHiCon, fanart tends to sell better than original art.

But I should note that at ASAHiCon, the area I staffed was Registration, not Artist Alley, and it was a much smaller con, so Fanime might be different.

[Elimeno]

What Pyron said is actually quite spot on.  Small quick custom sketches will net you in a lot of money pretty fast; just make sure they're under like 3 bucks.  For prints either make them 8 1/2 x 11 or poster size, and make sure to print on gloss (don't know why, maybe the shiny makes people want it more?)

[jAded]

All I sell is original art and I've always done well at Fanime. It's more about quality, and having a style/items that are marketable.

[FanFicGuru]

Again, I think Pyron said a lot of the key points, but I would say quality, affordable items will go over really well.

There are a few button vendors that have cute little chibis on them or witty sayings, and in the past few years whenever I've stopped by their booth they are always really busy. I've probably spent about 15-20 bucks on them, even though they're like 50 cents to a dollar each.

Of course, you want to be making a profit, so you have to consider your printing and booth costs, as well as your time when selling your wares. The key is to find a good balance. :)

[kookiekween99]

There are a few button vendors that have cute little chibis on them or witty sayings, and in the past few years whenever I've stopped by their booth they are always really busy. I've probably spent about 15-20 bucks on them, even though they're like 50 cents to a dollar each.

I love buttons. :) Every convention I go to, I seek to add new buttons to my collection. So far, I've filled up an entire lanyard, and I hope to fill another one by the end of con. :D

Although I would advise anyone considering selling buttons to not sell them for any more than 2 dollars. A good range is $.50 to $1.25.

[solipoo]

kookie: I am also an avid button collector, but I disagree with your prices. $.50 is ridiculous for a button, I've rarely seen anyone sell them for that price. That's barely enough to cover the button part expenses, and the cost of buying a button machine. Add that to the price of a table, and someone who only sells buttons would have to sell hundreds, or even thousands, of buttons to break even. If the artist orders buttons online if they don't have a button machine, some places charge near $.50 for buttons if they don't order huge amounts. 8I

I'll be selling buttons this year, and I'm thinking of pricing them at $1.50 to $2.00, but giving deals if they buy more. eg 4 buttons for 5 dollars or something like that.

This is my first con selling too. I found a lot of whats been said so far very helpful. :0!!!

[kookiekween99]

kookie: I am also an avid button collector, but I disagree with your prices. $.50 is ridiculous for a button, I've rarely seen anyone sell them for that price. That's barely enough to cover the button part expenses, and the cost of buying a button machine. Add that to the price of a table, and someone who only sells buttons would have to sell hundreds, or even thousands, of buttons to break even. If the artist orders buttons online if they don't have a button machine, some places charge near $.50 for buttons if they don't order huge amounts. 8I

I'll be selling buttons this year, and I'm thinking of pricing them at $1.50 to $2.00, but giving deals if they buy more. eg 4 buttons for 5 dollars or something like that.

This is my first con selling too. I found a lot of whats been said so far very helpful. :0!!!

I got the $.50 price from these guys: http://ens.efersmui.com/

I buy from them at every convention I go to that they show up at. :)

But I do understand that the process can be expensive. I'll try to keep that in mind when I peruse Artist Alley in a couple of weeks. :D

[otakuya]

Have a variety of items and highlight current popular anime, games, and characters that's in 'demand'.

[solipoo]

I got the $.50 price from these guys: http://ens.efersmui.com/

I buy from them at every convention I go to that they show up at. :)

But I do understand that the process can be expensive. I'll try to keep that in mind when I peruse Artist Alley in a couple of weeks. :D

oh, I've bought from them before xD!
They seem to be quite successful and perhaps their designs are a bit simpler than other people's stuff so they can charge lower.
Also, they have a lot of text buttons, which take way less time than character buttons, probably. The ones that they sell for .50 are mostly text buttons... they charge more for animals. I think $2 isn't unreasonable for a complex, character button which takes much more time than slapping some black text on a white button. Hahaha.

Other artists who sell buttons, do you agree? Since I've never sold buttons before, idk exactly what a good price is. Is $1.50 to $2 is reasonable for a character button?

[FanFicGuru]

I would say that $1.50-$2 is perfectly reasonable for a character button. That's what I was trying to say earlier. As you pointed out, most of the .50 buttons are mainly just funny sayings or Japanese characters or whatever. People will definitely pay more for actual art on their buttons. But again, if we're talking about hitting that sweet spot where you can get tons of sales while still comfortably covering costs and netting a decent profit, I'd say 2-2.50 is a good ceiling. From what I saw of the button makers, they had about 30 buttons per page, so you're making about $60 per page. Of course you subtract the time you spent originally drawing the art, as well as subtracting the cost of your button making machine and printing costs and then you know what your break even point is.

In any case, buttons always seem to be a good bet. I'll keep my eye out for you at AA. :)

[MittyMandi]

Thanks for all the help, everyone! Great input here. I'll definitely do buttons - I have access to a 1" and 2 1/4 button maker. I also have a lot of original art and prints, as well as fan art (mostly of Pokemon, lol) and plan on offering regular commissions, along with quick color sketches.