Best Sellers In The Threads

Floyd,
according to the boss, less than 1% of the membership frequents the faa forum.
Although, many people are under the assumption that the forum is used by the majority of the artists, it is simply not the case....not even close.
Look at the home page with the compilation of faces of artists...I only see one I recognize and he doesn't even come by much at all anymore.

I'm gonna ask this question respectfully, since your informal survey has told us what we already know, what is the purpose of this thread?

I'm well above page 28 with my best seller, not that I feel slighted or anything ;) lol. Maybe I am not a regular.

P.S. That is in jest....honestly not worried about it. You are right though the best sellers are usually spending all their time selling.

Maybe it's to try and give us all some perspective on our own egos... ;-)

.... I hope I'm not ...
quote:
.... another rear exception for two ....

I was just about to say you missed Thomas! I personally love seeing these stats though. Very interesting!

"I'm gonna ask this question respectfully, since your informal survey has told us what we already know, what is the purpose of this thread? "

What is the purpose of your question? Do I now need to get your permission to state a thread Marlene? lol

Dang, now I am going to have go look for Thomas.... better recheck for all.... I did that rather quick. Maybe too quick...

Hi Floyd I just did the same thing...looked through the best sellers for the first time. Something JC said in another thread made me think to take a look. No real sense to it...I was looking more at what sells....although a lot of the names were familiar I agree most do not come here...or at least post nothing. As far as marketing goes I never thought the discussions were useful. I can't see someone looking for art to hang on their wall wanting to waste time with what a bunch of random artists are talking about....most I imagine are looking for something to hang in some bare space or just happened to stumble across a piece that would be perfect for...

Holey moley Thomas.... you are way up there.... but now that makes all my numbers off above... lol

I have no doubt I probably may have over looked some one else.... sorry if I did.

"Hi Floyd I just did the same thing...looked through the best sellers for the first time. Something JC said in another thread made me think to take a look. No real sense to it..."

This what my IT guy used to call "a totally worthless factoid that you will never really have to know". lol

Christine Till, did I miss you also?

Even with the minor oversight above, it appears there may be an absolutely huge negative correlation between posting on FAA threads and selling prints on FAA. If you want to not sell, post on threads! Perhaps if the goal is to sell, one's time would be best spent elsewhere....

This is all for amusement anyway... so as long as it keeps on amusing me, I'll keep on threading...

Floyd, I ASKED respectfully, based on your comment:
"So, this pretty much tells us what we already know."

The common thread I see in most of the images on the best sellers pages is a very large, very clear market.

That and there are a bunch that are just flat awesome works of art.

i found one of mine on 13. i guess that's pretty good. marion rose, she's been dead for a while, does pretty well still. i got bored after that. not many flowers, mostly rainbow animals trumped them all.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

the idea is that if your wasting time in the forum, your not pushing the goods. however i'm not a salesman, i don't know where others go to push their things. and i'd rather make new art rather than push the old stuff. the real selling end always bored me. the people that sell well probably don't even go to this site, they use it as another place to print. others are dead and are only on the top because that's how the search works. on any other place they would probably scoot to the back.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Actually, now that I posted, there are four men with images on the first 28 pages in this thread alone.

I can name more that post pretty regularly

Thomas is way on up there as is Mike.

The fun thing about mine is I was on page 27 about 10 months ago, last month I was on page 7, just moved to 6. It will turn the other way at some point but I am going to keep it going as much as I can!

Floyd LOL I came back to see what the point was..."a totally worthless factoid that you will never really have to know"

I also was inspired to look through the best sellers. I did not count them but I think maybe about 1/4 or them are dead. I used to look at the recently sold and best sellers when I first started on FAA. Sometimes I was a little mystified by it because there were images on the best sellers that I never ever saw on the recently sold page. It made me wonder how up to date and accurate the best seller page is. So is the message here that we should stay off the forum if we want to become best sellers?

I'm actually glad to hear that the majority of the best sellers don't waste a lot of time in the forums/contests. To my mind this is an indicator that the contests and forums don't give us greater sales.
I don't do much in these areas except those that deal with my two groups... But unless Sean and the staff can tell us factual number that people (non-artists) on the site are spending a lot of time in these areas I'm not sure we can justify forums for financial reasons.

There is only one reason I spend anytime in these areas... I enjoy visiting those artists that I have some relationships with. I don't come in daily, usually every 2-3 days and I don't do any of it because I don't think customers are in the groups/discussions the exception may be contests because I tell my people to pass the contest link out on social media.

Just my opinion

If at least a quarter of the best sellers are actually dead, I for one am glad they dont show up here.

Just say'n.

Floyd thanks for the reassurance.

We can assume that there is room at the top.

Dave

Ha-ha David... yeah, we've got a whole 'nother dimension going if the dead folks can show up here!

If a quarter of the best sellers are dead.... that's a lot of dead artists. Hope we don't have to get dead to sell.

"I did not count them but I think maybe about 1/4 or them are dead."

Well, that is damn sure a good reason for not seeing them in the threads! lol

When you say that are dead, do you mean the Old Masters like the Mona Lisa? The guy that is selling it is not dead. He is a huge seller and has a lot of images at the top. And he never posts in the threads that I have seen.

Floyd,

I have changed gears and prices again. I am now creating new art work with a new look at digital art.

So my prices went up. A good racket in tennis or in the arts matters.

New as in tech is always more highly priced and only full embraced by the wealthy.

Dont you guys know anything?

LOL

Dave

We've made it to page 5 and page 6 with two of our popular images! Yippee!! We aren't that active in the discussion threads but do drop by now and then, especially to read the funny stuff. Have a great weekend everyone!
Celebrate life, Debra and Dave

and that list will fluctuate quite a bit as well. my sales were not great last month and right now is another low. so who knows if i was higher at any point. i do know there is more stock and copyrighted stuff in the way of many of my words. and that makes it harder for the customer to find me.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I don't have any bestsellers. I think the most I've sold of a particular image is three times. Doesn't mean I don't sell. This is a reason not to under price your work. It might only attract a small niche of buyers.

Edward's post is worth expanding on.

Just because you have an image that is on page 1 or 2 doesn't mean you sell well overall or make a high income.

Many ways to skin a cat.

People on page one or two might actually be making less money than people further down the list because
of poor pricing power for page one and two artists. Page one and two artists have a lot of exposure, that is self
propagating. It is good for FAA and does no one else here any harm. Keeps the lights on at FAA.

Dave

If I am not mistaken, the fact that you have an image in the top selling images is only germane to those images, not the sellers overall selling. To get any real meaningful stats about anyone sellers overall performance, you would have to count the number of time the seller showed up on that page, not just look for the people that post in the threads.

But as I have previously state, this was never an exercise to get any real meaningful, finite data. It was a cursory, quick check, non scientific look at top sellers vs regular posters. It was not intended to identify the top sellers or any sellers for that matter.

Like I said, "a totally worthless factoid that you will never really have to know".

Edward,

I read somewhere that US Google users house hold income HHI broke out with 35% of households having
an income over $100k.

The same picture aimed at sub $100k HHI v the image aimed at above $100k HHI would get two
different prices. And something like 33% of the sub group would just head off to Walmart.

If you sell to a family making $250k per year HHI, you do not price your print at $200 and say "I have cheap prints
isn't that great?" That family will see your work in a really bad light. Pun intended.

Dave

"Just because you have an image that is on page 1 or 2 doesn't mean you sell well overall or make a high income."

Well, with out naming names, I bet that more then 50% of those in that top sellers list are doing just fine! Again, to obtain that information you would look at the data differently then I did.

Want another: "totally worthless factoid that you will never really have to know"?

For you people that think being in groups and being featured leads to sales, go compare the Recently Featured in Groups to the Recently Sold or Top Sellers.

If there was any true collaboration between forum participation and selling one would simply avoid the forums and then magically see sales. ;-)

Some images only have a few potential sales in their lifetime. Others have seemingly endless demand. I have a food photo that sells nearly daily (if not multiple times in the same day) on SS and has sold here.

Re: my joking about dead sellers. I guess I have to concede there is probably a live person or entity somewhere that is listing the images, but never see them post here or enter Van Gogh in contests. I think the forum is a fantastic place for those who are new to FAA, or new to online selling. I am glad that many of the successful sellers have stayed around on the forum because it not only inspires but provides invaluable learning tools. I hope they continue to get something out of it also, so they will stay around.

Perennial bestsellers have amazing exposure. Nearly every person in the developed world has seen these images over and over again. They are the Coke and Pepsi of the art world. Kind of goes against the concept of being exclusive to one vendor. Hammering an image into people's brains perhaps is the key.

Floyd,

You are right, someone gets to page one or two they are making good money. Hopefully they are alive.

I was more commenting on the markup of page one and two artists. For many of them the markup is skimpy.

Just observing.

Dave

David - perhaps their markup is the key. For a popular image a smaller mark up makes sense because it has the potential to sell over and over. An image with limited appeal should not be market low because you only have the potential for a few sales.

This is the difference between RF and RM pricing. The RF images are the apple on the white background which will sell over and over. The RM (more expense) licensed image is the lady on the white horse wearing a fedora and biting into an apple - less of a market but for the right buyer its worth paying more.

The Van Gogh repros are competing with all of the other Van Gogh on the market. The price is set by the market.

" others are dead and are only on the top because that's how the search works."

Why would they scoot to the back? Are you suggesting that the FAA or Google has live or dead filter?

If they are in the top sellers shouldn't that be based on sales of the account owner, not the condition of their health of the artist? Someone owns that gallery. At least I would think someone does. But that is really none of my business now is it?

Not to mention that Van Gogh, even from the grave is still selling very well here via his own account and the account of others. lol

Oh the irony - Van Gogh originals command the art world's top dollars while the repros cost less than an amateurs.

Edward,

The internet is constantly shifting.

More folks in the 55 years old and up group are shopping online. They are more likely to have
higher HHI.

More people in all groups are using smartphones. Again higher HHI.

I was laid out flat by the HHI numbers I saw where a third of internet users, this was a cross many
major internet players, ie Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc some twenty plus different vendors, was over
$100k. We were just in a cushioned Great Depression. We are only now coming out the other end of it.
People have weathered a massive storm and kept their income and wealth rising a bit.

If an artist here can well permeate that higher 35% HHI of internet users, and the lower groups brake
out into Walmart buyers less frequent on FAA and the $60k HHI crowd.......then FAA mass sales may
move more into a higher income group. For some artists here.

Dave

in theory, but i don't think the price works like that on here. i've sold the same amount per month with low and higher prices.


it shows that if an artist is dead, without any kind of advertising, due to how the search is set up, you'll keep selling despite having to advertise anything at all. marion rose died when i started which is why i remember her name. her stuff still sells despite not being alive or advertising (unless the family is doing that). the search keeps the sellers on the top, so many don't have to do much work to keep selling.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Ed,

3D van Gogh copies go for over $34k.

Dave

Mike,

People leave their properties in their estates to others.

There is no such thing as a dead end to sales just because the artist is no longer with us.

Dave

Bestselling work has the advantage of being able to do price testing. If you are selling an image multiple times a day than you are in a good position to test price changes.

Problem is we don't have access to the data that could be used to tweak things. Like cart abandonment. If someone bailed after seeing the shipping cost but were then sent a discount coupon for example. Or if we saw that someone chose a cheaper print over ours.

Anne: Re: "my joking about dead sellers" -- understood that you were joking.
Yes, there's gotta be a live person out there somewhere managing the estate... I'm sure someone is collecting the Paypal payments.

David - type "Van Gogh Sunflowers" into Google and then hit "shopping" Then sort by low to high.

Hard to sell a phone case for $35 when someone on Ebay is selling a Van Gogh Sunflowers case for $8 with free shipping.

I dont have the sample, but I do have GA set up to see who puts things in the shopping cart on my AW.

Alexis on some thread here showed us how to set that up.

Dave

Ed,

You have to be different. This is one of my better repinned items on P. Some 5 RP and 9 likes.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/469711436110122209/

Trends will change. 3D printing on the top end will make major inroads into the market place
selling copies of old master works. Those works are not popular to hang right now, but they will be.

Dave

Looks even better here. http://david-bridburg.artistwebsites.com/products/vibrance-of-van-gogh-mural-iil-david-bridburg-iphone5-case-cover.html

"..no such thing as a dead end to sales just because the artist is no longer with us."


If the heirs decide to continue the venture of the deceased. Probably yes, if it was profitable, but I don't crunch numbers and follow sales trends, charts,graphs, etc., etc., so I'm just speculating.

I didn't know this was a contest
. I never joined to compete with anyone. Its all well and good to peek at who's doing what and be happy for them. I just came to check out the site when a link popped up on a blog I was reading. I saw some cool art and read threads and thought Id have fun on my spare time talking with other people with some common interests. I even thought it would be cool to share some pictures. I don't have a large ego and didn't come to insult other people.
I just sit here and read most of the time until something gets my interests and pray someone doesn't say something funny enough to make me spit out my coffee or tea.
(looks at Marlene 0_o)

I am on page 1 of Best Sellers, I sell well, but I'm not a top earner here by a long shot, I don't participate in contests very often, and I post on the forum whole bunch.


I think I just debunked the entire thread. Is there a prize?? What do I win?

dave what i mean is - she's dead. in other words, she's not living. in other words she lives underground. she can't advertise herself. sure the estate gets the money. it simply shows you that as long as your on top of the search - you stay there. and you keep selling despited the lack of effort of advertising herself.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I'm not on the Best Seller's list so I guess it's safe for me to participate in the forum.... my work here is not yet done, she says with a wink... only dust.

Honestly, whether or not an artist is "One of Them" or one of us.. (on the list or off the list) mean nothing as far as over all sales. A mantra I live by, is don't put all your eggs in one basket and don't rely on one source of income. If something happened to that one source (no fault of your own) you're hooped.

If you look at the best sellers and where their work is, you'll see what I'm talking about... google their name and they come up everywhere. (in most cases, not always). Depend if they have gallery representation too... On line, off line, face to face, third party sellers, retailers, etc.

Pricing imo, depends on what the consumer can afford... the small town in which I hide away in, pays nothing for art... but they will pay bargain basement prices with a lower quality of print.
I make almost as much selling (Walmart print - cost $2.50 - 8 x 10) @ $25.00, then I do a FAA print of the same size....not that I have a choice because that's all my locals are willing to pay... I sound like I'm whining... I'll shut up now.. lol

Good morning everyone, I'd miss you all if I wasn't here.

Cheers, Barbara

I never wanted too get into to naming names, so I won't. Surface to say, you being on page one does not debunk the entire thread.

However I did that myself when I said.... this was never intended to be a scientific survey and that I probably missed some.

Mike,

You are 100% correct, sorry Cynthia but we are giving your prize to Mike.

She is dead. Not merely stunned.

Dave

I don't think that just because the artist is dead and the account is now being managed by the estate or some other entity, that it is not being advertised or promoted.

Marion Rose has a daughter that is an accomplished artist. She is also a member of FAA and she has her own website. Marion Rose's website is still up and there is a bit of cross promoting going on.

However I would not argue that once you got to the top of the heap and the earlier in the FAA life span that it happened the more likely you are to stay there. But that is just the way it is.

If you are a walk on for the Green Bay packers, they are not going to hand you the starting position. You are going to have to earn it.

There is no secret to the fact that the top sellers have certain perks the rest of us do not have and maybe never will have.

But you can still sell a whole lot of stuff here.

Great post Barbara!

"Honestly, whether or not an artist is "One of Them" or one of us.. (on the list or off the list) mean nothing as far as over all sales."

You are 100% correct. That is why I said it was: "a totally worthless factoid that you will never really have to know".

Cynthia - I say Winner! ;-)

Floyd, I was kidding when I said I debunked the thread.

I get more views when I participate in the forums, (naturally, as we all do), but whether I participate or not my sales continue the same trend they have for the past 4 years. In my case, I'm sure that my sales are because of physical gallery representation, licensing, and my online marketing efforts. Forum posting seems to have no effect for good or bad.

Hopefully I'll get so busy and successful one day that I can't participate anymore. I'll miss everyone, but I'll find a way to get through it. :-)

I know Cynthia... I have no problem with that. Some other people take things way to serious...