Time To Sell Posters

Hello again and if you're battling hard in life to get by, you ought to be applauded. But with costs of living being a hot problem in life at the moment, that'll be interesting in a way as there are some strategies various people come up with including side hustles and perhaps taking up ride share and delivery driving with the likes of Uber, Menulog, Doordash, Didi etcetera. With myself and before these services, I took up initiative to sell things I didn't need anymore back when I was living in Neerim South and it's great that I took that up.

And whilst those previous possessions served me well and were still useable, I hadn't even donated those to local op shops which although slightly disheartening that they're charities serving people who are less fortunate. But at least those who bought my items I didn't need is a win for them and myself along with a good bit of money I've made. Better still and something I want to emphasise is compared to say playing Tatts Lotto hoping to win, the opposite has been a better bet and it can be done. Let's face it, how often do people win any amount of money through lotteries, pokies or any kind of betting and gambling venues known? Not much in reality and it bothers me greatly when people are struggling financially to then resort to gambling and with that, this could destroy livelihoods for people and families.

Luckily, I hadn't even considered gambling but tried a pokies session but after that, never again.

Even more, with cheap lawn mowers bought through the Facebook Marketplace to then fix and sell for profits along with a handful of artworks I have sold years back and broke even, I've made an attempt earlier to sell my drawings and other artworks as posters.

With years of doing art in various forms, an idea came about with a side hustle that with my artistic abilities, I could potentially sell posters of whatever I drew featured above.

So going clockwise starting with the drawing of the topless grand piano, there's also the assortment of jelly beans drawn using oil pastels, Beethoven sitting on the thrown with titles "Beethoven rules. Okay?" and finally some Tuojiangosaurus (pretty much a Chinese Stegosaurus).

And there goes the process. I took my pictures to a local Officeworks store to have them scanned and sent to my e-mail address as JPEG files to then manipulate them to look their best. Once they're done, I've printed samples and determine how much modifying needed to be done and once I'm satisfied, I went back to the local Officeworks store to print copies.

As I have my eBay account and previously sold items, I had a good attempt to put them on sale and do whatever I needed to do with regards to postage. That was 2 years ago. Although it was ambitious, I didn't sell any but the biggest problem I've realised is I wasn't much of a beacon. In other words, I wasn't established in any way but then, it was hard to get exposure which is essential if you want to sell.

So this year, I've made the reconsideration.

In August, I'll look to try my luck again with the addition of being a new member of the SECAN arts hub after many attendances but as a visitor. This time is more legitimate. SECAN will be a ticket to establish myself as an emerging artist in a new area after Gippsland and its bigger than ever with my new portfolio of paintings along with some drawings.

And whilst in this month, I've scanned 2 of the drawings. The golden trout and my dad's golden coloured Mazda RX-4.

So with a few samples printed and lighting and contrast adjustments made, here comes the next stage.

Those 2 final products have been gifted to my dad for Fathers Day and has won approval.

Now comes the money involved. For any of those posters printed, I'll now give you the summary.

*    Uncoated 300 gsm paper: 69 cents + colour prints: $1.50 AUD

Total: $2.19 AUD per sheet

Next, I have received confirmation from SECAN's president that I'll be given the go ahead of selling stacks of my posters in their gift shop. She has given me some additional pieces of advice including copies to be put in sleeves, labelled with my name and price and it's cash sales only.

Luckily, I didn't chuck out all of my posters.'

I went into my storage unit to grab this case with the posters inside which I'll then prep up for sale.

From the start of September, I bought labels and a pack of A3 sheet protectors which'll cost $2.12 AUD for each poster.

With the total of 20 posters sleeved and labelled, I've intended to sell each of them for $24 AUD and factoring the expenses will allow me to make some good profit. The last thing to do is take them to September's SECAN meeting and there comes the final stage.

Another member brought in this rack and with a joint effort, we worked out the presentation and then consolidate them so any potential buyer can just go in and pick whatever they want. It is also a good strategy working at Repco where I currently work or in any other retail business to have as much stock out in the showroom as possible and add as much variety. That way, it'll help customers pick whatever they want to buy and hopefully add sales to existing stores preventing customers going elsewhere. This is one strategy I've learnt even filling in extra shifts at another Repco store.

Any of these bits would help as opposed to just eBay when you're not established enough. It is good to understand things that went wrong to then implement measures to better reach out to potential customers and growing exposure can help with my case establishing myself as a genuine artist. And also if I'm lucky, this could be a better option than just doing Uber Eats delivery driving. I have made money through my runs but it's not always easy when delivery requests occur soon but not always a lot along with the volatility of fuel prices but that's the crude oil industry for you.

One bit of inspiration I've discovered is not art but Citroen, a French car brand for quirky but innovative cars in the golden years of the automotive industry.

The car brand was then struggling in the modern world until they took up rallying and then rose again in the new wave of modern cars we drive today.

And as usual, thanks for tuning in. See you next time!