Help out an ignorant one (Deerfield: home, buyers, taxes)

[CrazyDave]

Ok. I decided that I will spend the winter organizing and making portraits out of some archived pictures and poetry.. the hope being placing them in local galleries and attending some small local art festivals.

Any self employed artist want to give me the scoop of what I need to go through to be legal in my endeavors here in NH. Things like are there venues that I can sell the work of Linda and myself without incorporating or tax numbers.. what about small fairs, what is the average they charge for booth or table space.. What general sized photography seems to sell best.. stuff like that would be great.

[buck naked]

prices have probably gone up, but a kiosk in the Mall was $1500 a week.

You could display your work at local fairs, such as the Deerfield Fair and compete for a blue ribbon. I'm sure you'd do well. Sometimes fair goers offer to buy exceptional pieces and will give their names and contact numbers to the fair people. Then you can contact the potential buyers after the fair.

The League of NH Craftsmen is another venue - but it's a $500 fee to apply to join and, usually, years to be accepted.


There are various flea markets around the state. I'd check into those for exhibiting/selling.

There's always Craig's List and E-bay. Avoiding taxes, though, is another problem. There is no way around that.

[Mrtwigg]

"Arts" festivals can be pricy but they will draw out the big buyers.

The Paradise City shows come to mind, the county fairs (season's over now) would be another good choice if you have the product for a high end show. They'll get upwards of 1500 for a 10X10 space. The best shows, be they "Arts" of "crafts fairs" will be juried. Meaning you'll need to submit photo's to a comittie who will deceide if your items are approiate for their show.

If the show isn't juried don't waste your time it'll be nothing more than a glorified flea market. STAY AWAY FROM THE FLEA MARKETS ! I'd suggest getting your feet wet at the local craft fairs. You might want to hit a bunch to get a feel for the market - and how to price your product. I did the craft & home show circuit for a couple years selling the rustic furniture you can see in the album on my profile.

Local shows are much less expensive and can range from 20 -30 bucks and up, most are outdoors so you'll want a pop up canopy. Keep in mind these shows do much less advertising and tend to draw the .. more thrifty types.

Once you start doing shows you'll get folks coming through selling "craft fair guides" to the vendors - don't bother with them ! You can find out more using Google. There's also a number of on line resources reveuing various shows. Once you start doing shows talk with other vendors, most are willing to share information on different venues. As long as you're not selling the same thing they are.

Resist the urge to buy anything and pack your own lunch when you're at a show too.
Best wishes and good luck !

[cheekyerica]

Originally Posted by CrazyDave

Any self employed artist want to give me the scoop of what I need to go through to be legal in my endeavors here in NH. Things like are there venues that I can sell the work of Linda and myself without incorporating or tax numbers..

When I was living in NY and was a freelance illustrator I was pointed to the local Small Business Development center (because yes, even though it's arts & crafts/hobby/ it still constitutes a business).
I looked around and found this one for New Hampshire:

New Hampshire Small Business Development Center (New Hampshire Small Business Development Center)
If you look under the section that says " Starting and Growing Your Business" (in the blue area) there look to be some good resources. They'll probably be able to tell you what you need to know about being "legal" in what you're doing w/ regard to tax and govt stuff.

Apparently they have a selection of free online courses which might be worth the look into. I suspect that if you call them they may be able to give you some further information, and maybe, like the one I saw in NY, give you some starter advice on if you do or don't need tax id numbers, tax filing info etc.

No matter what, congrats on deciding to sell your works!

[GregW]

good luck. You have a real talent.

GregW

[CrazyDave]

Originally Posted by cheekyerica

When I was living in NY and was a freelance illustrator I was pointed to the local Small Business Development center (because yes, even though it's arts & crafts/hobby/ it still constitutes a business).
I looked around and found this one for New Hampshire:

New Hampshire Small Business Development Center (New Hampshire Small Business Development Center)
If you look under the section that says " Starting and Growing Your Business" (in the blue area) there look to be some good resources. They'll probably be able to tell you what you need to know about being "legal" in what you're doing w/ regard to tax and govt stuff.

Apparently they have a selection of free online courses which might be worth the look into. I suspect that if you call them they may be able to give you some further information, and maybe, like the one I saw in NY, give you some starter advice on if you do or don't need tax id numbers, tax filing info etc.

No matter what, congrats on deciding to sell your works!

Thanks for the link