Above: “What Makes People Buy” canvas print
Products for sale have to be seen to be purchased but how much do they need to be seen before a sale is made? I’ve had a lot of people on Fine Art America ask “how many views does a photograph or artwork need to get before it sells?”
There is no answer to this question of course. People see something they like and then buy it. I’ve had work sell with less than 10 views. I’ve had other work not sell with thousands of views.
Some images are inherently interesting to a lot of people but not necessarily buyers. Photos of scantily clad women come to mind – lots of lookers, not a lot of buyers. Same with weird and unusual cars – lots of lookee lous buy not a lot of buyers.
Bestsellers tend to have smaller ratios of views to sales. The bestseller images just have that certain something that makes people want to toss it in the old shopping cart.
This photograph of my dog Tiki has sold nearly 100 times and has 62,000+ views.
Meanwhile, this relatively new photograph of a wacky customized school bus is racking up 12,000+ views in a short time frame and yet it hasn’t sold once. It is already moved up to fifth place in terms of the most viewed images in my portfolio!
It has moved ahead of this photograph of a small stone chapel in the woods of Vermont that has sold dozens of times, especially as Christmas cards.
This photograph of a steam locomotive has sold consistently over the years and has become a bestseller, even with only 5,000+ views.
Another popular seller is this photograph from Maui, Hawaii of a fence made out of surfboards at 4,500+ views.
But then there is this shot of a classic Good Humor ice cream truck that has 3,500+ views and no sale yet.
This photograph of an old vintage cigarette machine is another one that has been burning up the views chart lately with 2,500+ views yet no sale. It must just be one of those things people like to look at but don’t imagine hanging it in their living room.
Meanwhile, this artwork of “London” has 2,500+ views and has only sold a few times – once as a t-shirt and once as a huge sofa sized print. You can never really predict sales from views or even the final usage.
In contrast, this still life of an old laundry set up has been viewed about 3,600+ and has sold a number of times, almost always in poster or 20×30 inch print size, framed and matted.