The Art Fair Checklist Galleries Actually Need

Everybody has a packing list. Far fewer galleries have an operational one, and that is where fairs go wrong — not in the crate, but in the fifteen decisions nobody made until a collector was standing there. Before you go Decide discount authority, and say it out loud. How much can each person take off without calling you? At a fair you will not be reachable. A salesperson who knows the number closes; one who does not either gives away too much or loses the sale. Write it on a card in the booth. Agree what happens to a piece that sells from the gallery mid fair. Somebody has to know within minutes, or you sell it twice. This is the single most common fair disaster and it is entirely preventable. Check the tax position. A fair in another state or country may change what you charge. Work it out before the first sale, not during it. Decide how you are taking payment. Card reader, invoice sent on the spot, wire details printed and ready. Whatever it is, test it in the booth before opening — venue wifi is not your gallery wifi. Print more labels than you need. You will rehang. During Capture the collector, not just the sale. The list of people who asked about something and did not buy is worth more after the fair than the sales are. Name, what they looked at, what they said. Two lines is enough. Record the sale where the rest of your sales live. A separate fair spreadsheet always means a week of reconciliation and at least one sale nobody can attribute. Note the discount, not the final price. "Sold for $8,000" tells you nothing later. "Listed $10,000, sold $8,000" tells you what fairs cost you. Afterwards, within a week Reconcile against inventory. Everything sold marked sold, everything unsold back where it should be, everything damaged flagged. Work out the real number. Booth, travel, shipping, insurance, staff hours, and the discounts you gave. Fairs are frequently less profitable than they feel, and only that arithmetic tells you. Follow up the enquiries within a fortnight. After that the fair has faded and you are a stranger again. This is where the actual return on a fair usually is, and it is the part most often skipped because everybody is tired. The one thing worth measuring Not sales at the fair. Sales attributable to the fair over the following six months. Galleries that measure only the booth conclude fairs do not work; galleries that measure the follow through often find the opposite.