When is enough, enough?

[wildmaven]

For the past several years, I've been selling my nature photography at a local farmer's market. This year, I'm lucky to break even after my booth fee and the cost of production. While I love the atmosphere and talking to people, is it really worth my time to sit in a booth for 6 hours with no monetary gain? When is enough, enough?

[KDS Photography]

To sum it up...bad economy. Folks all around are holding on to their money. When is enough, enough? Only you can decide if it's worth it. I wish you well.

[LibertyHeir]

Only you can be the judge of when is enough. Did people who didn't buy, pick up business cards or brochures? It's sort of a face to face method of advertising. If you're offering something like a discount portrait at the fair, you would have a way of determining potential studio/location time as a result. If you're not generating additional business beyond the sales at the market, then you've probably had enough.

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by wildmaven

When is enough, enough?

When you start asking yourself if this is really worth it.

You're there. Either find a better way to do it or move on.

[Uncle Frank]

Originally Posted by wildmaven

For the past several years, I've been selling my nature photography at a local farmer's market. This year, I'm lucky to break even after my booth fee and the cost of production. While I love the atmosphere and talking to people, is it really worth my time to sit in a booth for 6 hours with no monetary gain? When is enough, enough?

If you're willing to work for nothing, do it for a charitable foundation. Otherwise, increase your prices to a level where you would receive adequate return for your materials, time, and effort. If the result is lower sales, find another approach to marketing your prints. Jmho.

[Glendower]

Originally Posted by LibertyHeir

Only you can be the judge of when is enough. Did people who didn't buy, pick up business cards or brochures? It's sort of a face to face method of advertising. If you're offering something like a discount portrait at the fair, you would have a way of determining potential studio/location time as a result. If you're not generating additional business beyond the sales at the market, then you've probably had enough.

Well stated. An optimist would say, "Hey, you're out there meeting people, handing out cards & brochures, showing your work. Except for your time, it's free advertising. What's the problem?"

Except that time is money...so what else would/could you be doing? If you weren't sitting at the farmer's market not making money, what would you be doing, and how much money would it generate?

When you say "this year" you're just breaking even, how many months has that been? No chance that this is just a temporary slowdown? Have you tried offering some lower-priced alternatives?

Indeed, only you can judge. Interesting situation. Please keep us posted on what happens.