Marketing Giclee & Limited Edition Prints - Setting Edition Sizes

For more information about giclee prints, read Giclee Print & Printing Options for Artists

Q: Two years ago, I produced a series of limited edition giclee prints. Several images have sold out, but they're still popular even though they're off the market and collectors still want them. Should I reissue them? This would, of course, increase the edition sizes beyond what I originally said they would be, but it would solve my marketing problems. Are the rules different for giclee prints than they are for silkscreens, woodcuts and other limited editions?

A: Let me get this straight-- you want to reissue a limited print after you already set and declared the edition size? The answer is absolutely unequivocally entirely and emphatically NO. And not only does this apply to giclee prints; it applies to all limited edition prints including screenprints, etchings, lithographs, serigraphs, woodcuts, monoprints, and so on. You see, if you reissue the prints, then in the short run a handful of collectors get what they want and you make some easy money, but in the long run you compromise your integrity, your credibility, and most importantly, the market for all of your subsequent limited edition prints-- be they giclees, silkscreens, woodblocks or whatever. People will no longer know how limited your limited editions will eventually end up being-- or whether they'll ever be limited at all. Such uncertainty can easily destabilize your market and drive your selling prices down.

Furthermore, by re-releasing a sold-out image, you discourage your core collectors, those who bought believing that they were getting exclusives on your earlier work. These are the people who loved your art from the start, bought it early on, and weren't concerned about how popular or collectible you were. Today, they proudly display your most desirable older pieces and, in a sense, have become your strongest advocates.

They're not going to feel very good if their foresight goes unrewarded and the market is suddenly awash with reissues of their cherished giclees (or whatever type of print an artist might be thinking about reissuing). You will have, in a sense, devalued their prints by once again making them easy for anyone to get. They may even feel betrayed and you may end up with a reputation as an artist who's willing to compromise your integrity for the right price-- which you seem to be on the verge of doing right now.

Keeping edition sizes constant and never increasing them beyond initial offerings is the best way to go. Not only do you keep your market stable, but you reward your core collectors for supporting you before the masses decided that they wanted in on the action too. New collectors who discover your art and see that certain of your editions are selling out will come to understand that if they don't buy an image while it's still available, they'll either have to search for it on secondary markets and hope they get lucky, or wait for your next new releases.

And think about this-- when you don't reissue, your best sold-out pieces become increasingly desirable and in demand, resellers begin to sell them for more than their original selling prices, and that reflects favorably on the value not only of the limited editions you've already produced, but also on all those that you have yet to produce. This is the type of market that increases the overall appeal of your art and attracts new collectors. You end up in the favorable position of being able to increase your asking prices on all new releases, based on the fact that the old ones are increasing on their own.

So let the new collectors who want the old giclees (or whatever types of prints an artist has made and sold out of) try to find them on secondary markets. Be sympathetic, but at the same time tell them that once an edition is sold out, it's history and that once you set an edition size, you will never produce another edition of that image again. Let them know that you'll be releasing plenty more great images in the future and that you'll happily notify them as soon as they're available so that they don't miss out again. This keeps your prices healthy, your reputation steller, and the collectors coming back for more.

If, at this point, you're still dead set on reissuing your most popular images, at least differentiate them in some way from the originals. Change the paper, change the way you sign them, change a color, change the size, change something. Make those changes clear to buyers so as not to compromise any aspect of how you present your new editions. Hopefully, these new ones won't impact the desirability of the original sold-out images. That way, you continue to acknowledge your most loyal collectors while giving new buyers opportunities to enjoy your most popular images... at least to some degree. But know going in that you always risk alienating your collector base by going back on your word... or even sort of going back on your word. Best advice? Leave your past victories be and look to the future.