I print for other photographers and see a lot of mixed results with limited
editions. In short, if your work is the kind of pictures that are likely to
sell well, I would recommend against limited editions. The reason why is it
kills your best shots. For example, one photographer that I print for
serial numbers each print and they are all open editions, his best shot sold
now 445 copies. Second best sold 152, third best sold 78, he has about 25
pictures that sold between a dozen and fifty, the other 10,000 pictures have
sold only once or twice if at all. Overall, the gallery sells between
$5000-$10000 per month of his work. My point is that a limited edition would
have lost money for this photographer. In another example, the photographer
sells only a few copies of any photo, and so a limited edition works well
for her because it enhances the value and sales are unlikely to ever be
strong for any particular image.
The difference between these two photographers are subject matter and price.
They are printed the same way by the same person (me) and are both framed in
Nielson 11s and sold by similar galleries only a few blocks away from each
other. The person doing the open editions sells fine art photos of
in-demand subject matter, mostly landscapes of the state's major
attractions. The retail price of these prints are right on the general
market average in this region, which is retail $600 for a framed 20x24. The
artist who has limited editions gets over $1000 per print but sells only one
every few months at most. In her case, limited editions make her money.
In short, if you want to sell small editions and then kill the picture,
limited editions make sense. OTOH, if you make the kinds of pictures that
are capable of selling in quantity, then numbered open editions will work
better.
Galleries generally advise artists to do limited editions. I would take
this advice with a little salt because they have a conflict of interest when
giving it. Galleries want artists to produce small editions sized to what
they can handle. They don't want you signing with other galleries in other
parts of the country or selling direct on the internet. If your work is
strong, it will sell itself, and you may not wish to be encumbered by
previous agreements and limitations that hamper your career.
good luck
Tom Robinson