7 Strategies for Creating a Fair Online Release for Your Limited Edition Art
One of the highest marks of success for an artist is experiencing high demand for limited edition art prints. However, as thrilling as it is to have a global following of fans eager to get their hands on your next release, this also draws the attention of resellers and bot-wielding bad actors who can unfortunately ruin a release for real fans. Boo.
We understand the frustration. EQL has worked with partners like Chuck Sperry and Marq Spusta to bring fairness back to their art releases. In this article, we'll explore seven key tips for orchestrating a fair and successful release that ensures your devoted fans have an opportunity to own your unique creations.
After all, we believe art should be enjoyed by those who truly appreciate it!
Understanding the Limited Edition Art Print Market
Art prints are treasures, eagerly sought by art collectors and dedicated fans of specific artists for the passion and connection they invoke. The scarcity of limited-edition release prints creates an air of exclusivity, making them even more alluring.
Prints are collectibles and hot commodities within your community of fans — and for diehard followers. Owning one is like having a piece of art history in your hands. By selling these limited editions online, artists can connect with a global audience, sharing their work far and wide.
Recognizing the Unique Challenges
Selling limited edition prints is a delicate art in itself, balancing the desire for exclusivity with meeting customer demand. That very exclusivity means that not every fan will be successful in purchasing a sought-after print — which creates a resell market in which fans who missed out on the initial release may be willing to pay exponentially more than the original sale price.
This opportunity for profit attracts resellers who may use sophisticated bots and other strategies to buy up as much of the original inventory as possible, just to turn around and offload it for their own financial gain.
Another challenge is created when tech infrastructure isn’t prepared for the sudden exponential increase in traffic brought on by a highly hyped release. That means sites can crash or sales can get out of sync with inventory, creating frustrating experiences for fans and artists alike.
Therefore, the key to a successful release is prioritizing fairness and choosing the right tech. These are your allies in ensuring that your limited edition prints find their way into the hands of your true supporters.
Strategies for Ensuring a Fair Art Release
To guarantee a fair release, there are quite a few things to consider. Ultimately, it’s best (and simplest) to use an end-to-end platform that can help you with all of the following (like EQL), otherwise, you’ll be left piecing together different solutions to make your release work.
Here are 7 things to consider:
- Limit purchases per customer: To level the playing field, set purchase limits for limited edition art prints. This prevents any single person from buying up all the prints. It won’t entirely stop resellers, but it ensures they won’t get multiple prints.
- Employ bot detection tools: These tools are like your personal security guard for your website, blocking automated purchase attempts. Tools like Kasada are a great solution to keep bots away. However, it’s best to note most bot detection softwares don’t have the right end-to-end tools to manage a high-heat release.
- Stress test your infrastructure: Is your site ready to handle the demand of a high-heat release? Make sure your servers are able to handle the traffic you expect. If you’re not using a launch platform, you may need to pay to upgrade your server capabilities. And even then, a lot of sites won’t be able to handle the heat. Remember, bots can attack your launch with thousands of visits per second, which can easily crash your site.
- Offer pre-registration for purchases: Pre-registration creates anticipation for the release and allows your customers to secure their spot in advance. It's a win-win, making the process smoother and building excitement. However, again, bots and resellers can plague these types of launches. Make sure you have some sort of real-fan verification system in place so the right winners are being chosen. (Don’t know where to start? EQL can help.)
- Capture payment details up front: Unfortunately, high-heat launches can cause a lot of headaches when it comes to choosing winners and fulfilling orders if payment methods aren’t verified upfront. Not only does capturing payment for an entrant keep you from a bunch of back and forth, but it also means you won’t be left with a bunch of inventory after trying to process payments that end up failing. Just make sure you have the right security systems in place to be trusted with sensitive customer data.
- Utilize verification systems: Guarantee the authenticity of your limited edition art prints and prevent fakes from flooding the market by employing secure verification processes online and offering a certificate of authenticity with your prints.
- Consider rewarding locals and eventgoers: Don't forget to show some love to your local supporters and event attendees. Creating online communities of fans is wonderful, but releases also offer the opportunity for in-person connection and appreciation to your local and community-based fans.
Meet EQL: Your End-to-End Solution for a Limited-Edition Fair Art Release
If you're looking for a platform that simplifies your sales process and supports releases that are both fair and fun, look no further than EQL. Built to handle the heat of high-demand launches, EQL offers an endlessly scalable infrastructure that can manage intense traffic spikes and keep sales in lockstep with inventory to avoid overselling. Plus, advanced bot-beating technology and verification tools help to give real fans a leg up.
If running a successful and ethical art print release is important to you, EQL is the partner you’ve been looking for.
Why Choose EQL for Your Release?
EQL was created by real fans who understand the excitement and stress that surrounds a must-have limited edition release — and the disappointment of seeing a sought-after collectible end up in the hands of profit-hungry resellers. At the same time, EQL understands the challenges for the seller: the manual and time-consuming processes that can be involved in running a lottery system, the dread of a site crash, and the man-hours involved in rectifying an oversell situation.
EQL was designed to solve all these problems and more, making releases the joyful and fan-friendly events that they should be.
How Does EQL Ensure a Fair Release?
EQL's unique Run Fair® system ensures equal opportunity for all. Rigorous back-end verification weeds out the bots and duplicate entries, maintaining integrity and creating a level playing field for artists and collectors. Plus, when fans miss out on one release, the EQLizer algorithm helps to increase their chances of winning the next one — increasing fan satisfaction and motivating their participation in future releases.
How Chuck Sperry’s Art Reaches Real Fans with EQL
Chuck Sperry’s art career is truly legendary, but the high demand for his limited edition prints was creating major headaches for him and his team — plus stress and frustration for his fans. Releasing posters via his Wordpress site required manual effort, and all for the disappointing result of seeing the majority of his posters end up in the hands of just a few buyers.
Bringing EQL on board painted a new picture for Chuck’s poster releases. Now, he can set up a launch in minutes, run a release without stress or chaos, and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing happy fans win the art they’re after.
According to Chuck, “EQL is perfect for limited edition art releases. I can’t think of a better platform for it. I hope the whole community of platform collectors are dealing with their artists using this and botting becomes a thing of the past.”
Learn more about how EQL supports Chuck Sperry and other high-demand art releases.
Conclusion
Ensuring a fair release for your limited edition art prints is vital for maintaining transparency, preventing exploitation, and providing equal opportunities to your fans and collectors. Implementing strategies to limit bot activity, prevent resell activity, and ensure tech functionality are key to a fair and inclusive release — and it’s easy and stress-free to do with EQL.
If you’re ready to say goodbye to bot-plagued, chaotic releases, request a demo to see how EQL can reframe the limited edition art launch experience.
