The gallery that said "we'll take 60%" and smiled like it was doing me a favor

Early days I almost signed with a gallery that wanted 60% commission and a 6-month exclusivity clause for my city. I was so desperate to be "in a gallery" I nearly said yes. My mom talked me out of it over the phone lol, she was like "honey that's not a partnership, that's a landlord."

What's the worst gallery deal you were ever offered or saw someone else take? I feel like nobody talks enough about the predatory end of this, everyone's so focused on getting in that we forget some doors aren't worth walking through. What was your red-flag contract moment?

6comments

Add your reply to this discussion…

6 comments

Kasia Nowak·3d

Your mom was right and honestly it's a relief to hear someone else got talked out of a bad one by family, because when you want in that badly your brain just stops working. I never got offered anything that bad but I had a small local place want to frame and sell my pastels and keep "the gallery standard 50%" which I thought was normal until a friend in the business told me that for emerging artists it should be closer to 30-40 and even that depending on what they do for you. The thing nobody says is how much of that commission is supposed to pay for actual work, marketing, prints, hanging, the opening. Some of these places just hang your piece on a wall and call it curating.

The red flag for me was when they couldn't tell me anything about who came through the door or what they'd done to sell other artists. It was just "we have foot traffic." I walked. Better feeling than signing something I'd resent later, honestly. Curious what others here think is a fair split when the gallery actually does pull their weight?

Lukas Brandt·3d

The percentages people throw around as "standard" depend entirely on who's standing on the other side of the table. When I started, the galleries in Leipzig took 50% as a matter of course and nobody questioned it, because they did real work: promotion abroad, studio visits, the schlepping. Fifty per cent against real effort is fair enough. Fifty per cent to hang your pastels and take a cut is a different animal entirely.

But the part that matters more than the number is what happens when things don't sell. Nobody talks about that. A gallery can take 60% of nothing and you've lost nothing but time. The real test was always: when a collector walked in, did they know who I was before I walked through the door? If the answer is no, the percentage is the least of your worries.

Your friend's advice was sound. And your mother deserves a drink. Mine gave me the same kind of talk about a dealer who wanted to buy my early canvases outright for pocket money and then flip them. Trust the people who have no stake in the deal.

Dani OkaforOP·3d

The "what happens when things don't sell" part is SO under-discussed and you're right, that's the piece everyone skips. I used to think the commission split was the only number that mattered and it took a while to realize the real question is what they're bringing to the table when nobody's buying. A gallery that does real work abroad and studio visits and all that schlepping, okay that's a different conversation. But someone who's just got wall space and an email list? They're taking your work hostage in exchange for nothing if it doesn't move.

So what's the answer then, is it just asking straight up what happens with unsold inventory in the contract? I feel like nobody tells you what questions to even ask because the whole culture is "be grateful they're looking at you at all." I'm still kind of figuring out how to walk into those conversations without feeling like I owe them something for the meeting.

Dani OkaforOP·3d

ugh YES the framing thing, people don't realize how much of that commission is supposed to be doing something. Like okay cool you'll hang it on a wall, but are you marketing me? prints? any kind of press? because if it's just wall space, that's rent not a partnership. My mom's line about the landlord still kills me because it's so accurate 😭

And the brain-stopping thing is so real. Desperation makes you stupid. I was literally doing the math in my head like "well 40% of something is better than 100% of nothing" which is not... how math works when the something never materializes.

So what'd you end up doing with the pastels? Did you negotiate or walk? I need to know how that ended lol

Ramesh Jha·3d

Your mother is a wise lady ji. Sixty percent is too much, and the exclusivity makes it worse. In our line of work it is not gallery but cooperative, and even there we have to be careful. I have seen people sign away the rights to their own designs for a small cash advance, thinking they are getting ahead. Later the design is everywhere and they are getting nothing.

My own lesson came not from gallery but from a middleman who wanted to take my paintings to Delhi and sell there. He said he will handle everything, I just give him the pieces. It sounded so simple. Luckily one of the older women in our village stopped me. She said, Ramesh, if he is taking your art to the city, why is he not taking your name also. That piece of paper he wanted me to sign, it was just my name on the artwork going in his pocket.

You are right that people do not speak of this side. We are so grateful someone is interested that we forget to ask who is gaining more. A fair deal should lift both, not only one. I hope you found a better door in the end.

Dani OkaforOP·3d

oh that middleman story made my stomach drop honestly. the older woman stopping you mid-sentence is so real, those are the people who save us from ourselves. I had someone offer to "handle everything" for a show once and my gut said no even before I could articulate why, and I'm so glad I listened because I've heard those Delhi stories before. it's always the people who make it sound TOO easy, right? like nobody who actually values your work is going to act like selling it is a favor they're doing you.

did you end up sticking with the cooperative route or did you find a gallery that treated you properly after that? I'm curious because I feel like the co-op model gets dismissed sometimes but it sounds like it actually protects people. my mom's whole thing was "you want someone who loses sleep when YOU lose sleep" and honestly that's been my filter ever since. has it worked out for you?