Art competition entry fees, and when to pay one
Entry fees fund some calls and sink others. How to tell which is which, and how to stop paying for the lottery.
feesguides
Many open calls charge an entry fee. Some of those fees pay for a fair, well run show. Some pay for the show and then some. A few exist because 3,000 people paying £25 is a business model. The fee itself is not the problem. Not knowing what it buys is.
This guide is about how to judge a fee before you pay it.
What a fee is meant to pay for
An organiser running a call has real costs: someone to read every entry, a panel to pay, a venue, insurance, a printed catalogue, a prize. A fee spreads some of that across the people entering. Small artist-run spaces often have no other way to run an open at all, and a £10 fee from 200 people can be the difference between a show and no show.
The test is proportion. Ask what the fee covers and whether the numbers add up.
The arithmetic that matters
Do the sum the organiser has done.
Say a call charges £25 and takes 50 artists into the show. If 500 people enter, the fees bring in £12,500. That might cover a modest exhibition, a selector's fee and a small prize. If 3,000 people enter, the same call brings in £75,000, and 2,950 people have paid £25 each for a rejection email.
Two numbers tell you most of what you need:
- Entries last edition. Many organisers publish this, or mention it in a press release. If they will not say, that tells you something too.
- Places on offer. Shortlist, exhibition places, prizes. Divide one by the other and you have your odds.
If the odds are worse than 1 in 50 and the fee is £25, you are paying £1,250 in expectation for every acceptance across the field. That is not an investment in your career. It is a ticket.
Fees that are easier to defend
Some fees are fairer than others. Look for:
- A cap or a sliding scale. Lower fees for students, people on low incomes or a first entry.
- Fee waivers. A number of free places for people who ask, with no proof of hardship required.
- Something back for every entrant. Written feedback, a portfolio review, a catalogue.
- Artists paid on selection. An exhibition fee or production budget for the people who get in. If the organiser asks you to pay to enter and then nothing if you are chosen, the money is flowing one way.
- A published budget. Rare, and a very good sign when you see it.
Fees that are harder to defend
- Per-image fees. £10 for each work you submit, so a "small" fee of £10 becomes £50.
- Hanging fees and commission on top. Paying to enter, paying to hang, then giving 40% of any sale.
- Early-bird pricing that pushes you to pay before you have decided.
- Vague prizes. "Exposure", "consideration for representation", "inclusion in our online gallery".
- No entry numbers, no selector names, no past winners. You cannot judge what you cannot see.
Unknown is not the same as free
When a call does not mention a fee, do not assume there is not one. Fees turn up at the last step of an application form more often than you would think.
On Callboard, a call is only tagged "No fee" when the organiser's page says so plainly. If the page does not say, the call shows "Fee not stated" until someone checks. Every fee that is stated is shown exactly as the organiser gives it, in their currency, on the card. You never have to open a call to find out what it costs. We explain the rule in full on the trust page.
What you can do this week
- Set a fee cap. Decide the most you will pay for any single entry, and stick to it.
- Set a monthly budget. Fees add up quietly. £15 a week is £780 a year.
- Write down the odds for anything you do pay for: entries, places, fee. After a year, you will know which calls were worth it.
- Start with no-fee calls. There are more of them than the Instagram scroll suggests, especially grants, residencies and commissions.
On the board, a fee cap hides every call above your limit, and the no-fee filter hides every call with a fee at all. You will see fewer calls. They will be ones you can actually enter.