Costs
4 Ways to Stretch a Small Museum Gift Shop Budget
Four concrete shop budget stretches: NARM and ROAM reciprocal memberships, seconds shelves, flat goods from Lantern Press or Out of Print, and Museum Store Sunday.
What to take away
- Four budget stretches work in most small museum shopsreciprocal memberships, seconds shelves, flat paper goods, and Museum Store Sunday.
- NARM and ROAM memberships often include 10% shop discounts at thousands of museums.
- A seconds shelf can cut 20 to 50 percent off ceramics, prints, and notecards.
- Lantern Press and Out of Print both sell museum shop items that stay under $20.
- Museum Store Sunday is the Sunday after Thanksgiving and offers one day discounts at hundreds of shops.
Four concrete ways to stretch the budget
Join a reciprocal museum membership before you shop. The North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM) covers more than 1,200 museums in the US, Canada, and Bermuda. A NARM membership through any member museum typically costs $100 to $150 a year.
Many participating shops take 10 percent off for members. The Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (ROAM) has over 300 smaller museums and offers similar shop discounts.
Look for the seconds or overstock shelf near the register. Many small shops put discontinued prints, slightly imperfect ceramics, or last season's notecards there. Discounts of 20 to 50 percent are common. A few shops run an annual seconds sale with regional potters and printmakers, the same idea on a larger table.
Buy flat paper goods from low cost vendors. Lantern Press, a Seattle based art card and print company, supplies many independent museum shops with postcards and art cards under $5. Out of Print makes book cover tote bags, socks, and magnets that often list under $20. Both beat a $35 mug or a $45 catalog.
Wait for Museum Store Sunday. It falls on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and includes hundreds of independent museum shops in the US and abroad. Many offer one day only discounts of 10 to 25 percent. Check the shop's social media the week before to see if it is participating.
How these compare to the base prices
A small museum shop budget usually lands between $15 and $60 per person. The table below shows how the four strategies change that range.
Typical saving per item
- NARM or ROAM membership
- 10 percent off most items
- Seconds or overstock shelf
- 20 to 50 percent off
- Lantern Press or Out of Print flat goods
- $1 to $20 instead of $35 to $45
- Museum Store Sunday
- 10 to 25 percent off one day
Who it suits
- NARM or ROAM membership
- Repeat visitors and families
- Seconds or overstock shelf
- People who like imperfect or older designs
- Lantern Press or Out of Print flat goods
- Postcard and tote collectors
- Museum Store Sunday
- Anyone near a participating shop that day
The costs behind the shop
A shelf price in most US states does not include sales tax. At the register, the combined state and local rate can turn a $30 item into $31.80 in one city and $32.70 in another. Parking or a rideshare adds $10 to $25 before you enter. A downtown museum with no lot is the most expensive version.
Bag checks and storage are a second hidden cost. Large bags, backpacks, and tripods are often refused at the door, which sends you back to a car or locker. Camera and tripod rules differ sharply between small museums, and the field list on camera and tripod rules to expect inside unusual museums explains what to expect before you pack.
What changes the total most
Group size and fatigue drive the total most. A family of four at $25 each is $100 before tax. The same family buying one book and three postcards spends under $20.
If the day runs long and the shop is the last stop, rushed counter decisions rarely land on the cheapest item. See the breakdown: what a bad day at the museum costs, in hours and in dollars.
Local makers also move the total, and a shop selling work by state or regional makers pays a real wholesale price that sits on the tag. A shop selling imported reproductions pays a distributor and can price lower. To support local makers directly, check the seconds shelf or a maker's studio sale first.
The argument for tying those stops into one route is in local shops can tie scattered museum stops into one real route.
Common questions
Is a $25 per person shop budget realistic?
Does sales tax apply to museum shop purchases?
Are locally made souvenirs always more expensive?
Can I support the museum without buying anything?
Small museums run lean retail operations, and general financial management advice for small businesses applies to them directly, as the SBA sets out at manage your finances. A shop that prices honestly and pays its makers is doing something harder than it looks.
