Today's Post is by Lori Woodward, Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews. She is also a contributing editor for American Artist's Watercolor and Workshop magazines and she writes "The Artist's Life" blog on American Artists' Forum. Lori is a member of The Putney Painters, an invitational group that paints under the direction of Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik. Find out how you can be a guest author.
Pricing artwork is one of the most confusing issues surrounding running a business as an artist. Some artists ask, "Why can't I charge just as much as 'so and so' - my work is as good as his?"
The reasons why the pricing of art is so complex - basically boils down to the old supply and demand principle. In fact, when it comes to accurately pricing any work of art -
demand for that piece largely defines the price range. In essence, the value of art has more to do with how collectors regard the worth of the piece, and in order for an artist get "the big bucks", that artist's work must be sought out by collectors who have the means and desire to pay for it.
So how does an artist get to the point where they can get enough for their work to actually make a decent living at it? I've observed that the artists I personally know who make a living, built their careers over the course of ten years or so... starting out with modest prices even though their work was as excellent as higher priced works by another artist. Over time they were able to raise those prices. At first, some of them had to paint more than 100 paintings a year in order to reap the kind of income they needed to cover all their operating costs (supplies, advertising, overhead), but now they can paint far fewer paintings to meet the same amount of income.
Start Reasonably and Go From There
Collectors expect that artists who are new on the scene should offer their works at reasonable prices. In fact, when emerging artists' works are set a below comparable works by established artists, it increases initial demand for that new artist's work. If an artist arrives on the scene with abnormally high prices, collectors will be reluctant to begin buying that artist's work - because if it's already expensive, it has little room to appreciate. While collectors rarely buy work for investment purposes, they're hopeful that their collection will increase in worth over time.
Several Factors Determine the Price of Artwork
The price of artwork is determined by more than one factor. In fact, Calvin J. Goodman, a consultant of more than 40 years in the field of advising artists and gallerists, sites 3 factors that determine the retail price of an artist's work.
1. Aesthetic and technical merits. 2. The cost of recovering costs of producing and marketing the artwork, 3. The artist's reputation and demand for the work.
What that means in plain language: 1. The artist knows what he or she is doing and uses the highest quality materials and framing. 2. The retail price of the work covers the cost of making the work - all the materials used, plus overhead, mailing materials, website, studio costs, etc.3. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, demand for an artist's work in the marketplace determines the price an artwork can command among collectors.
The good news is that today, there are many more art selling venues, as well as, types and levels of collectors. It's much easier to get started selling your work right now. It may not be on the scale that you dream of; however, it's easy to step up to the plate. I started out locally with outdoor shows, and a couple of new galleries picked up my work from there. Back then, artists didn't sell their work from online venues. Now many artists are doing very well with "painting a day" venues as well as selling directly from their blogs and websites. Of course, when they don't have to pay the 50% gallery commission, their prices stay reasonable.
On the other hand, at this time in history, many intermediate and advanced collectors only shop at galleries, so getting into a good gallery can be an important step for an emerging artist. When that happens, the artist needs to price work in line with the other works in the gallery, but when just starting out - at a lower price than the seasoned artists at that same gallery - even if the quality is the same. This is because new artists build demand over time.
To sum things up, artists need to cover all their costs and make a profit - otherwise they are subsidizing the collector. Original artwork has never been for the masses and should not be priced too inexpensively. We artists are not manufacturing companies, we make one work at a time. On the other hand, it's wise not to start too high too soon, or else your work might just sit there. Each venue has its own pricing range, so figuring out how you should price your art to start out can be difficult. On the next post, I'll give examples and prices for a few venues that emerging artists are using successfully right now.
Related Posts:
Marketing Art
Ask Stape: Increasing Your Prices?
Do the Math (Part 1)
Price is a Shortcut
Pricing Your Art
Do the Math - Part 2
Realistic Pricing Practices
via fineartviews.com