Long time readers of TAA know today’s guest poster, Melissa Dinwiddie. She’s one smart cookie, and happens to be my partner in ArtEmpowers. Melissa has written here at TAA about how her art career almost destroyed her happiness, and has been mentioned as one of my 7 favorite art bloggers.
Recently an artist emailed me and told me that there was essentially no way that a person can draw pictures and sell them on the Internet for a significant sum of money. In response, I’d encourage you to read this post, and then check out Melissa’s website. I completely love this post, and every artist should pay attention.
Do you struggle with pricing your work? I sure do, and most artists I know have the same problem.
In my many years of selling my artwork (and selling my teaching, consulting, music performances, and a whole lot more, as well), I’ve had to learn how to set my prices the hard way. I wish I knew then what I know now!
In the hopes that you don’t have to go through what I did, I’d like to share with you five of the most important lessons I’ve learned about pricing. This is in no way a definitive guide, and I don’t have a simple one-size-fits-all formula to offer you (sorry!), but hopefully these tips will be helpful.
Important Pricing Lesson #1: If you’re feeling resentment toward your clients or customers, it’s a good bet you need to raise your prices.
When I first started out, like many artists, I woefully undercharged for my work.
Being woefully underpaid leads to feeling woefully undervalued, and, sooner or later, resentful. In the middle of executing my third ketubah (Jewish marriage contract) commission (which took 106 hours to create, and for which I ended up earning not much more than minimum wage), I felt so resentful of the lovely and delightful young couple I was creating the piece for that I came a hair’s breadth away from never accepting another ketubah commission.
Resentment will do that.
Thankfully, I realized that what I needed was not to quit; what I needed was to raise my prices! Which I immediately did.
From that moment on, I used resentment as a reliable gauge to tell me when I was charging too little.
My advice: at a minimum, you should set your prices so that if someone buys from you, you feel well paid, and there isn’t even a glimmer of resentment.
Important Pricing Lesson #2: Nothing good comes from getting defensive about your pricing.
Sometime after learning the lesson above, I met with a couple in my living room for a consultation about a possible ketubah commission.
They flipped through my portfolio and raved about my work, pointing out specific elements of previous pieces that they liked and telling me the images and colors they wanted incorporated into their own ketubah. I drew a few rough concept sketches, I gave them a price estimate, and after some discussion about timing, they wrote me a deposit check for 1/3 of the estimate.
A few days later the bride-to-be called. “We really love your work,” she said, “but my friends are telling me it’s too expensive. I can get a ketubah from another artist a lot cheaper.”
SMACK. SUCKER-PUNCH MOMENT.
Can you say “flustered?” Can you say “buttons pushed?” That would be me right then.
What I wish I’d said was, “If you like what I do, this is what I charge. If you don’t want to pay that, you don’t have to buy it.”
Instead, I blathered defensively about how much time a ketubah takes me to create, trying to explain and defend my pricing, feeling worse with every word that fell out of my mouth. (Although to my credit, I did not offer to lower the price!)
Oh, it was ugly. And painful. One of those moments in which you wish you could hit rewind, delete, and start all over. Like that.
If you like what I do, this is what I charge. If you don’t want to pay it, you don’t have to buy it. Period.
When someone challenges your pricing, your impulse may be to want to justify why you charge what you do. (If so, you’re not alone! I still struggle with this!)
But you know what? None of your justifications are relevant. All that’s relevant is this:
If you like what I do, this is what I charge. If you don’t want to pay it, you don’t have to buy it. Period.
Practice this one, and have it at the ready the next someone tells you you’re charging too much.
Important Pricing Lesson #3: Some money is too expensive.
When I was trying to justify and explain the price estimate for that couple’s ketubah, I felt icky in a weak, whiny, victimy sort of way. And if my intention had been to salvage the sale, it totally backfired.
Now that I felt all disrespected and wimpy, there was no way I could work for this client.
Of course, it’s unlikely I would have wanted to work for them anyway — it’s very unpleasant to work for a client who doesn’t value what you do. Plus they usually make the biggest PITA (Pain In The Ass) clients.
Clients are PITA clients when they don’t value your work, when they treat you like a servant or are just generally rude, when they don’t get back to you in a timely fashion (and so force you to finish their project in a rush!), when they’re overly demanding…
I’ve learned from hard experience that working for PITA clients is never worth it. Or as an ex-boyfriend of mine liked to say, “Some money is too expensive.” Learn to say no and look for “less expensive” money (ie, customers and clients who are a pleasure to work with and sell to).
Important Pricing Lesson #4: State your price, then shut up!
Once I met with a couple who’d flown all the way from the east coast to meet with me about creating a ketubah for their anniversary.
I knew the extremely detailed design they wanted me to create would be incredibly time-consuming, probably more so than any ketubah I’d ever made. I had been continually raising my prices, little by little, but the amount I knew I’d have to charge in order to not feel resentful was more than I’d ever made on any single piece! I really wanted this commission, but I was afraid the clients would balk if I quoted a price that would really pay me for my time. (The fact that they flew from the other side of the country to meet with me should have given me a clue to how much they were willing to pay, but as I said, I’d never charged that much before, so I had no experience of anyone being willing to pay it.)
I stole some time by telling the couple that what they were looking for was at (what was then) the “high end” of my price range.
“So, um,” I stumbled ahead, “That would amount to, um, about, um, $5,000…”
If only I had kept my mouth closed right then…
Instead, I got all nervous and freaky that they were going to totally balk on me, and before I even gave them time to respond, I watched in horror as out of my mouth came the words, “…but if that’s too much for you, I can always simplify the design…”
“Bogus! Bogus!” screamed my inner voice, “The design never gets simplified in reality! Saying you can simplify the design only means you’ll work just as hard for less money!”
Alas, my inner voice was too late, and I continued “…and I can make it for $4,000.. or $3,000…”
I could almost see the words flying out into the air above my dining room table, and I longed for nothing more than to grab them and stuff them back into my mouth.
But it was too late. The husband responded without batting an eye, “Well, $3,000, $4,000, $5,000 — it’s all the same to me. But I’m a middle-of-the-road kind of guy, so why don’t we go with the $4,000 version?”
And just like that, in a matter of seconds, I lost $1,000.
Ouch.
Whatever you do, don’t talk your customer out of a sale. State your price, then shut up! Leave space for your customer to respond before you do anything else. They may surprise you. And if they’re not comfortable with your price, then you can negotiate — or not — as you wish.
Important Pricing Lesson #5: If someone’s willing to pay it, it’s worth at least that much.
As I became more particular about whom I would work for (ie, no more PITA clients!) and how much I wanted to be paid (at least enough so that I wouldn’t feel resentful!), I got more and more confident about commanding higher and higher prices.
If a project was not something I was excited about doing, I’d just charge a lot, figuring that few would be willing pay it. And if for some strange reason they did pay it, I’d feel well paid for my efforts, so it would be worth it.
Well, blow me over with a feather — sometimes somebody did pay it!
Many times I’ve quoted prices anticipating that a project would take me, say, 40 hours, and then completed the work in half, or even a quarter of that.
The first few times that happened I felt guilty, and almost offered to lower the price. Thankfully, I realized that the clients weren’t paying me for my time. They didn’t care if it took me 15 hours, 150 hours, or 1,500 hours! They were buying the piece of art that they were dreaming of owning.
To their mind, the amount that we had agreed on to begin with was what that piece of art was worth.
Which makes it that much easier to charge that much next time. If you’ve been charging $500 for your work but one person’s happy to pay you $1,000, you can honestly say that your work is worth that much… at least to that one person. And if one person is willing to pay it, that social proof makes it easier to command that price with the next person to come along!
(This is one big reason I recommend pricing by the project or piece, rather than by the hour. It’s also why it’s so important to learn to find your Right People — the ones who are more than happy to pay your prices to buy what you offer. The ones who validate that yes, your work is worth what you charge.)
Summing up
So there you have it. My top 5 pricing lessons, all learned the hard way. I hope you find this helpful.
Do you have anything to add? If you have any hard-won pricing lessons, please share them in the comments below!
Melissa Dinwiddie is an artist, writer, performer and inspirationalist, on a mission to empower people to follow their own creative callings. She coaches and consults with individuals and groups and leads creativity workshops and retreats in inspiring locations around the world as well as online. Through her partner project with Cory Huff, ArtEmpowers.Me, Melissa helps artists to deprogram themselves of the “starving artist” mindset and learn to thrive from their art. You can find Melissa at Living A Creative Life, Playing Around Workshops, and Melissa Sings.
I have been reading extensively online lately about the business of art. I can honestly say this is the BEST advice I’ve come across! I know that resentment….I’ve had that PITA client who took advantage of me.
I have an Etsy shop and I often do a little search amongst my competition to see if my work is priced competitively. I get a little worried when I see someone else selling comparable goods for considerably less. I used to just lower my prices to compete, but quickly realized that I don’t get any more sales that way, just make less money.
Thank you for sharing your insights!
“I don’t get any more sales that way, just make less money.”
Brilliant.
Raising prices can be a really hard thing to wrap one’s head around, but Jennifer hit the nail on the head: when you do raise your prices, you have to sell to fewer customers to make the same amount of income!
Of course, there’s a line somewhere: at a certain price point, people will stop buying, so you’ll make less money. The challenge is finding where that line is where you’re gaining more income than you’re losing in sales.
Bravo! Great advice! I know first hand that it works!
Thank you for sharing your experiences! I have had the same feelings about my prices, getting reamed by my friends for having them too low.. Me apologizing and justifying the prices to my customers. Ugh. It’s a lose lose lose. I like the idea that my feeling after the sale is a pretty good indication of my pricing. Thank you again!
Hello there! I have been selling my paintings at low prices too. so I have decided to start pricing them at higher price ranges instead of lower prices.
I have been attempting to sell a 10″ x 8″ x 1.5″ stretched canvas painting on facebook for a number of weeks now. I priced it @ $25.00.
I $25.00 to low for a 10″ x 8″ x 1.5″ painting.?
Yes, that’s too low. I heard some great advice about pricing, and he said, no matter what at the very minimum don’t sell for less than 2$ per square inch.
That’s super cheap, I don’t care what size it is I think any artists work is worth more than $25.00.
I’m sure you are super talented and you deserve better!
I just finished a 18×14 inch (with a 1 inch boarder all the way around) watercolor commission. It is very detailed and is a recreation of another artist’s old painting (originally an oil painting). I hand drew, inked, then painted every little detail. I’ve been dreading having to put a price on it. I’m trying to be fair to myself, but also not seem like I’m overcharging. Which I mean I don’t think I will be, it was a crazy amount of details. I was looking at other people’s suggestion like (# of hrs x amount of hr wage + materials) Is that what you’d suggest.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi! I have a question. I am doing some art projects for my teacher recently. They take me a lot of time but I don’t charge him anything… and my artworks will be featured in the student year book as well as showcasted in the school halls… after reading this I feel as if I should charge my art as I spend real time on it. I do feel bad about it. But at the same time I feel it is a relevant question. Would you charge your teacher?? In Exchange i told him if the art produced will take me 5 min, i would do it… but he keeps on insisting that i spend a little longer on it… like 30min. I know it doesn’t sound like much but this amounts to higher time consumption as I also have to edit and change compositional aspects of my pieces….
Hi, my name is Cerina. I’m just now starting to sell my art. I’ve been painting, drawing, and creating my whole life, but now it’s something I decided to pursue as a career. I’m very new to the business side of the art world, and I’m just starting, so my price is based on a formula. This formula is to multiply the length and width of the canvas and then add $50 for supplies. I feel my work is worth a lot more than that, but I fear that no one will buy it because they don’t know me. Is it fair to price my work like this? I’m going to start charging more once people start to recognize my work, but for now, I’m just trying to get my name out there, and my work hung up on walls.
Well, I agree – in theory. But in practice, it’s not just about raising your prices. I agree that finding your niche is an important thing. But what if “your niche” doesn’t pay well (or hasn’t historically paid very well?) Finding the people who will pay what you’re worth might mean finding more people who will pay a lower sum, or working directly with businesses and publishers, instead. This has been a steep mountain to climb, for me…. but thanks for the insight!
Great point, Leah! I would be the last person to imply that “it’s just about raising your prices.”
If your niche doesn’t pay well, or if there’s just not a market for your work, it may be that it’s not a good niche to grow a business from. You can’t grow crops in a dessert.
Or it may be that you need to change your offer somehow. There’s no single formula here (much as we might wish for one…)
For an art (or any!) business to work, you must find the intersection of what you do well (and ideally ADORE doing), and what people are actually willing and happy to pay for. (Which may also require some education on the creator’s part; think of the iPhone — 20 years ago nobody was walking around thinking “Ya know, what I really wish I had is a phone that I can carry around with me, take pictures with, send messages to people on, plan me day on, and listen to music with!”)
This is not always an easy intersection to find, and it’s not something that will work for every artist or art form. But for those who *can* find that intersection, with hard work, creativity, and a helluva lot of persistence, I believe they can create a successful business.
“You can’t grow crops in a dessert.”
I don’t know. The pound cake in my fridge is definitely growing something green…
Haha! I think God made typos to make us laugh. 😉
Maybe I should have said “If people want fried chicken, it won’t work so well to try and sell them desert.”
😉
Cory, you beat me to it. I was going to say something clever about desserts and growing things….hah!
I think right now the original art market *is* a desert. Anyone would agree, the rain doesn’t fall often. I won’t be the first to blame “the economy” but I also think that owning original art (even reasonably priced, artist-made prints) isn’t really important in larger and larger segments of the population. The culture says it’s perfectly okay to go to Ikea and buy a cheap piece of paper or doodad to hang instead if you need more decoration to fill space. (home decor magazines often show groupings of empty frames D:) I don’t think the public perceives much value in original 2D art. As long as it’s viewed as “just decor”.
…Until they own their first piece of real art. Then, it becomes the Most Amazingest Thing In Their House.
Now I just have to convince everyone of this basic truth, LOL!!!!
Heading for that intersection…
Multimedia device that fits in my pocket? Actually, that was ~totally on my mind 20+yrs ago- I kno I definitely pondered “why can’t portable TVs get cable channels?” LOL xD (wishlist items included GameBoy, “handheld television”, “handycam” video camera, portable CD player.. & now I’m finally living the dream! as a smartphone owner since 2012: Samsung Galaxy model, hehe)
Well put Melissa!
And haven’t all of us been there…
Thank you for sharing your experiences.
You bring life to the lessons and I could feel your emotions and work through it with you as you came to your esteem building resolutions.
If you are an artist who is being represented by a gallery, you usually work with a gallery to set a price that includes the gallery commission. This is usually around 50% of the retail price. The important thing to keep in mind is that the price of your work has to remain consistent to the public, whether in a gallery, at a street fair or selling directly from your studio. If a 24×30 paintng on canvas is $400 dollars in a gallery, a painting of similar size and content that you sell directly to a patron must be sold close to that same price point. If you vary pricing for different scenarios, you undermine your reputation with the gallery, word will spread that you will sell direct for a lesser amount and slowly your reputation as a professional artist will begin to be tarnished.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful post! I have struggled so much with this! It is hard when you are starting something to know if you are trying to sell in a desert or if the people who will pay just don’t know it exists yet.
Maria, you’re right: it’s really hard to know when you’re starting out whether there’s a market for your work and how much you can reasonably charge. The only way to find out is to get your stuff out there and start experimenting.
And at the same time, work on building a market by educating people about why owning a piece of your work is so awesome. 🙂
Such an important point, Wayne! It’s very important to keep your pricing consistent — NEVER undercut the retail price of your work in any galleries who represent you!
In addition, if you DO sell through galleries, remember to set your (retail) prices so that you’re making a profit AFTER the gallery takes its cut.
Good article. Artists, especially those starting out are so eager to make a sale and be “validated” they are willing to cheapen their prices to the point that work takes on Walmart value.
You’re right, Edward. And trying to compete with Walmart and Ikea doesn’t do us any favors. Unless you have a raving fan base of millions (and who of us does?), there’s no way you can make a living on cheap pricing.
Hello there! You are right there Melissa. You can not. I have been selling my paintings to people for low prices. As a result I am still classed as poor.
I am grateful to have talent to paint pictures. Now I have read the lessons on how to price you r paintings I will be selling my paintings for higher prices.
Oh wow, even though I’ve heard you talk of this before Melissa, I never cease to listen with wide open ears. I really need to print myself out a card with: “If you like what I do, this is what I charge. If you don’t want to pay it, you don’t have to buy it.”and keep it in my pocket at all times! Thanks for reminding me.
I have just last week been in a situation of quoting a mural job, something I’ve never been paid to do, and struggled with pricing it. But in the end after tossing numbers around in my head and worrying if it were too high (or low), I got serious and thought I really need to know how much this job is going to cost me. I wrote it all down, gas, travel time, supplies and was shocked with the amount that it would cost me without even picking up a brush!
So I started to talk myself out of the job, thinking it won’t be worth it. The job is an hour away (41 miles) one way. That there was no way I would make any money on it. And finally, I came to terms that I would just not do it.
So, after putting off getting them the quote, I came up with what I thought was a number that they would never agree to, but one that I felt good about and wouldn’t feel taken advantage of. I even included in the quote that if she wanted to move forward to contact me, thinking that was the last I would hear from her. To my surprise, she got back to me within minutes! Not even a balk at the price. Just a yes, we want to move forward.
I am still learning as I go, but I am pretty proud of myself for this quoting job. Now, I’m thinking dang! I could’ve charged more! hahaha…
oh and I have to add that I credit The Abundant Artist and Art Empowers Me project to valuing my own work enough to stick to my guns.
Hooray Jamie! Good for you for quoting this job from a place of reason rather than fear!
Every success story like this adds to your experience. Now that you’ve seen that a quote that you feel good about can get an immediate “yes,” next time you may have the confidence to quote an even higher price. 🙂
Thanks so much for sharing your story here.
Jaime! That is awesome! Congratulations on this. Very impressive. Virtual hugs!
Thanks you guys! I hope you’re right Melissa!
Great article on the wisdom of pricing artwork. Your examples to back up each lesson helped me to understand the pitfalls and the logic behind the lesson. What resinated with me the most is your last comment about pricing by piece not by hour and finding the right people who value your work. Thank you for sharing your wisdom 🙂
You’re so welcome, Linda! Thanks for your comment. I’m glad this article was helpful. 🙂
Thanks for an excellent article! As an artist, I have been in all of these situations before and came out of them less than victorious. What I learned from a couple of years of selling art is that for most of my clients, it’s not about the money. They either want that piece of art or not. All of my mumbling about maybe lowering the price I do for my own sake, because I’m feeling guilty about charging someone that much or because I don’t feel confident that my art is worth it, or because I’m just trying to be a nice person.
Yevgenia – your site gorgeous! Love the way your art is laid out. Love the ecommerce functionality.
Thank you Cory! Except the art, the website is my husband’s accomplishment 🙂
Thanks, Yevgenia!
I’ve also learned that what seems “expensive” to me is not always so to my clients. I delivered a commissioned book to a client once — a piece that had taken me a fraction of the time I’d thought it would when I quoted the price.
My momentary guilt feelings vanished when I drove up to the *mansion* — complete with 20-foot fountain and full-time nanny. I realized that the price the client paid me, though a *huge* amount to me, what probably the equivalent of me buying a CD or a couple of movie tickets to them!
They loved the book, and were more than pleased with what they got for their money. Everyone was happy. 🙂
PS – I agree with Cory! Your site is stunning! As is your artwork. 🙂
Thanks for the compliment, Melissa! 🙂
Great advice! Thanks!
I agre a 100%
Thank you for sharing this! Very helpful. I have made some of these mistakes. Glad to know I’m not the only one. Now I will practice avoiding the othes 🙂
Haha! You are definitely not the only one, Lisa! :}
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Thanks, Moses! Beautiful work.
Perfect article! I went through the same pain, interestingly enough not as an artist, but for my hubby’s business. We went through #1 and figured out the resentment is not worth. We went through #2, we went through #3 a few times until we actually started to turn people down (not but raising the prices, just by saying ‘sorry, I am booked!’
But his work is a service, much easier to price… I am still struggling to figure out the proper price for my work 🙂
Thanks for sharing, this is truly an important lesson to learn (or 5 to be exact)
Thanks for the comment, Alicia!
I think pricing is the hardest part of being an artist. Learning how to stay sane and not sell yourself short is an ongoing process.
And saying “sorry, I’m booked!” is a great way to help stay sane, AND demonstrate that you’re in demand (and therefore worth whatever you charge… or more!) 🙂
Well this is one piece that’ll be printed in large letters and posted on my wall. It’s a strange thing isn’t it that we are afraid to upsell ourselves and yet we don’t find it hard to sell someone elses work – like if you worked in an art shop you’d tell the buyer that a painting is worth a heap of money –
Thank you Melissa.
Rosemarie, you’re right. In fact, one trick I often use (and coach others to use) is to pretend that you’re an agent or friend for someone *else* when thinking about pricing and promoting your work. Imagine what you would say if you were representing a friend, instead of yourself.
Hopefully we’ll all learn to respect ourselves as much as we do other people, but in the meantime, I’m all for using any trick in the book to “fake it till you make it.” 😉
A lot of the time we give away art work at throw away prices just to please the buyer then whine away at the loss of a big apart of our spirit. Its about time it cost its worth? Period.
Amen, Sarah!
Yes, Melissa, this helped me to feel better about asking more for my work, but I am still pretty much clueless about what to charge for my work. You and I do have one thing in common, the un-commonality of our product. More research needed for me no doubt!
Thank you so much for writing this, it was an eye opener, and I will keep the concepts in mind.
Cecilia, I probably had it a little easier than you when I was first starting out, because the ketubah market is hugely competitive — so there are lots of other people out there selling, and I could use the range of pricing I found online as a starting place.
For someone with a really unusual product, I think it’s a matter of trying and experimenting until you find what works for you. Be open to changing your pricing as you go along (but be advised that it’s easier to go up than down!)
A good clue that you’re charging too little is when people offer you more – ouchie! I had to have someone come up to me and say – you MUST charge this much, after I had openly whinged about others who I thought charged too much. So now I make more money AND have less of my time and talents wasted, score! What Melissa says is true – if people do not value your work or have faith in your abilities, pouring your soul out for them will ultimately be a waste. You need to make sure people honour your talents and their own need to experience it. Payment is one of the lovely ways in which people can honour our services. Artists don’t just create because they can, healers don’t just heal for the hell of it; people need to have us create for them.
RIGHT ON, Katarina! Do we expect doctors and dentists to treat us for free?
Thank goodness for that person who told you you MUST charge more — we all need people like that sometimes, but they’re not always there when we need them. 🙂
Ouch! I just put my novel The Bride Price up for O dollars on Amazon Kindle for a short time, after listening to a marketing ex pert. I wish I had read your advice first. Suzanne Popp.
Hey Suzanne, don’t beat yourself up! There are lots of situations in which it makes TONS of sense to give your stuff away, or for very cheap, and it’s quite possible that offering your novel for free was a GOOD move. A free introduction to your work might just gain you loyal (paying) readers down the road…
All that is to say, every case is unique, and the price you charge (or not) will depend on your particular goals. And you won’t really know what works until you try it, too!
This is a terrific post on pricing, Melissa. Thanks! In keeping with your point about the need to set your price and stick to it, I’ve found that printing out a price list helps me a lot personally. That way, I don’t have to squeak out the words for how much a portrait commission will cost a client, which tends to make me feel defensive. I just hand them a price list. That seems to establish the concept that “this IS what it costs,” just as seeing a price tag on an item in a store does. If they don’t like my price list, they can go elsewhere, and that’s that! Self-respect is so important, and artists need to be paid appropriately.
Hi Anne! Nice to see you here. 🙂
I’m with you on printing out a price list. That includes having pricing on your website, for potential customers who are not in the same room with you. 😉
I’ve also found it helpful to have a list of prices nearby for ME to reference, if I’m talking to a potential customer on the phone — less squeaking results that way. (Though more often it’s a case of custom quoting, in which case I’ll tell them I’ll get back to them with a price quote, so I don’t quote something I regret in my haste!)
Yes to self-respect and being paid appropriately!
Dear Melissa,
Thank you for your enlightening tips on pricing artwork. I recall making ALL the mistakes you list and am glad you have given me the confidence at least to try avoiding them in the future!
Kind regards,
Brendan Murphy
a wonderful article. I think the most important key in pricing is just keeping your respect as an artist.
Thank you so much for this valuable post!
You have put into words what so many artists are unable to say about feeling undervalued and as a result, resentful.
Your advise is excellent.
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you very much for sharing that. I really needed to read it. I’m a bit uneasy about a situation I was in a few weeks ago and was wondering if you could share a bit of insight. A piece I had done was accepted in an exhibition at a gallery in Nashville. That was the very first time my work has hung on a gallery wall(Woo-Hoo!!). To say the least I was very excited and proud of my “Cinderella Moment”. The piece was a 24×36 in stretched canvas. It’s beautiful and only took a few hours all together. In consideration of 30% commission from the gallery I set my price for $135.00. That would be the most I’ve ever been paid for artwork if someone buys it. I’m completely content with the price. BUT, my mom and a friend of mine was there and were in agreement in the fact that I was undercharging. Then I was told that most people buy things that are a bit more expensive because they associate price with value. I understand where they are coming from and I know they love me, but that kind of makes me second guess myself. What are your thoughts on this particular situation?? Thank you for your time;)
Don’t second guess yourself. That’s my advice.
This sparked quite a discussion! Great post. I’ve made all those mistakes and more trying to get clients or responding to requests for conference, school, and library presentations. I get so passionate about wanting to help people follow their dreams (I’m a teacher, author, and creativity coach), that I would almost give away my services (and often did). For years I told myself it was good practice, and didn’t everyone deserve a coach or to know that everyone is creative? Of course!
What amazed me was that the coaching clients who paid me the most ended up being the ones who stuck around, signing up for a second 3 or 6 month period. I still offer free introductory sessions, but no longer work for free for individuals, preferring to volunteer my creativity coaching to groups whose missions I value. And the libraries and schools who paid the most did so because they were the ones who were used to hosting authors, and the people who attended were prepared, knew my books and information about me, and were more receptive because of it.
Another way I initially gave away too much was by giving too many options. I suppose that’s similar to your $5000, $4000, $3000 experience. I created lots of “packages” for coaching, thinking that way I’d have something for everybody. What I later realized is that I needed to just give a couple of options. What would happen is the people who selected the options where they didn’t have as much contact with me ended up not seeing the results that others got from the coaching. I ended up feeling badly about their relative lack of progress, so I’d step up my support for them and they’d end up getting as much as the others.
So much to learn! Thanks for your post, and for stirring up this topic for me. I’ll be more resolved to be fair to all now, including myself.
I am an Estate Surveyor & Valuer whose professional training is to assess and determine the worth of all classes of property including artwork. My research on the appropriate methodology for the valuation of artwork indicated that the world view/philosophy behind every artwork is of critical importance and attracts as much as 50% of the the value of the work. I have been able to advance a simple measurement apparatus/formula for the valuation which I hope to share with everybody soon.
This is so reassuring as an artist, so true. Thanks!
I was told by a client, self made and quite wealthy, ‘…watch your pricing, people with money like expensive things, not cheap things.’ Good advice. During the GFC I kept increasing prices while other well established artists were lowering theirs. I didn’t sell more, in fact I struggled, but I’d worked hard for years to get my prices up and I didn’t want to lose that.
I’ve kept track of the increase in prices of sold work over 15 years, to back up my current pricing if it’s ever in question.
Also, take inflation into account. I painting I sold in $3200 in 2005 would be $4000 now, just with inflation (in new Zealand). The reserve bank website here has a good inflation calculator.
I know these are all ‘justifications’ for pricing, but sometimes, with some clients you have to back yourself up.
Hope this adds to your already ‘priceless’ advice.
Bryce.
Thanks a lot Bryce. I hope things have picked back up for you!
Thank you for this website. Genius idea. I havnt even attempted to sell art yet, so, I consider myself lucky to have found this before hand. Thank you so much to the creator and contributors of this site!
Wow what a helpful article, thank you! My daughter Sydney McKenna just won the 2016 Starfish Awards at NSCAD University for her print work, and now is bombarded with requests for prints….. This article is so supportive, with insight and reflection.
Thanks again.
My husband is an artist and I’m trying to figure out how to sell his artwork. Thanks for the advice about setting a price and not changing it so that you don’t end up losing money. Hopefully, we can find someone to help us figure out pricing and maybe they can help us advertise and sell the artwork.
ok im just trying to sell the simplest painting, not trying to run a buisness, i really dont know how much i need to sell
Ohh good people your advise came handy right on time, I am here in South Africa and have just started out, people are sincerely WOWING when they see my artistic crafted work, its different designs which are artistic in nature and also incorporate electronics as most are functional.
Figuring out the price for each one depending on hours taken out to create and material costs, I end up in a scary price for most, it is indeed a PIAA to price an art!
Than you so much for the posts!!!
This article was very helpful.
I’m finding myself in a sticky spot with a potential client… He wants a gigantic commissioned artwork based on a 150 year old painting, which seems like a great opportunity though I wouldn’t be creatively doing what I’d really want to do.
We’re now at the negotiation stage and I offered him a ballpark figure. He came back to me with a price that’s absurdly low and makes no sense on any level – a third of what I offered. I’m happy to play it a bit down, but not by that much.
Let him know that you can simplify the piece by X amount, or make it smaller by X amount. If he still won’t give you a fair price, walk away.
Thank-you so much for this information, it has helped me heaps. I sold a watercolour painting of an eagle for $150 at an art competition/exhibition when I was about 13 or 14 years old, and I was really upset. I never got to take a photo of it so I have never seen it since. I sell them for more than that now and make sure I have taken a photo of it, and I was really surprised when I sold a owl pastel for $400! That is the most I have ever sold an artwork for. So many friends and family have said that an artist never makes enough money to make a living and even if that is so in some cases, it is what we love to do. 🙂
This was refreshing to read, and extremely encouraging. Thank you, thank you for this!
Great article!! So I am just starting to sell my art and I am worried that I will not find a demand for my art if I sell it at the price I want to. I read somewhere that if you price your art high, it will be valued high, which I want very badly. But I NEED a regular income as I do not have a winter job and I am going to college next fall. I believe it is worth at least as much as I want to sell it for, but I’m afraid everyone will roll their eyes and walk away… Sorry for the rant. Any ideas or wisdom, anyone?
I first noted that this article is a few years ago but as what I have read here is extremely helpful. I don’t classify myself as an artist but any time I post a picture of paintings that I do (for my own enjoyment and to better myself when I paint) I always gain rave reviews from friends. I’m struggling to justify myself as an “artist” because I paint for myself. I have had many friends tell me I should sell my artwork thus bringing me to this article. I have always enjoyed drawing and do so for myself or to decorate my own home.
Thank you for posting this article to help others with similar questions. I feel after reading this that I need to price my artwork as to what I truly feel it’s worth. I did try to sell a painting with the theory of a “minimum price” of $20 but the client can pay more if they felt it was worth more. I realized this was a HUGE mistake because I immediately felt so cheap (Walmart theory). So I’m doing research to find a good way to price my oil paintings. Thank you again for your post.
Great advice, thanks so much for sharing. Does anyone get “how long did it take you to do that” knowing full well that the potential customer is totting up the manhours/price in their heads? Never know how to reply to this one but often want to say 30 years!
Dear Melissa,
I’ve been a watercolorist for 50 years, but have only gotten serious about it for the last ten years or so. I know I’m fortunate to have found my true passion in painting watercolor (I used to be a graphic designer and made a lot more money but it became unfulfilling). However, I’m emotionally rich now with the feelings I get from doing a “good painting”… which is much more satisfying, by far, to me than doing say, a corporate brochure. When I price paintings now, I have a “set point” in my head, that guides me in selecting a certain level price for a painting. When my price feels “too low”, I simply raise it to a point where I know I’ll feel good about the sale if I get it, trying to take out the fears of losing sales from being what I perceive to be “too expensive. I’ve got to feel the buyer respects the art, skill, and creative impetus it takes to create the art. I have a basic premise that art is a “luxury item”, and people who buy it, are not always concerned with the price of a piece…. they just like and want the piece for the emotion it evokes in them. Within reason, the price is NOT the deciding factor for them, its the appeal of the painting that hopefully stirs their longings for the art. If they try to “work me” during the sale for a lower price, I gently but firmly tell them the price is the price… pretty much the same advice you offer. They rarely back off from the sale with this explanation. It usually works. If not, I don’t care. I also think buyers perceive art at higher prices as more valuable and a better investment.
Thanks for your very astute article on this tricky area of being an artist. I’ll hope my insights are helpful to other artists.
I had a local collector come out to see my work after she expressed interest in one of my paintings and meeting me at an art show. She’s well known and highly regarded in my area, and often buys artwork for her extensive collection. I was excited to have her visit and set my price list in the ‘higher’ range ($2.00 per square inch plus materials) plus gallery commission, which I kept firmly to.
“You’ll never sell your paintings at that price,” she stated confidently to me, reminding me that I had told her that as a newbie artist just starting out, I had never sold anything before, so I should lower my prices and expectations to much lower rates. She made sure to let me know that she was very experienced in the art market and knew what she was talking about from years of experience. However, I refused to change my prices, and politely said goodbye to her.
Did I make the right decision, or should new artists (who are told that their work is really good and interesting by others at shows) bend to pressure and sell some works at lower prices to get established first?
You made the right decision, anonymous young artist. Never discount your art. Stick to your guns!
Hi Melissa, thanks for inspiring us more with your own experiences. My son loves to paint and we support him with it. I have just shown him your post and it made him realize the thing that you want to instill in your readers’ mind. You’ve just been a blessing to his young artistic soul!
Thank you so much, great advice!
I liked what you said about how it would be smart to not get defensive about your prices. That does seem like a good thing to know if you are an artist who wants to sell your art. After all, you don’t want to come off wrong during the selling process.
This is great!. So true. My uncle in Germany requested I make 8 artworks for his 8 great grandchildren and offered me 1000 Euros which is $1500 Canadian dollars. I agreed to do digital decorative monogram paintings representing each child. At first I felt guilty accepting what felt like a lot from family, but after I completed them in the almost 4 months they took me, I realized I do deserve what he offered. No questions asked, he sent me the $1500 Canadian. It actually felt good because that was my first big sale for me. I think it’s given me that boost to feel yes, as an artist I/we (all ) deserve to take pride and confidence in placing good strong value in our work. This article was a great read!
I liked that you explained that some things can be just too expensive. If I was looking for art I would want to have a good explanation about why a piece is priced the way it is. If the piece took a lot of hours to complete or used an expensive medium I would like to be told that. After all, if I am not told that then I wouldn’t understand why it is so expensive.
That’s a valid question. But if art was priced by the expense of the materials and time to complete, then my art might cost as much as, say, a Gerhard Richter or a Jeff Koons. But of course It doesn’t work that way because art is a commodity. Think of it more like a baseball career. If you’re an emerging artist, your work will cost less than an established artist. The bigger the league you play in, the more demands for your time and the higher price you’ll command. So if the artist you’re interested in is getting press and gallery shows, you’ll want to buy now before their work is priced beyond your reach. And in my experience, artists rarely overprice their work. Usually they undervalue it.
You made an interesting point when you explained that it is a good idea to set your art at a price that will make you feel well paid if someone purchases it. My sister has recently gotten into oil painting and she has had a couple of people ask her if she is planning on selling any of the paintings. It might be a good idea for my sister to have an appraisal service to help her determine a price for her artwork so that she doesn’t overprice them.
Excellent advice. I would add this to the list: Never give a cost estimate face-to-face! (I always undersell myself that way.) Instead, I send a written cost estimate after the meeting, which gives me time to collect my thoughts and send the right price for the project and carefully consider all the time/costs involved. But, in your estimate, make the price based on size, not time. As you said, no one is paying you for your “time” but for your talent.
That’s fantastic! I have that problem.
But there was one time that when I sugested the client that I wouldn’t give cost estimates face-to-face and if I could inform them on that later, the client accused me of being unprofessional. I blushed in shame, I didn’t know how to react…
Great article!! 😀
I was just asked to offer one of my works for web publish (with credit) as tribute to “client’s” friend who died sometime ago. Because fo the sensitive subject and given that it was one work thta was already made, no changes needed, and would receive credit for it, I gave a small resolution image, not suitable for print, free of charge.
However, now that person is asking for a high res image for her to print and offer to her friend’s parents. I have no idea if I should give it free of charge or charge a one-time licensing fee. I don’t want to be offensive to her given the sensitive matter.
Can you give me any sugestion?
Thanks! 😉
I am just starting out at a late stage in life and was a little intimidated by this pricing issue. I’m so glad I came across this. It will save me a lot of aggravation!
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for the great post! As it happens, I have two very different styles of painting: One is a looser, more direct and definitely much quicker to execute style and the other is a very detailed, more complicated style that takes me a lot longer to paint. So far, I’ve tried the square inch/ dollar amount, but I’ve found that for the more detailed paintings, that might not be enough. Could I charge two different prices for two different styles? I’ve also been told a couple of times now that I should charge more for the more detailed work.
Charge what you’re comfortable with. Monetary value in art is mostly arbitrary — it’s what a particular buyer is willing to pay. Among the most extreme examples are NFT purchase receipts. What those are are digital notifications that you paid someone money to say you paid someone money, using the particular NFT as the basis. This is a form of performance art that is extremely minute socially. As an example, a Wired magazine writer said she was paid $250 so the ‘buyer’ could receive a receipt that he/she paid that money, and whatever satisfaction came from knowing the tweeter got it. The buyer didn’t become the owner of the tweet in any form beyond the receipt that says money was (donated) to the writer of it/the person who made it into an NFT (which, in this case, was the person who had written the tweet).
Much more public performance art spectacle is often what gets attention, such as paintings that self-destruct after being purchased. Many artists want to be the next DuChamp.
Van Gogh was a pauper during his lifetime and now his paintings sell for millions. Lots of art that sells for high prices is junk to me, just as Van Gogh’s art is junk to some, past and present. What is ‘obvious’ in terms of artistic quality is actually mostly a matter of arbitrary taste. Pollock had at least one film made about him and used house paint like a fool. Turner, who was a (in my view) tremendously talented hard-working artist used scarlet iodide even after being warned, apparently by the grifter who made the paint for sale. Pollock’s house paint paintings and Turner’s ‘black where once it was bright red’ paintings will sell for a lot more than paintings made by unknown artists using sound materials.
The ‘Sloth Jesus’ attempt at restoration is a particularly interesting example. To many it is a massacre of artistic quality (the original painting) but the remake got international attention while the original was nothing special to most. Sloth Jesus was a lot more of the ‘make it new’ experience that fame tends to come from. It also offered a petty happiness similar to schadenfreude among other performance art experiences (e.g. ‘Thankfully I’m not as stupid as that woman.). Generally, being extremely skilled technically isn’t enough if your work looks utilitarian (common, dated), no matter how well-crafted it is. The original Jesus painting was very well-done but it wasn’t particularly special, hence the lack of fame. Also, of course, fame is often random, fickle, and extremely fleeting.
Very often, a certain level of information contained within a piece is important for its longer-term valuation. Extremely simplified images, like Sloth Jesus, tend to have little staying power. Photography, though, has vastly undermined the connection between extreme technical precision and valuation. So, ‘make it weird’ is more of the mantra now. Make it weird enough to be fascinating for the two seconds of fame but (unless you’re big news like Banksy, who can get plenty of money for very simple things due to the effect of fame) make it technically information-laden enough to keep attention for more than a very brief time.
One other thing I would add is that pricing is related to location. It’s fine to charge higher prices if you are in a wealthy art-valuing area, like NYC, but if you’re in Indiana it’s going to be more difficult to find clients willing to pay what you think the pieces are worth — unless they’re of just the right niche. I suppose someone who paints like Kincaid could do well in Indiana.