Art Pricing For Artists

In order to price your art realistically, you must understand and respect how the art business works and how collectors shop and buy. You must step back and objectively evaluate the significance and quality of your art in relation to all other art. You must also objectively assess your art world accomplishments and determine how they position you in relation to all other artists. These are difficult tasks and not necessarily pleasant, but they're absolutely essential to achieving the goals of making a go of it as an artist and of selling art.

Understanding common mistakes that artists make when setting prices is the first step in this process. Perhaps the most significant error is the tendency to focus too much attention on only that segment of the art world that pertains to you and too little attention on the rest, or even worse, dismissing the rest as irrelevant. If you let this happen, your asking prices may make sense to you and to your inner circle, but make little sense to the overall art community. The more aware you are of the big picture, of what other artists are creating, how it's being priced and marketed, and who's buying what for how much and why, the better prepared you are to price your art sensibly.

Many artists make the mistake of equating dollar values with psychological factors like how emotionally attached they are to their art or how much angst they experience during the creative process. They place special meanings and, therefore, special asking prices on certain pieces of their work that may make sense to them inwardly, but have little or no relation to the selling prices of the rest of their art or to art prices in general. Dealers and collectors see these prices as inconsistent or excessively high. You can explain all of your emotions with todays technologies. Here is a video about Michael Godard speaking of his art, success and how the world should view him. Michael Godard Video

Avoid this pitfall by keeping any art off the market that you feel exceptionally close to or involved with. Keep it in your own personal collection. Any insights, enlightenments, sufferings, or inner pain you experience while creating art are your own business. Don't bill collectors for it. People in all professions have intense emotional experiences just like you, but you rarely see the prices of milk, plumbing, clothes, or other goods or services fluctuate wildly as a result.
The opposite of placing excessively high prices on works of art with high levels of personal meaning or emotional attachment is placing excessively low prices on works of art that lack those qualities. Experienced collectors who bargain hunt for art love when artists under-price art based on feelings rather than on more objective factors such as those that will be discussed below. Consistency in pricing is a cornerstone of successful selling.

Artists sometimes confuse subjective opinion with objective judgment when comparing the quality of their art to that of other artists. At the same time, they may also ignore outside factors that influence those artists' prices like who they show with, what their reputations are, how long they've been active, or how collectible they are. Once again, unrealistically high asking prices are often the result.

If you think your art is as good as that of Picasso or Matisse, for example, do you price it into the millions of dollars? Of course not. Your art may indeed by as good as that of a well-known or even famous artist who sells for lots of money, but many other factors must also compare favorably before your selling prices can approach those of that artist. Your personal opinion about how good your art is has little to do with that artist's prices or why collectors pay them. If it did, any artist could sell any work of art for any price at any time.
And don't make the mistake of thinking that your art is so unique that nothing else compares to it. All art is unique. Every artist is unique. Uniqueness, however, has never been and never will be the sole criterion for setting prices at any particular level.
Collectors rarely see themselves as having only one choice when selecting art, no matter how "unique" that art happens to be. Not only are they cost-conscious, but they almost always compare work from artist to artist and gallery to gallery before they buy. The more comparing they do, the better they get at collecting, assessing quality, determining fairness in selling prices, and getting the best bangs for their bucks. This is what good collecting is all about and what you're up against when it comes to pricing your art.

So how do you price sensibly and realistically? At the most fundamental level, you must be able to make a fact-based case for what your art is worth. You certainly know how to explain what it means from a personal standpoint, but if a collector asks, can you explain it equally well from a financial standpoint? Convincing people that your art is worth what it's priced and is therefore OK to own is an essential part of completing sales. This is especially true when buyers are on the fence, not familiar with your work, or just starting out as collectors.
In the world of selling, all reputable and established art galleries are fully prepared to explain their asking prices to anyone who asks. This is how the business end works. Dealers know that collectors are concerned about how they spend their money and, as a result, they have plenty of ammunition on hand when the focus of a presentation turns from art to dollars.
The best way to justify your asking prices is to do exactly what the galleries do. Present documentation that you've been selling art consistently for dollar amounts comparable to what you're now charging. The more records you have of recent sales through dealers, galleries and agents or directly to collectors from your studio, the better. These records, of course, should be relevant to the situation at hand. In other words, if you've sold three paintings to your rich uncle for $3000 a piece, but have never sold to a collector for more than $500, quote prices in the hundreds to collectors, not the thousands. You might also think about giving your uncle a price break while you're at it.

When you don't have a record of consistent sales in a particular price range or sales have been erratic and you're not sure how much to charge, setting your prices the way that real estate agents do is one of your better options. They base home prices on "comparables" or what similar houses in the same neighborhoods sell for. In your case, this means basing prices on how much other artists charge who live in your geographical area, work in similar mediums, sell through similar venues, create similar art, and whose accomplishments, experience, and quality of work are comparable to your own.

If you're just starting out and have not sold very much, pricing your work based on time, labor, and cost of materials is often the best way to go. Set yourself a sensible hourly wage, add the cost of materials, and make that your asking price. If materials cost $50 and you take 20 hours to make the art at $15 per hour, then you price it at $350. Don't forget the comparables, though. You still want your final asking prices to be in line with what other artists with similar credentials to yours are charging for their work.

Whenever you set prices by comparison, compare to what sells, not to what doesn't. Supposing your "comparable" artist has a show with prices ranging from $2000-$25,000. Suppose it closes with only pieces in the $2000-4000 range selling. This result tells you that collectors balk at paying anything more than $4000 and can be interpreted as their verdict on the artist's high-end prices. You, consequently, would be advised to price your art from $2000-4000 and forget going much higher.

A similar situation can occur if you compare your prices to those of artists who primarily sell limited edition prints of their work. They price their art to sell their prints, not their originals. The more expensive the originals, the more they tend to elevate the collectibility of the prints in the eyes of collectors and stimulate sales.
Dealers use the expensive cost of the originals not to sell them, but rather to justify the print prices being as high as they are while at the same time, portraying those prices as bargains. "The original costs $100,000, but you can have the signed limited edition for only $600." It's just basic marketing, folks. Selling prints is what this tactic is all about and not selling originals. The prints, meanwhile, have nothing to do with the originals other than being photographic reproductions in one form or another and the idea of equating the two is absurd-- but don't get me started on that one.

No matter how you set your prices, be competitive. As distasteful and capitalistic as this may sound, you're in competition with other artists. Every time a collector buys a piece of art from you, that's one less piece that they're going to buy from someone else. Naturally, you want to maximize the number of pieces that collectors buy from you.
The best way to stay in the hunt is to make sure that you're always charging the same or even a little less than what you determine to be the "going rate" in any given selling circumstance. For example, if you're in a group show or exhibition, enter a piece that's priced competitively with those of the other artists. You don't want to have the most expensive piece in the show; you don't want the first impression that collectors have of your work to be sticker shock. You want it to stand out for art reasons, not money reasons.

Another issue that artists often wrestle with is when to raise prices. The best time is when you're experiencing a consistent degree of success and have established a proven track record of sales that's lasted for at least six months to a year and preferably longer. You should also be selling at least half of everything that you produce within a six month time period. As long as sales continue to be good and demand remains high, price increases of 10-25% per year are in order. As with any other price-setting circumstances, be able to justify all increases with facts. Never raise prices based on whimsy, personal feelings, or because you feel that they've remained the same for long enough.

Remember that today's collectors are more sophisticated than ever. The idea of falling in love with one piece of art and having to have it at any cost fell by the wayside years ago. Collectors now research and compare before they buy. The only ones who don't are new to the game. Just in case you get lucky and find one who's a little naive, by the way, resist the temptation to take advantage and overcharge. You risk the possibility of turning them off to continued collecting. We all know that we need all the art collectors we can get.

Lastly, have something for everyone. Offer art in all price ranges. People who like your work, but can't afford the big stuff should at least have the opportunity to come away with something. These are your biggest fans, your collector base, the people who will stand by you throughout your career. Do whatever you can to provide them with art. That's the best way to maximize your exposure, create good will, get yourself out there, jump start your sales, and become known and respected in the arts community.Being clear and consistent when pricing your art gives you credibility as an artist. Just as consumers expect clear consistent pricing when shopping for milk at the grocery story or for a new refrigerator at Fred's Appliance Palace, they also expect that when shopping for art. Price structures that are difficult to understand or explain or are problematic in other ways do not engender confidence in buyers and do not encourage sales.
A clear consistent price structure means that every work of art you create is assigned a dollar value that relates to the dollar values of all other art that you create. In other words, all art is priced according to the same basic principles, determined by you and/or those who best know your art, so that the price of any individual work of art makes sense within the context of the rest. Pricing rules and guidelines are based on unique characteristics of your art in combination with outside art market forces. If you have little or no experience selling and/or pricing your art, please read Price Your Art Realistically before continuing.

A main goal of sensible art pricing is that similar works of art have similar selling prices. You, the artist, decide what those similarities are based on criteria you choose. Those criteria become the measures by which you assess and ultimately price your art. Remember at all stages in this process that those criteria should be explainable to anyone with questions about your art, especially potential buyers.

A good first step in determining your criteria is to select one or more works of art that you consider typical of your current output and that display an average range of your skills. These would be pieces that you consider neither exceptional nor inferior in any way. If you work in more than one medium or style, select at least one piece that is representative of each.
Describe these works, in writing and in detail, in terms of basic physical characteristics as well as in terms of variables unique to your art. Basic physical characteristics include size, subject matter, color, complexity, weight, detail, cost of materials, time necessary to create, and so on. Variables unique to your art might include the number of dogs in the composition, theme, texture, frequency of use of the color orange, direction of the brush strokes, date produced, or degree of abstraction.

Avoid using subjective criteria to describe your art such as what it means to you, what its message is, how it makes you feel, and so on. Subjective qualities are important from intellectual and/or emotional standpoints, but not necessarily in terms of pricing as they can vary widely from one viewer to the next. No one, however, can dispute a work of art's size or subject matter. If, over time, you find that some of your art imparts similar feelings or messages to wide audiences, you may eventually be able to quantify those feelings or messages as price points.
Once you've completed your written descriptions, your next task is to set a base price for your chosen typical work or works of art. A good analogy to a base price in the art world is a base price in the car world, or the price of a car with no extras (this may sound crass, but it's how the overwhelming majority of art gets priced). A basic car model with no extras costs a certain dollar amount; models with "extras" cost more. How much more depends on the amount and quality of their extras.

Artists with gallery experience and consistent sales histories should already have base prices that typical works of their art regularly sell for. If you don't have a track record of sales, your base price should approximate what artists in your locale with comparable experience and sales records charge for similar works of art. Keep in mind that even though your art is unique, experienced art people like dealers, advanced collectors, consultants and agents make price comparisons from artist to artist all the time. Being able to evaluate your art from a detached standpoint by comparing it to that of other artists in your area is necessary in order for your price structure to make sense in the marketplace.

Once you've set your base price, use it as the norm to price the rest of your art in relation to that base, in terms of "extras" or lack thereof. "Extras," according to your descriptive criteria, are those characteristics that make certain works of art more significant, in your judgment, than others. If, for example, your typical work of art measures 20 by 30 inches and you base-price it at $1000, and you consider one measuring 40 by 50 inches to be more significant, you might price it at $3000. Similarly, you might price one measuring 8 by 12 inches at $400 because you consider it to be less significant, all else being equal. "Extras" that indicate price increases beyond the base are characteristics like more complex compositions, larger sizes, more intricate details, higher levels of technical difficulty, greater production times, and more expensive materials.

If certain works of art hold special meaning for you or represent critical moments in your life or career, but are not drastically different from your other art in terms of physical criteria, best procedure is to keep them off the market because the tendency is to overprice them. Isolated extreme prices may not make sense to viewers, and can even skew an artist's entire price structure in an unrealistic direction. If you can make a case to the art world as to why isolated works of art should be priced well beyond similar looking pieces, and the art world agrees with you, then fine. If not, save emotion- or attachment-based pricing for when you become famous and have greater latitude in how you present your art to the public.
As previously mentioned, your price structure should make sense to people who have questions about your art, such as why this piece costs more or that one costs less. Be able to explain how and why you set your base price, and how and why you set other prices higher or lower in relation to that base. Having a price structure that people who know art can understand is essential in order to move art from your studio to for-sale settings and ultimately to private or institutional buyers.

Once you've set your selling prices, don't change them without a reason. Any deviation in price, particularly in the upward direction, has to be justified. In other words, don't raise or lower your prices just because you feel like it. People generally shy away from art that costs a certain amount one week and a different amount the next; they prefer constancy in art prices.

And now for a few hypotheticals:
Suppose your price structure turns out to be too high-- people who like your art enough to ask how much it costs aren't buying. This means that you have to lower your prices, but by how much? Re-pricing somewhat below what comparable art by artists in your area sells for is a good starting point, but rather than arbitrarily cut prices either across the board or on a piece-by-piece basis, conduct an informal survey first.
Ask those most interested in your art how much they think it should sell for. Whenever you get the chance, also ask dealers, experienced collectors, consultants, fellow artists, and agents what they think. Put together as much of a consensus opinion as possible, and then reduce prices accordingly. Your goal is to generate sales with the new lower structure, so make sure reductions are in line with or even slightly greater than consensus opinion. You want to avoid having to reduce prices again, but you don't want to make your art so inexpensive that people won't take it seriously.

Suppose your art becomes popular with the public and sales are brisk. When demand reaches a point where a good percentage of your art, at least a third, sells within several months of its appearance on the market, think about raising your prices. A price increase is also in order when demand for your art regularly outstrips demand for art by your contemporaries.
As you become better and better known, a brand name, so to speak, your art begins to merit premium pricing, or pricing beyond that of your contemporaries. Exactly how much that premium is depends on the significance of your accomplishments (shows, awards, news coverage, etc.) and the constant or, better yet, expanding interest in your art. Depending on how well known you get, continue to price according to what "the competition" charges, but who that competition is will likely evolve from local artists to regional artists, and possibly even to national or international artists. As you advance in your career, always be aware of what circle of artists you are perceived as belonging to and how much they charge for their art.
Suppose that with the passage of time or as tastes in art change, that one type of your art finds favor with collectors while demand for your other art remains modest. Raise the prices of this in-demand art above that of your other art, and price earlier examples higher than those you're currently making. For example, if collectors come to like your abstracts much more than your landscapes, raise prices on all past, present and future abstracts, with prices for your earliest abstracts (those in the styles that receive the most attention) being raised the most.

Raising prices for the earliest examples of your most desirable art is somewhat similar to pricing antiques and collectibles-- the first edition of a famous book costs more than later editions, early Barbie dolls cost more those produced today, and so on. The significance of your "first" or "earliest" art only becomes apparent as you progress in your career. You have no idea how the public will respond to different styles of art when you first create or show them or what their legacy might one day be, but as that legacy becomes clear, price increases are in order.
Continuing with this line of reasoning, suppose, from a historical standpoint, a particular type of your art becomes significant beyond you as an artist-- in other words, as part of a movement or school of art. For example, let's say you painted large abstracts in the late 1950's. Prices for these abstracts will have to be raised, not necessarily according to how your own career has played out, but rather according to how abstract paintings from the late 1950's have been embraced by collectors. Prices for these abstracts may far outstrip prices for all other art you've created, regardless of the significance that you personally place on those abstracts, just because you painted them in a particular style at a particular point in time.

No matter how old you are or how long you've been making art, know that art prices fluctuate over time as a result of a variety of factors. Set your initial price structure according to characteristics of your art and of your local or regional art market, but be ready to revise those prices at any time (assuming adequate justification). The more you're aware of market forces in general and how people respond to your art in particular, the better prepared you are to maintain sensible selling prices and maximize your sales.