I've been painting for over two years but still consider myself a beginner. I did my first art fair in September and my second (and most recent) today (December 2). The first time I sold several paintings, today I only sold one. I never know what to price my artwork at. I am posting a close-up of one of my favorite paintings. What are your thoughts?
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I just finished reading the new book, "Art, Money, Success," and found it very helpful. Lots of points covered that might be useful to painters.
Amy- A piece of advice I received when I was first starting out was "No original should be priced at less than $200", but, Amy that was FIFTY YEARS AGO !! And , granted , I did sell one my very first pieces for $35 - to a neighbor when I was 14 yrs old, $30 for a 24 x 30 is not realistic today. There was an old art fair rule that , on average , you should expect a return of 10 times the booth fee, no matter the size of the show. I wonder whatever happened to that rule?
Attending a few art fairs as a visitor will improve your ability to judge your work in relation to others and give you a better idea of how to price it. Study the principles of art so your work is as good as you can possibly make it - much of which can be learned from books on composition, color and technique , which hopefully are available from your local library. As others have said, "Never stop learning and improving" and, I add, "Never give up!" Learning to critique your own work is one of the hardest things to do, but vital to your success as an artist.
Remember that although we do art because it is our passion, when you enter the BUSINESS of art, it's a whole different world. The more you prepare yourself by presenting the most professional work you can possibly do and present it to the public in the most professional way you can afford, your pricing will rise accordingly. Onward !
Add up how many hours you have into the sale:
How long to shop, pickup and acquire all materials for painting?
How long to acquire all materials for booth and shows?
How long to travel to the location to obtain the view you are painting?
How long to setup at that venue or if you shot a picture then the time to do so?
How long to stretch and setup the canvas?
How long to mix your paints?
How long to create the piece?
How long to clean up?
How long to package it for transport?
How long to research shows to enter?
How long to apply and pay for shows?
How long travel to show?
How long to setup booth?
How long working at show, including setup and breakdown each day?
How long to pack / breakdown at end?
These are only some of the hours needed.
If you value yourself at just $10 / hour, you cannot be selling for the $30 per 24"x 30" Painting.
Even with all of this, our artwork is not sold on a "time and materials" basis. That is for manufactured goods and service industry. We are "artists". Our work is a perceived value. However if you feel your work is not valuable, at least don't sell it below cost. You may start to upset the other artists at the shows.
Lawrence, that's good advice. One can have inventory at various price points kept at home, then select from that for the venue. There's the retail standard of having a couple of high priced items to draw attention, then many more lower-priced items that people will buy. You don't expect anyone to actually buy the attention-getter (maybe they will, though!), but it elevates the value of the lower-priced items in the same display.
Ignoring all other factors, no one, and I mean no one, expects to be able to buy an original painting of that size for $35. So use price to create status. If you think the shows you'll be at will have people resistant to spending more than $100, then be at $75-$95. Start there, charge less for very small pieces, but you have to charge more than $35 for a large piece. Frankly I think you might move some work that's small, like 8x10 or so, at $35. That size makes some sense for $35 and does not devalue your work.
Thank you, Jeff Owen, that system makes a lot of sense. Pushing that further, can one come up with a price point based on the cost of the booth? Better shows charge more for space, but yield more shoppers, more advertising, and generally a higher price point? If she is paying $30 for the space, the show probably doesn't result in huge returns. So, without changing prices on the art at different shows, perhaps bring lower-priced items to those shows, taking higher priced works to bigger shows? What I'm saying is that the art price isn't the variable, the venue may be.
I'm also a relative beginning painter, and have only done about three shows, all local and not requiring overnight travel or high show fees. I haven't sold many originals at the shows, and I thought maybe I was pricing them too high. I was asking $45-60 for 8" x 10" acrylic on inexpensive canvas. But I found that it wasn't my prices, it was my venues. If you do smaller art and craft shows, the customers don't spend that much on items, even if they love the artwork. So I now have had much more success selling prints, cards, and calendars of my work at a lower price point. Also, I always let people know I am available for custom work, and I have picked up a few commissions from show goers. I can charge more for the commissioned work, usually about $130 for an 11" x 14" piece. Even still, I think these prices are considered extremely low in the art world. I am looking to do some more serious art shows, though, where I think buyers will be willing to spend more for original artwork. But it does involve investment...the better quality art shows require a nice tent and display, have higher show fees, and require you to have a good stock of original pieces available.
Thank you Cindy. I do the art as a labor of love. I would do it for free. But the work put into shows is hard work. I do that as a business. Many people do not account for what it really costs to be in this busuness. A simple spreadsheet would help.
When it comes to figuring out orofit, one thing my dad taught me... pay yourself first. If I am going to value my time at $5/hour, I'll just give my art away.
Some costs, such as tent, equipment etc. can be amortized over time.
I believe, most people undervalue their expenses.
Larry, I love how you break things down, as in your example above. It really helps see how much one has to do at an event with a given price point.
For this reason I have started looking for bigger pieces to paint, distress, etc. because they bring a bigger total, adding to the bottom line.
Bare minimum for that particular piece and suze, I woukd tell you to charge at least $75-100
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