How Much Are Consumers Willing to Pay for Original Art
HELPING ARTISTS Principal THE BUSINESS OF ART, One STRATEGY AT A Time
How to Price Your Original Artworks
Circumvolve of Life Original Painting by Drew Brophy
Even though I've been managing the art career of my husband Drew for over a decade, it wasn't until recently that we established a solid pricing construction for Drew's original artworks.
A couple of years agone when a collector would ask "how is Drew'south artwork priced?" I didn't have a proficient answer – there was no real structure to our pricing. Now, there is, thanks to Lori Woodward's wisdom. At present when someone asks, I can confidently say "nosotros charge $one.50 per square inch plus frame costs. Commissions get-go at $2.l per square inch." When you have a structure that makes sense in a collector's heed, they are more than confident in buying your art.
One of the hardest decisions that artists have to brand is how to toll their works – pricing depends on so many factors: the popularity of the art, the medium used, the complexity and what the buyer is willing to pay. Simply in that location are some guidelines that yous tin can follow.
How to Cost your Artwork:
1 – Research galleries: Go out and come across what'due south existence charged past artists that are at your level of work. Use that information as a guideline.
2 – Structure your prices: In one case you have a structure that makes sense to anyone, pricing your piece of work comes easy.
There are many ways to structure pricing. Some artists do it by size (i.east. a 16″ x 24″ is priced at $1800.00) and/or past medium (Oil paintings priced higher than acrylic).
The method that works for us is to charge by the foursquare inch and and so add the cost of the frame. This method is explained in the article beneath, written past Lori Woodward. Her wisdom helped me tremendously with pricing. And I hope that it helps you, as well. I highly recommend it! (I too recommend visiting FineArtViews weblog for other manufactures on pricing art. Click hither.)
REPRINTED COURTESY OF FineArtViews
Today's Mail is by Lori Woodward , Regular contributing writer for FineArtViews . She is as well a contributing editor for American Artist'south 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 nether the direction of Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik. Find out how you tin exist a guest author.
Learning From My Professional Friends
Years ago, when I outset started selling my piece of work at outdoor shows, I looked to my friend,Monique Sakellarios for communication on pricing my artwork. After all, Monique had been selling her work successfully for several years at both outdoor shows and galleries; she was, and is, making the kind of income many of the states only dream of. At the time, Monique priced her work by size. When she had a practiced selling yr, she boosted her retail prices past ten%. If the economy was slow, she opted to maintain the same price scale she had used the previous twelvemonth.
I asked Monique if she priced some of her all-time works slightly college, and she said absolutely not — because she had observed that her clients would sometimes fall in honey with a work she didn't like very much, and if she priced some lower than others of the same size, collectors wondered if something was wrong with the less expensive painting — information technology would sit there unsold.
Knowing that Monique is an acute concern adult female, I followed her pricing procedure when information technology came to my ain work. Of class, I did not price my works every bit high every bit hers – she was a well known artist in the New England region; I was non known at all.
More than Than One Way That Works
If there were only one standard way to price artwork – there would exist very trivial defoliation around the issue of setting prices. Galleries generally accept the artist set up the prices, but whether you're working with a gallery or selling on your own, pricing past the foursquare inch is sometimes the easiest fashion to go started while showing consistency. When you lot're first starting out, it's a proficient idea to make your piece of work every bit affordable equally yous can while beingness able to encompass your costs and make a small turn a profit. Don't charge so lilliputian that yous don't break even.
OK, without further ado, here is how many artists price their work using a square inch method. Generally, they increment the dollar amount for smaller paintings and decrease it for very large paintings. So, let's brainstorm with pricing a medium sized painting – we'll use a 16×20 work every bit an instance.
Get-go, multiply the painting's width by its length to go far at the total size, in square inches. Then multiply that number by a set dollar amount. I currently use $6 per square inch for oil on linen paintings. A 16"-x-xx" painting: = 320 square inches.
I price my oil paintings at $6 per square inch. 320 x vi = $1,920.00 and I round this down to $1,900. My frame, canvas and materials price me $150.00 (I purchase framing wholesale). I double this cost so that I'll get information technology all back when the painting sells at the gallery. Otherwise, I'one thousand subsidizing the collector past giving him or her the frame for free. $150 x ii = $300
So I put information technology all together: $1,900 + $300 = $ii,200 (the retail price). When the painting sells from a gallery, my cutting later on the fifty percent commission is paid comes to $950 for the painting and $150 for the framing and materials, for a total of $1,100.
For much larger pieces, I'll bring the price per square inch downwardly a notch … maybe a dollar or two lower so that I don't price my work beyond what my reputation tin can sustain. Alternately, for smaller works, I'll increase the dollar per square inch because pocket-size works take virtually as much effort equally larger works, and I need to be compensated for my expertise, fifty-fifty when the work is miniature.
This is non the merely way to price artwork, but it's ane that keeps my prices consistent and keeps me sane. By the mode, my prices were much lower 10 years ago when my artwork was relatively unknown to collectors. When I began working with galleries, I had to increase by 20% or so in order for my prices to be in line with the other works in the gallery. When I accept a corking selling year, I raise my prices past x percent. When the economy is poor or my sales are slow, I don't raise prices at all.
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98 Comments → How to Toll Your Original Artworks
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Source: https://mariabrophy.com/business-of-art/how-to-price-your-original-artworks.html
what if fifty creat a painting by my own design? and if a customer order a painting his/her design, there different on prices?
Justice, not bad question. Pricing should be the same regardless of who directs the design – unless the customer requests a much more than complex design tham you commonly exercise, in which case, you lot might want to charge more to compensate for the extra fourth dimension involved.
Thx this is very helpful , if I do copies of my oil paintings how would I accuse that? I don't do frames with paintings
Hi Joanna,
Pricing fine art prints tin can work the same mode, per square inch. For instance, charge .70 cents per square inch. An 18×24 is 432 square inches. .70 x 432 = $302.xl. You lot could charge $300 for an 18×24 using this example.
Hey my name is Kendreek ,
I want to know how do I find the measurement of the square inch of the size newspaper I'm working on. For example, the regular size 8×10? Because I have a tough time pricing my piece of work or commissions when people ask. Some other question, is there a way I could make a price chart or exercise I need a website for that, instead of people asking all the time what's my prices?
Please let me know!
Cheers,
Kendreek Mitchell
I always thought of pricing my paintings in terms of hours I put in. If I spend 6 hours on a 16″ x 20″, and were to charge by the above formula, it would come up to $366/ hr. (including frame, canvas, etc.) Information technology may exist how I view the process, but I feel that'due south high (I would charge virtually 1/2 that). Then again, no 1 formula works across the board for anybody and adjustments must exist made for any level an artist is at. Obviously Scott Christensen charges more for a 16 ten 20 than I! 🙂
Hi.
I'm Riza from Republic of indonesia. I had a beautiful abstract painting left from my granma'. Nosotros want to sell information technology because the size is likewise large for our livingroom.
Kind Regards.
Hi, how many square inches is a 5x3ft painting please?
15 sq ft (v×3=15)
I exercise non know anything but I paid $660 for a 5×3 ft painting is that good or did I pay also much? Delight I need to know. Thank you!
A 5'x3′ painting is 60″x36″ ( ' = anxiety, " = inches)
That's a huge painting. If you paid $660 for it and you dear it, you got a deal.
In some circles, a painting is worth what the highest applicant is willing to pay for it. But since most of us don't run in those circles, a standardized pricing scheme helps with the authoritative side of things equally you grow in popularity.
How would you recommend adjusting the formula for ink drawings? This is a popular formula for painted canvas, but I do intricate linework and I struggle with pricing my originals. :/
Hi! Can I sell my pen arts drawn on paper…?
I'll put frame so it would look more attractive. I desire a suggestion for my works. Instead of keeping all of my pen arts in my room, I'1000 thinking of selling it. What can you lot suggest?
This is nearly helpful information i read in a long fourth dimension. Cheers Maria for this helpful infornation
I just need to find the price on a sail painting my grandfather left to me and i dont know were to look. its a bruce bomberger. h2o for to. if y'all could allow me know that would exist first-class. my e-mail is welshlt@gmail.com
I have been going around and around on this 1. So what toll per foursquare inch is best to starting time at. I have been painting for years but I don't take a formal art education and I accept never shown and I have sold 1 painting. I am putting information technology all out there correct now and keep shifting prices. So what do you think the starting bespeak is for a foursquare inch price for a existent beginner?
Hello Melissa, great question! Some say $2.00 per square inch is a good starting point for a new artist. But really, the number may alter depending on your medium, and if the paintings are large or small, etc. Just start somewhere and adjust as you get!
Hi Maria, I bought your book Art coin success , and have read information technology. All-time book out there btw!! My question is – My abstract ART prices were the aforementioned for x years and never really increased much (didn't know i could) . At that time, my 30″x48″ were ordinarily around $750-850. And so i took a break from fine art for most iii years to focus on my health and now im dorsum..only i recollect i made a big mistake. I launched with pretty large pieces…bigger than i had ever done in the past and priced my 38×48 at like 3500 and so my sixty×48 and 5000. Then after mean solar day one (and had sent the newsletter got no sales)…i panicked and changed my prices to 2000 for38x48 and, $3100 for a 60×48. I didnt send newsletter this fourth dimension, just inverse them. Now im still thinking pricing is as well high ugh. I have never done galleries but sold tons of work online, but that was few years back when my pricing was a lot lower! Im thinking of lowering again to maybe to 1500 for 38×48 and 2500 for sixty×48. What practise u call up?? Im and then confused…is this a bad idea or i should but practice it???
I just designed and painted using high quality acrylic painting on a 3 piece 24×36 (3x6feet) canvas. It's a colorful Buddha on a professional grade (3) canvas. This is one of my first few paintings that I am selling and the buyer (my friend ) loves information technology and wants to pay for it. I can't figure how to cost my art. Please suggest.
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Thank you , your web log helps me ,i got a asking for two paintings 3ft x5 feet ,
How can we notice a practiced buyer? What class of people love paintings and so that we tin can plan our selling.
I am an creative person since childhood but I haven't been able to sell whatever of my paintings till today. I am 46 at present!
I am in Bharat. Is there any scope of selling my works here?
Thank you very much for your bolg!helps me.
I found a good place to purchase oil paintings ,they accept skilled artistrit to draw for you. their site is http://www.yupoo.me ,Looks so cool and better for our art business too
What is your price structure for acrylics? I exercise both oil and acrylics and I am trying to effigy that out from your commodity merely I cannot detect whatever information for that. I presume that if oil is $6 per square inch, perhaps acrylic will be half that cost? Give thanks you for your reply. I besides take another question. How practice you gain admission to the college customer course? Do you meet them in any special organizations?
I have donated multiple oil painting to our local children'due south home. For the large paintings 36 by 48 they are willing to cover my expenses. How, would I summate the expense of the oil paint for 36 past 48 inch painting?
I have a 31.25″ x 39″ painting by Fadel Hamza out of Baghdad Iraq… I do not know how to price it, and the Military damaged it in a move.
I calculated information technology at $3.l per square inch which gives me a grad total of $iv,265.63… does that sound near right?
this is helpful.I besides have one related blog thought of sharing it
https://www.showflipper.com/web log/How-To-Cost-Your-Art
Cheers for sharing this worth reading content. Your web log is really helpful for the people who don't know how to price your artworks. When information technology comes to pricing artworks there is always a huge question tag in the mind of artists, how to price my art? Will people buy my artworks at this price range? Your web log is the ultimate guide for such artists.
Fifty-fifty I have written a web log on this most asked question. My blog is a blend of mathematics + economic tips for artists, which will aid them to sell their artworks for a perfect price. Click hither to know more than about it – https://www.showflipper.com/blog/How-To-Price-Your-Art
When you lot determine your square inches, do you use the framed size, or the unframed size? Thank you!
The unframed size – then add the cost of the frame to information technology x 2 (i.due east. if the frame price you $100 add $200 to the price for the frame). This mode you won't be underpaid for the frame portion if it sells through a gallery that gets 50%.
Als je een grote abstracte canvaskunst voor muurolieverf wilt kopen om je binnenkamer of muur of kantoor te versieren, ga dan naar https://world wide web.artsaleonline.com , je kunt direct kopen of in bulk bestellen, als je een thuis Klant, dan kun je ook droppen
I have two pricing systems that guarantee I don't pay myself less than $40 an hour, regardless of the medium or project. (I also do jewelry, sculptures, graphic design, etc.) Because when you're in business concern for yourself you're at the very least a sole proprietor and you're responsible for your overhead, taxes, healthcare, etc. Most people understand how being on your ain really adds upwards and if they like your work, they're happy to pay.
The first is much similar Maria's organisation, but instead of inches I charge by canvas size (including murals) for paintings because I tend to do larger works.
The 2d is I add up the hours it takes to create the piece of work and multiply by $twoscore.
If my hours are less than the canvas size price, I split the difference.
If my hours are more the sail size cost, I charge for the full hours.
Most people find this to be fair and don't think I'yard charging too much when they find how much actually goes into what I create.
When I offset started out my hourly was one-half this rate, but with experience you get faster/better and your pricing should reverberate that.
The sooner you realize you're an artist with a natural-built-in talent and skill set that not but anyone tin do, the easier it will be to have that you SHOULD be paid well for your piece of work. If you did an outstanding task in any other field, it would exist rewarded with higher pay, so track your hours and and cease giving yourself away. You are your own boss!
Very good article for original fine art. After reading this commodity I got some more ideas to aggrandize my business concern. This mode can get your painting or fine art sold fast also. thank you for sharing valuable information
I'chiliad not a perfectional artist but would similar to be. I started painting in 1970 and then far created about 300 artworks. My financial condition does not permit me to be 100% creative person. I posted some artwork https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/vladimira-shvartsman
I'm retired now and think it is better if I tried to sell my original and employ the money to support me and keep creating more artworks. Please help to price them.