HATs: Hints and Tips If You’re Starting Out And Confused About Pricing Your Artwork
One of the most challenging questions I had to answer for myself when I was ready to start selling was “how do I price my artwork?”. To be honest, this is still an evolving process for me and the business side of being a creative - which may be the same for you too. As you, and your work develops, as sales increase, or your ‘offering’ adapts and changes, so will your pricing strategy.
Legwork - The Creative Right of Passage
I’m sure you’ve already tried many, or all of these options, but doing the legwork is unfortunately part of the pricing strategy right of passage. It’s only by doing the legwork that you can be sure you’ve considered all of your options and understand why you’ve chosen the approach you have decided on. If you start to second guess your approach, you could end up chopping and changing your pricing which will only be confusing for your customers.
My Pricing Strategy ‘Top 10’
If you’re currently going through this particular pain point, here’s my ‘Top 10’ that I’d recommend considering before you nail down your pricing approach.
DO conduct some comparison pricing with other artists and artworks similar to yours using similar materials - but also remember that in some cases, you won’t know if these artists are ‘emerging’ like you or ‘experienced’ so do keep that caveat in mind when you’re sourcing input from unknown sources.
DO keep a track of your costs to ensure you’re not selling at a loss. For me, this means having a solid inventory of all of my artworks. To learn more about my approach in this space - see my December Blog Post for more information on this topic.
DO tap into your network for advice and guidance. What approach did they use, why and how is it working for them?
DO work out your hourly rate as an emerging artist. This might be lower initially than you might like at the moment - but remember it’s a starting point, that’s all.
DO decide if P&P (postage and packing) will be part of your total cost for an artwork or in addition to your artwork’s price at checkout.
DON’T forget to include any payment processing fees from your supplier of choice in your total costs, otherwise you’ll be paying for these from your profit; commission percentages in your prices if selling via a gallery and/or any fees on total sales and/or payment processing if selling via an established on-line platform.
DON’T forget to consider the who your target market it. Are your prices compatible with your target audience?
DON’T sell the same artwork for different prices on different platforms e.g. your own website and an on-line selling platform. It will only confuse your customers. If you are selling via your own website and other platforms, consider segmenting your inventory to offer some artworks on one platform and some on another platform. This would allow you to incorporate any additional costs into the overall price as needed.
DON’T let your emotional attachment to your artwork influence your pricing. We all get attached to some artworks more than others, but this can’t be part of your pricing strategy.
DO stick with a pricing approach that you’re comfortable with and allow it to evolve as you, and your artwork evolves.
In Conclusion
I know when you’re going through the ‘legwork’ phase, that it can be tempting to keep looking for more information or that ‘silver bullet’ that might give you all of the answers that you’re looking for - especially if you’ve used some, or all of the above and you still don’t feel happy with your pricing. Just remember, this is your starting point not the final destination. As you gain more sales, commissions, publicity, exhibitions etc - you can adjust your pricing to reflect these factors.
At the end of the day - you just need to get on with it. I spent a long time researching, pondering and worrying before I drew a line in the sand as my starting point. Claim your space, plant your flag and move forward. Don’t let procrastination get in the way of turning your artworks into income. Accept that this will be an evolving process and just roll with it.
Good luck fellow emerging artists! x