I try to price it to sell. Period. No one can afford to buy art today, these times are bad...people everywhere are looking for bargains, Art is plentiful in Wal Mart on Canvas that is very cheap and a fairly nice product, how do we compete with that? Folks no longer care about owning a piece of 'original' Artwork, unfortunate, but true, I have tried several different ways of pricing...I have several Art Marketing books, they all state something different. If my prices are sky high and equal to their value and my time, I simply do not sell. Right now I have over 200 original Art canvas on my own wall...nothing sells. I have 25 hanging in my Veterinarians office, been there over a year, not one sale.
Now I simply price to size. I only do acrylics to decrease my costs...and I disagree alot with this blog, if you offer me a big screen TV for $3 I'm in line to buy it!!! Sorry!

That's not true. I respectfully disagree. There are good buyers out there. People want bargains because they aren't educated in the value of art. I think it is because too many artists price to sell. When you're always having a fire sale, then your followers will wait for the fire sale to buy.
It's a mindset. You will get what you ask for so set your mind on value, value your own work and others will too. I've seen it with my own work. Btw, you cannot gauge your value on what your friends and family think because they will almost always say they can't afford your work. That means they don't want it for some reason or another. If they did, they'd buy a print.
I would hesitate to buy a $3 tv. I would need the story of why it was $3. That is suspiciously low. We should never be suspiciously low in our pricing. The customer, who buys art, will think, if they don't see value than why should I. A piece of good art isn't even in the same class as a tv. Art appreciates. Tv's depreciate.

I use the $/square inch as well, right down to my tiniest pieces. I realize that my larger works are expensive for some, but it's a lot of work in my medium and they are an investment. I do periodically have sales to reduce my inventory or celebrate a milestone. :)

You do not live in my economically depressed area.

I go to Art Shows with very famous Western Artists and they can not sell their works.
We have had 5 Art Galleries close in the last 30 days!! HIGH END!
I am a Mentor at 'Art Partner's' here in town...my students Art hanging next to me at shows sells, the prices are lower than mine!!!
My Horse is 16 x 20 priced at $450...they have a fairly decent drawing, nothing outstanding, framed cheaply thru Partner's...priced at $45, they sell, I do not!

My biggest sales mostly on FAA are cards, even then I will get a message asking to discount them!! NUTS!

I found this article very helpful, I really struggle to price work and actually had my friend come round on Monday this week to help me to work something out. I have had no sales at all on FAA only one card, my sales have been to family and friends. I am in discussions to exhibit my prints locally so needed some idea. I find that some works don't take long but have a particular spark that is difficult to quantify, they are spontaneous, while others take a long time but don't look so good so it's not easy so price them. I have started noting the time I spend on the edge of the work as that might give me some idea what to charge.I recently sold a commissioned drawing for £25, and the lady nearly fainted, she expected it to be about a fiver even though I had told her the cost before I started, so I can identify with Janice's experience. She did come round after the drawing was a success.

I have read similar articles about pricing art using the square or linear inch method or the "by the hour and materials" method - I think either can work and sound logical. I have to apply similar thinking to my marketing communications work, when asked to design something for a client - I have an hourly rate and I keep track of expenses related to the job to bill back to the client. The challenge with original art seems to me to be finding the market that's willing to pay $450 - $1,000 for a painting when so many people do seem to think "well, that looks so simple, I could have done that (or my kid could have)!".

I recently did a commission for a friend. I had not really offered anything but prints for sale previously, partly because I guess I'm afraid no one would by an original and partly because the originals seem to be part of me. I'm happy to sell prints, cards, totes, etc., with my images on them all day long (I also offer stuff from my art on Etsy), and I'm thrilled to pieces when someone likes something I've done enough to buy it on some item. The commissioned piece I did for a friend feels "OK" in the sense that I know where it is and I know it is appreciated. A psychological hang-up, I think!

Thanks for sharing the article and stimulating the discussion, Jani - I'm sure at some point I'll develop a callous on my psyche and begin to be able to sell originals, and I would imagine I'd use the square/linear inch method, as it makes sense to me and it's simple to do.

I'm not too keen on parting with my originals either, same sort of thing, unless it's a commission or a present, I often paint people's pets as gifts.

Right now I have so many unframed originals in my house as I cannot keep up with the costs of framing if sales are not happening. I do get frustrated sometimes but I love painting so I keep on. I recently participated in a heavily advertised art show with many talented artists and such a great selection of art. Even cards and prints too. One small sake happened. So it was not the artwork or the prices. It must be the economy. I give up trying to come up with the right pricing. I offer my unframed works for sake on etsy and I have noticed a big decline there as well.

Janice, you have to keep in mind the venue. A venue for students is usually known for students. People are buying to support the students. Your art should not have been in that venue or at least hanging next to it. Advanced art belongs in its own category along with other advanced artists. Your art was simply in the wrong show.

To you all. I mean no disrespect when I say this:

Why are you not looking beyond your area? If there isn't money there than expand your horizons. There are online galleries and there are cities all over that are doing well. Polls say that art sales are up and the economy is recovering. There are artists making 100's of thousands of dollars a year.
You cannot think small minded if you want to make a living selling art. There are great marketing classes you can take online.
thrivingartist.com offers a course. So does abundantartist.com

Marketing is key. The saying goes - 90% marketing 10% talent.

There's a process that artists tend to go through.
First, creating art, but have a hard time parting with it. Partly because of a confidence issue. Partly because they fall in love with their own work.
Second, they think, why not try to make money with it. No loss if I don't. I have a day job. Art is priced too low too.
Third, they don't make much if any because they aren't fully committed. They buy into the starving artist mentality and think they must price art low to get sales, but the fact of the matter is that deters sales because art buyers want valuable art not cheap or worse - unvalued art. Art is still priced too low.
This is where many pause and pause forever. They believe that the economy is not supportive of art. They give away their art, hoard it, discount it drastically and in turn, their hope of "making it" dies a little every day and turns into hope deferred...unless, they say, NO! I will not be that. I am something. My art is worth something. I have something special that people want and then change their mindset from failing and lowly and poor to valuable and worthy. That shift is hard to get to, but is possible. It takes guts. It takes tenacity. It takes willingness to fail 10,000 times. Not seeing it as failure, but as learning 10,000 ways that didn't work. It takes recognizing that maybe you're chasing your tail and realizing you have to do something different if you want things to change. It takes a great deal of intestinal fortitude. It takes guts.

Don't give up. Keep doing different until you've got it. Doing art for a living is work not a hobby and requires discipline and productivity.

Finally, the artist has pushed through the hardest part. Believing that they are worth being paid for what they do and what they do is a viable job and they price their work appropriately and their sales increase and confidence grows. What they do is valuable and collectable and there are buyers who want it and want it for what the artist charges.

A decision needs to be made. Are you a hobbyist or a working artist? You can't be both and be successful or happy.
If you choose hobbyist do it with gusto. Drop the idea of selling your art, give it away and be happy.
If you choose working artist, do it with gusto. Change your mindset towards value, learn marketing or pay someone to do it for you, price your work to reflect value. Stick to a media and master it. Don't bounce around from media to media unless you've mastered one. Being versitile keeps you from being a master. Focus. Collectors like consistancy. Be happy because you are finally focused.
Remember, you are going to shuck a lot of oysters before you find the pearl.

Brilliant advice, and what we know really deep down, low self esteem leads to failure.

Hi Jani,

Thanks for sharing such helpful advice! I haven't yet sold or put any original work for sale as of yet...and, now I realize it's that confidence issue you mention in one of your comments here. I've done artwork for years, but never even showed it to anyone besides friends and family til recently.

Anyways, very helpful info on how to price artwork. I believe I'd price it either by the square or linear inch method once I do put any originals up for sale. I think it would be more fair to the buyer and myself this way. Pricing by the hours I've worked on a piece would just be too hard to keep track of the time I'm actually working on it since there's always interruptions and distractions going on here.

I agree too, that marketing our artwork is so important! If no one can find it, how will they buy it? Before joining here, I was doing affiliate marketing on my own website under a completely different topic, and still am. Learning things like building your own website, SEO, and keywords are important to know to get people online to see your artwork. Although I need to do a few things yet on it, I've gotten my own domain and set up a website with some of my artwork on it, which I'll be linking to my images here at Fine Art America. It's been a lot of work, but I believe it'll pay off eventually.

Times do change and I believe we have to keep learning and changing with them. If something isn't working, don't give up. Instead, try doing it differently the next time.

I also agree, we shouldn't just give away our work either. It takes time and money to make art. I'll always love painting and drawing whether I make money on it or not. But, my goal is to make a living at this some day and giving away or pricing it so low I may as well be giving it away isn't going to help put food on the table.

Thanks again for the info, Jani!

I have no way to ship my origanals from home.or wouldnt even know right way to do it.so thats why i like the FAA sight to sell the prints and etc.i havnt sold any but I like doing it and its cool to see who all in the world see it.

My art does NOT hang next to Students or Amateurs...it is always in a separate section of the show, of course!!
I am not an idiot and have sold major pieces via many outlets in the past!
I have over 200 originals hanging in my home, all my Art sat in Galleries for years without any sales, and as stated, these galleries all closed, I now have Art in Veterinarian offices.
My Art that is framed and matted will NEVER sell as my cost was so high to frame. No LOW SELF ESTEEM, simply the way of the times.
Unless you have lived where you are forever and are established, sales are mostly impossible of originals.
I sell cards, totes, pillows and prints on FAA...my cut barely buys a loaf of bread!
I think these 'rules' and 'suggestions' were all applicable before....well...before...oh hell, let's call it what it is! BEFORE OBAMA!
I was selling $500 a month!!!!!!!!!
MY personal opinion...waiting for someone decent to bring back my Country and maybe Arts will pick up!
Thanks, J

I have been selling for just about five years now. I work at it full time and use the per inch method. I have seen my price increase regularly but sometimes get impatient and would like to ask for more. I find I have to sell by what my market dictates. I live in a rather remote area so I rely on the web for sales. I do list on my own website and with secondary platforms and with the combination make regular sales. I sell smaller paintings for less to touch on all my customers "needs". This gets me by until my larger one sell. I do agree with the 90% marketing and 10% art. I wish it was the other way around. I have learned though that it is important to know who your"people" are and then go find where they are hanging out at. I find social media helps tons especially pinterest for me.

Janice,
Just thought I'd add my two cents, although I'm just starting out in selling any artwork...I definitely agree that things have changed a lot in this country, and not for the better. Where I live a lot of people struggle just to get by now, myself included, so selling art locally probably won't bring me much income if any. Which is why I'm focusing on selling online.

According to an artist I'm in contact with that lives overseas, it's not easy to sell artwork there either though. He's worked as a professional artist for 40 years and isn't selling like he used to either. I'm thinking times are changing for all of us...as it did for musicians with the start of downloading music with MP3s and the like. Where that will lead for us, I have no idea, but I'm willing to hang in there til I find what works to sell art.

I agree with Rachel's advice here, that we need to connect with our potential buyers or even our past buyers and find out where they're at online on social media. Pinterest is probably the best choice, in my opinion too, since it's been the most successful one for me with promoting things in the past (not art related). So, I'm thinking it'll work even better for artwork. I see quite a few artists on Facebook too and even in communities on Google Plus.

Whether or not you've tried any of these yet, I have no idea. But, if you haven't yet, pick one to start out and learn how to use it well. Use keywords and (#) hashtags so people will be able to find your artwork...just don't overdo it though with either of these. One main keyword, and one or two hashtags should work to help people find it. This is what I've done when promoting things on social media and it helps, in my opinion. That and connecting with people, sharing their stuff and commenting on it...it eventually gets their attention by being helpful to others.

I do hope things will be changing for the better in this country soon...but, I'm not going to wait either. We need to find the people that might be interested in buying our art and get their attention on the social sites.

Anyways, that's my two cents on this, and I hope it helps someone here.

Thanks for reading.
Best wishes,
Sherry

You are welcome, Sherry.

 "I have learned though that it is important to know who your"people" are and then go find where they are hanging out at."

That's the key to it all low economy or not. Find your buyers. Your buyers may have changed. Maybe your buyers weren't your buyers to begin with. They belonged to the now failed galleries; which are failing because they didn't or don't make the necessary changes for our online world. Most don't even have a website.
Do you have an email list of collectors? If not, start one. A marketing expert has said that all you need is 100 solid collectors to make a living. Hard to gain them, but they are generally very loyal once you get them.

Some artists are too self-abusive. Some are too prideful. Either way the mindset has to change. I am in this predicament now so what has to be done to change it so I can continue success. Not a single business out there is unaffected. The ones who make it through rough times are the ones who believe in themselves and aren't too prideful to make necessary changes.
I tell my kids low self esteem gets you a handful of nothing and haughty pride makes you blind and stupid. Be balanced with a healthy level of humility and self-worth, think ahead, and step out of your comfort zone.
There are buyers out there. Lots of them. Be seekers and seek with intention.
Be prepared to succeed. Too often artist prepare to fail and blame others for their lack of success. That will only hurt you.

Thank you Jani. No, I haven't gotten a list of collectors yet. That definitely makes sense to do, so that is going to be a goal I'm going to work towards.

I agree, stepping out of the comfort zone needs to be done to accomplish what we want. It's what has gotten me here in the first place...it was a huge step out of my comfort zone just to show people my art in the first place. Now, with some of it being out there online it could potentially be seen by thousands...if it's marketed right.

Thanks again, I appreciate the advice!
Best wishes ~Sherry

Thank you Jani for this article, discussion. I agree with you. I met a millionaire and she bought 5 original works from me. I just need to find 99 more just like her!. I think that the surroundings dictate how people perceive the value of art. The white blank canvas in The Chicago Art Institute is worth millions. The same painting in a flea market would be laughed at and sold to be painted over.

The non-profit gallery that accepts student/hobby artwork, downgrades any professional art hung and it's perceived value. Put the same art in a down-town gallery, with the right atmosphere and its perceived value is increased.

I am very leery of submitting my donated art in non-profit silent auctions now because it didn't attract the right buyer, and the bidding was very low. Now the perceived value of my art is lower. Millionaires usually don't buy their art at Art Fairs or back road non-profits either. They have gone to large city galleries, who buy their art from exotic foreign painters, for 10 x's less than they sell it for. Go where the money is and you will sell. Advertise through horse show venues, racetracks, direct mail to mansions, etc.

Thank you Sherry and Kristen for your comments.

Kristen, your last sentence is what I am aiming for in this next year. Many, many more stones to turn.

I've recently watched two true story movies that were about people who never, ever gave up. So inspiring and I highly recommend them. It takes heart like these two people have.

Joy - is about the woman who invented the self-ringing mop. You have to have moxy or you won't make it.
Eddie The Eagle - An olympian who got there by sheer desire and determination. A fearless underdog. It was about the journey and reaching a goal, but when you reach your goal go one step higher to put a period on it.

Neither of these people let the nay sayers have their way. Both stayed true to who they were.

Another one to see or see again - Alice And Wonderland. It is full of wonderful and enrapturing metaphors.

One of the things I liked about Alice And Wonderland was its clever lines.
Alice: That's impossible
Mad Hatter: Only if you believe it is

Mad Hatter: Sometimes I do six impossible things before breakfast.

Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad
When Alice embraces the Mad Hatter face and says, "You are entirely bonkers, but all the wonderful people are." I think, yes, we should embrace our crazy side because that is what will drive us foreward. Our crazy side thinks of all the impossible things and is willing to do them.

There is no good reason why we shouldn't succeed. So let's do it. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Go forth and be prosperous.

(I do not close discussions, btw. Lack of activity in a discussion causes it to close automatically.)