Pricing Work On Faa

I usually follow an established artist who has an account here, then charge less than they do.

LOL Iris

It seems like marketing is everything !

Yep. Undercut your rivals.

really depends what you want. sometimes i think i charge too much, then i get a good sale. sometimes you think you should charge less because you might sell more, but then you don't because it never had anything to do with price.

i mark mine based off of size with no rhyme or reason for the increase. the largest ones are the most expensive because i figure - if you have the wall space to fill it, you have the money to pay for it as well. but mostly because my work is detailed and i make sure it can print at the larger sizes.

the smaller ones you want less because you want people to see the rest. many remove the smallest sizes, starting with middle sizes but the price shoots up on the large ones, and its not all that inviting to see the other prices. i charge more for a single card because people frame them, but they should cheaper than a small print.

personally i think you should be charging a lot more for your work. your too cheap.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

I've never found cheaper prices to help sell more. If the materials and shipping on say a 24*36 framed print are going to be around $270 it almost seems silly to spend that much for an image that only costs $50.

I will answer you here Randy because it might help others. When I first joined FAA my prices were low. I saw a lot of people charging a lot more, but I wanted to get sales going. Sales never really got going much at all in the first few years, so I said, what the heck, and raised my prices. Lo and behold I started selling. And I kept selling, so I raised my prices again. Started selling more. Waited about 6 months and raised them again. Even MORE sales. I was on to something! I've raised my prices about every 6 months and my sales just go up each time. I've tried to position myself somewhere in the upper middle compared to others. So I am not at the bottom and I am not at the top, but I make a better profit than those that hang out right in the middle.

i've been doing that with the raising of prices and i think i hit the bar. the only mistake i made was not keeping the old prices handy to see what the limit was so i can go back to it if i needed to. but it might be other reasons for less sales.

---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

I tried higher prices for a couple months once and still didn't sell. Maybe you have to have a big following first and then when they see you raise your prices they finally jump in and buy because they think you might raise them even more later. Probably wrong, but it's the only explanation I can think of.

Mike, I always do a screen shot of all of my prices on FAA before and after I raise them to keep track.

David....I do think there is a perceived value to art. People expect good art to cost more. It's not true, of course, but it is a perception. When people see something too cheap than what their perception is they wonder why.

I think everyone plays with their prices until they come to a point that works.

Some of the regular sellers here have pretty low prices though, so obviously that isn't the only factor, probably not even the primary one.

perception is a thing. but its not just about raising prices. its advertising and having work people want. if your new to the net in general or you changed your style greatly, it can take a long time before your established enough to be found and wanted.

having a real low price - in general, your only hurting yourself in the end. people will often look for things at a certain price point. like a wedding present, we were looking at them and felt it was cheap to spend $100 on a clock, but the same exact clock at $150 was enough money. yet the extra amount must have meant the gift was better in some way. and its that perception. to be able to stand behind your work with a higher tag. but i do think there still are limits. but someone did buy my biggest size the other day. so the prices couldn't be all that bad.

---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

the main factor: you have work people want. that's the main thing. and after that it's advertising.

---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Yes there are MANY factors that go into why people buy art. We know some. Some are a mystery....

The problem with a linear price increase in size, eg $5 per size increase, is that the size actually increases exponentially. For instance, a 16 inch square print is twice the length of an eight inch print but it is 4x the square inch space so while it is only twice as long it covers four times the wall space.

Aside from that, anyone with a cell phone can make a small print but how many can produce an image that will print well at 60 inches?

One thing we know is there are no guarantees. And there typically are not people waiting around just hoping to see a price drop so they can jump on it. Pricing is just one factor among the four P's: price, product, promotion, and place.

Just moving one thing up and down isn't going create miracles. If you haven't promoted then there is no one to notice the price change. If you are selling in the wrong place with the wrong product, price won't matter either.

Thank everyone for all their help and on pricing products on FAA! That has always been a struggle with me on the site. I will continue playing around with it until I come to a happy medium!

Sharon,

I matched your prices several weeks ago, but I am not set up for Christmas sales or any sales yet.

Reasons, I do not sell merchandise only prints so Christmas is limited for me.
I also have not nearly the track record of advertising that you have. It takes years of building a client base that
will buy at some point. If any of us show a work to a lot of people it can take months into years before the purchase happens.
This means we need to show a lot of people our work to have steady or growing sales. It is common sense.
None of us have the midas touch.

The idea of perception is important, but not equal. Technically you and Mike Savad may have better work than mine. You have more
polished work. But because I have used old masterpieces, I may be perceived as having the better work. The old masters though
left behind some very SCRAPPY canvasses. I have spots where there is no paint at all. I have rough edges etc......Nothing like your and Mike's
absolute quality.

Yet perhaps my price point is different. And perhaps if my art, which is gainning traction as an accepted way of making art, gains traction in sales, then
there will be more than one price point where I get the optimal profit based on volume. One this coming year and another next year and with more acceptance stll another the third year.

That said I can not use this Christmas to base anything on. My work is not gift material generally.

Dave

I have experienced the same thing that Sharon experiences i.e increasing prices with positive effect.. I significantly increase my prices every six months or so and my unit sales per month still go up (along with my revenue, of course). It seems that within 2 days of a major price increase I get a bunch of orders at once. As I travel way too much, I do limited marketing and I haven't added much to my FAA inventory in the last 2 years so that is not a factor. I think I am between moderate and high price points. When I change prices I look at the prices from specific FAA artists whom I respect and whose style and quality is similar to mine and I attempt to be set my prices slightly under or similar to theirs.

Be sure to log out of your account to see what the buyer pays for your artwork and compare the buyer prices, not your profit numbers (available if you login).

I am convinced pricing artwork us like pricing wine, the more you pay for it the better it tastes.

@David Check your mark up on your 12 inch prints, if I was to buy an 8x12 print it would cost me 3,532.36 That's great if you can get that but it doesn't seem to be inline with the rest of your pricing

Finally back to participate and learn from the discussions.

I think Sharon and Mike are Masters at this,,,

I modeled my initial pricing based upon signed and unsigned prints, and then earning about $250 from a 24x36. That seems to be my sweet spot! I have not thought about raising prices yet..im still learning to market etc..All the while, giving any info I have learned from others here, Mike, Sharon,JC Abby,etc to my friends that are just starting out on the site...

Under cutting the competition will not help with sales.. Some here have this idea that "if their prices are lower , then that will lead to sales.. NOT TRUE.

Its just the opposite.

There are some numbnuts here that believe that they should charge $10 above the cost. Unfortunately, this mindset is wrong and only hurts the site and the people that charge too little.


YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR holds true in any type of transaction, whether it is hiring a Dentist, lawyer, buying flowers, groceries or Art.

and under cutting only works if your selling the same exact products, and your not. if its cheaper people may look down on it - there is a reason why its cheap usually. and its usually the quality. the base paper is the same, but the art itself may not be as highly polished.


---Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com