Pricing Work In The Real World

Tori "I have heard if you lower your price, the less people will want to buy your work, which sounds stupid imo because everybody is looking for a deal."

I think what you're referring to is called "Perceived Value" .

If something is priced really low, some people will put a low "value" on it. Price it higher and those same people may attach a higher "value" to it.

I'm sure someone here can explain it better than I.

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

Try raising your prices. Ten bucks may do it.

I'm confused, 18 x 24=432 sq. in. which at $2.50/sq. in. =$1080. Sounds like you added the length and width and then multiplied by $2.50. Are we talking originals? If so $105 is way, way low for an 18x24, I don't care where you live. I wouldn't do one for less than $350 and even that is less then $1.00/sq. in.

Bill Tomsa already explained it perfectly.

And I'd say you are to cheap ;)
I come from a very small town in PL and people would never by a thing from FAA, all the things are far to expensive here. Does it mean I can't sell elsewhere in the world? ;)

Seems ridiculously low to me considering you are expecting to get $138 for a canvas print on FAA.

On the other hand that 138 will only net you $23 or so on FAA but again we are talking about a print on FAA.

Seems to be some sort of misalignment. A print should not retail for more than an original.

Here is just a suggestion for you.

I would raise the prices of the original to a price that is at least half again as much as the canvas print on FAA. Then print out a nice catalog of your images on FAA and show them where you are selling canvas prints for less if they are interested.

I would not use the PDF supplied by FAA if possible. Gives them too many choices. You want to close the sale right then and there.

Set up several images in word or whatever publishing software you have and go to Office Depot and buy the inexpensive spiral binding system and make a catalog.

I would also have a laptop or iPad there, loaded to your page so you can actually put their order in for them if that opportunity presents itself.

But what you are really trying to do is show them how reasonable your originals are priced and close the deal on the original.

Here's another tip that goes more to client control than and selling than to the art itself.

Never apologize for your prices. You have to stand up for your pricing no matter what you charge. Have confidence that you are priced right for that market. Always be very polite but don't let them see you start questioning your art or your prices even if you are.

A lot of times that first shot across your bow about your prices is just to see if you will balk. If you do, they have put themselves in control and in a position where in order to not lose face, they can not possibly pay full price. They will have to grind you down or walk.

In other words, never let them see you sweat.

I once had a bunch of paintings in my garage sale. Every artist has a bunch of junk work. I wanted rid of them so I put a twenty five cent tag on each of them. I watched how people shopped carefully and really looking at them for a long time and discussing them. I found it all amusing.

Then after some time and a lot of people seemed to be at my house and my family was there as well and no one was buying, I decided to have my husband go outside and remove the paintings from their canvas boards so I could reuse them and we could put the paintings in the dumpster. He was delighted to do so and on a side note, my hubby hates yard sales.

He went out there with a large knife and started cutting the paintings from the boards. People went wild, and told him not to do it, telling him he was this and that. We had such an amazing time messing with folks...it's not like I can't reproduce those works and do them even better today in less then an hour.

As my husband put some of the paintings in the dumpster, my family and friends raced to get paintings in their cars and it turned into a real brawl over one painting. No one paid a dime and my poor mother has never forgiven my husband. Even more neighbors showed up to watch it all. The memory of it causes me much internal joy.

It's like no matter what you put as a price tag, there are just the nastiest of people out there. If they don't want the work, they should walk away. If they want the work and it's too expensive, they should ask if you'll take another price. The idea of telling you that your prices are too high is a jerk telling you how they feel about your art and I'm not real comfortable with that.

The best response, however, after many years of painting is no response at all. That is what I've discovered.



This is the painting that caused a brawl. It had a huge hole in the middle of the painting but it was there before I started. You couldn't see the tear because I've painted on walls and am good at camouflage, but still the customer that bought it got into a fight with my family over its worth and she had to get it in her car and drive away with my husband's help. The next day she drove back to my house and paid for it, but I learned after that, not to take my own skill for granted anymore.

yes, pricing it taught, especially when one needs to sell because one needs money.

18" x 24" is 432 sq. in and if you charge $2.50 per sq. in. you should charge $1080 not $105.

That is a great little calculation David and Alfred.

I should use that one too.

you can always list as $1080 but mark it down to $105 as the bargain of the day.

I live in Tulum, a small town in the Riviera Maya, when people buy me directly whenever they ask for much lower prices, but if my work purchase, and then reselled by the owner of a decoration shop, they pay up to 4 times by it.

I think we can move past the math lessons and see that she meant united inch, not sq. Or at least she figured in in UI. No need to beat that to death.

@David That's what I did. I really am concerned about people not affording canvas and will be sitting on them for a long time.

@Floyd I was not aware of that price range. I was really more focused on the prices for cards and small prints, which I know may sell better. That does sound like some good ideas. I may have to save for an Ipad Pro or wish for one for Christmas.

18 BY 24 guys. The X means "by."

@Lisa I never really thought of that. I really didn't take it personally like a biting remark as in your story, but more a concern for others pockets not being able to afford artwork because...um...I'm a bleeding heart when it comes to poverty. Abstract art is for people who are of an acquired taste.
Your color scheme is gorgeous!

You should also consider how much you want to make per hour. How many hours do you spend on a piece. Are you even making minimum wage? Labor, cost of materials for an 18x24" canvas has got to be more than your charging.

This might help Tori if you remember this one thing. People that say they can't afford your art are most likely lying. The reality is most of them can afford your art, it's just that art is not a priority for them in their budget. There are people of average means that spend more on tech gadgets in a year than I paid for my car, that's just where their priorities are. You need to find the people for whom art is a priority and stop listening to those that say your prices are too high, most of those people will most likely never buy your art at any price, (just look at Lisa's yard sale example).

Thank you, David and I agree.

I have a friend that bought his wife a Mercedez... for 100K (I can't spell). It was his bonus money. She hated the car and they kept it anyway. The last time I saw him in this boat, it was full of trash and McDonalds wrappers.

He always tells me he wants to buy a painting for his new wife, but I think he wants me to give it to him. Hmmm, he treated that boat of a car badly and its worth is notable, I doubt he is going to treat my work as valuable. He doesn't even treat people well.

I guess the idea behind what I'm saying is that when people treat other people badly...they themselves have no "self" value so why take any of what they say as valuable? They are petty and cheap. End of story time.

On the positive flip side of that there are collectors that love art so much they will go to great lengths to own the art they love. I read about a collector recently that found a piece she wanted so bad that she sold her car so she could buy it because her credit cards were maxed out. Of course that's the extreme to a fault, but there are people out there that make art a priority in their budget, the challenge is getting your art in front of those people, they aren't common that's for sure, but they are out there.

Wow...forget pricing for a moment. Words of wisdom.

Tori, the person comment about your work being too high will unlikely buy your work even with a lower price. I think with the internet artists who lives in small towns can sell their works with fair prices because collectors in smaller cities would search for art on the web. This year alone I sold six original paintings to strangers which sent to places I had never heard of.
You should raise your price not lower them..

Everything is negotiable.

Ask them why. What are they comparing the price too? Do they purchase artwork so often they know the going prices?
...
Head over to PierOne and see what the prices are for are "unique, hand-painted acrylic reproductions" .

I seriously would never write anyone one off just because they said they can not afford it or it way over priced.

You need to turn off the emotional artist in you and turn on the business minded sales clerk. That person is only asking you to convince him or her that the money is well spent, the painting is worth the money. It is up to you to make them see that.

I am sorry and I know this is going to tick a lot of people off, but what I am hearing is good advice on how to turn a buyer into looker.

Stay focused, stay positive, stay on message, overcome objectives and make the sale. You are not going to bat 1000. But like baseball, .250 average is damn good.... damn good! But if you give up everytime someones says your price is too high or they can not afford it. .250 may be out of reach.