It’s no secret that pursuing a career in art is not always the most stable of incomes. Whether you’re just selling art as a hobby, or pursuing it as a full-time profession, pricing correctly is very important.
How To Price Artwork
The general rule of thumb is to consider all of the following:
- Time taken: Make sure you are earning at least minimum wage for the amount of time that you spent on the artwork.
- Cost of materials: Make sure that the cost of any supplies used is included.
- Packaging and delivery: Have a rough idea of how much packaging and shipping will cost, and make sure that this is highlighted.
- Skill level: Some artists will mark up the cost of their artwork to reflect their level of skill, experience, or education so that they are making more than minimum wage.
- Original or print? A print is inherently less valuable than an original as you can reproduce it. If you’re doing a limited run of a print, one way of pricing it could be to divide the total cost of the labour and materials by the number of prints.
- Note: this is why many digital artists struggle to sell non-commissioned pieces for decent amounts of money.
Why It Matters
You may have seen some artists price their works at incredibly low price points, including below minimum wage. Quite often this is to encourage customers to shop with them rather than the more expensive competition, or due to a lack of confidence in how much the piece is worth.
It’s important to remember to not give in to the temptation to reduce prices, even if you only do it as a hobby, because this leads to a downwards spiral. Your competitors, who may lose business to your low prices, may lower theirs to compete with you. You then may feel tempted to lower yours to compete again. Then they do the same. This continues until the art is essentially worthless.
Your art took your time, energy, and involved some form of materials. When selling your art, you deserve to be paid for all of that fairly. Please do not devalue your own work.
Nicola Lucy 