How to price your artworks?
Emerging artists face the same question when they decide to start their professional career: For how much should I sell my work? Of course this is not a question with an easy answer since it is not that simple to think about the value of our own art. Aware of this difficulty, we have decided to help out and leave you some tips.
1- Market research
Firstly, it is important that newly arrived artists to the market check for how much are other people, on the same situation but more experienced, selling their artworks. You should look for artists that develop their work in similar ways as yours (regarding techniques, dimensions and styles for example), having there a good starting point.
2- What were the development costs?
After you study the market, you should think about the actual costs. Do the math regarding the materials and hours you spent developing your artwork. It is your job, you must think about your wage as any other profession!
3- Test your target audience
If you already have a well composed portfolio, try to include some variety regarding prices. It is always good to present versatility plus you get to test the market and potential buyers from multiple perspectives.
4- Do not exaggerate!
Still, you must pay attention and do not exaggerate on the evaluation, meaning the prices cannot be too high. Especially because if you establish prices that are too high, the awkward question “can you lower the price?” may come up, which leads to the devaluation of your artwork. It is better to start in a most modest way to be able to evaluate how people react to your prices. As soon as you are in a stable position on the market you can enhance your value even more!
5- Leave emotion behind
Lastly, but also fundamental, is to have the clear notion that every art is unique, and that this should not be a factor to take in consideration when you are deciding the price of your artwork. The feelings and emotions that you transfer to your artwork and the uniqueness of it are not valid criteria to define the price of your artwork. These factors should only interact with the piece on the moment each appreciator is engaging with it.
Happy sales!
