Pricing Structures

Centered, 2006, Oil on Panel, 11x14







I read with interest Shan's post about pricing her work, and the price of art in general, as well as Anna Conti's post about how she has priced her work over the years. This is a topic I have been meaning to discuss, so it seems like a good time to throw my hat into the ring too.

Pricing my work has been one of the most difficult, and frustrating thing about being an artist. Well, along with coming up with titles that aren't totally stupid or doing taxes or record keeping. Ok, so there are a few things about being an artist that aren't completely fulfilling. Anyway, when I did those first oils a few years back in Utah, I basically looked at how much the framing cost was, tripled it and then added the percentage that the gallery would take, 30% in that particular case. The prices were fairly high, especially for the community that I lived in, a fairly non supportive area for the arts and also because I was just starting out. So, I sold a few pieces (mostly pity purchases by my friends), gave a few away as gifts, and I have the rest packed in boxes in the attic. Not a successful pricing structure I'd say.

So I talked to other artists, I did a lot of reading and research on the internet and in galleries, looking for art that was similar to mine and who had a similar resume. At first, I put together a price list based on $2.00 per square inch, for smaller sizes and skewing downwards as they got larger. Frankly, I was not at all comfortable selling a 5x7 painting for 70.00 so I pretty much doubled the prices. Despite being new to exhibiting my work, I really felt that my work had more value, based on its quality and based on the feedback I was getting about it. I didn't sell anything at the very first show I had in NY, but that was a really lame show and definitely merits its very own post one of these days. However, at the next show, I sold about half of the pieces that I exhibited, which was really encouraging, and I decided to stick with those prices for the time being. As I had more shows and started to get gallery representation, I raised my prices about 25% (in early 2005) at the request of a few of my new galleries. That was kind of a big jump, but still at that point, my work was almost always the lowest priced in the gallery and no one felt that it was an unreasonable increase.

I was still feeling that my work was underpriced, especially in comparison to the work that it was hanging next to in various shows and exhibitions, so at the beginning of this year, I raised the prices again, another 25% or so. One of the frustrating things about my pricing structure, however, was the fact that each sized painting had a different price attached to it. Since I use almost every standard size at one point or another, having so many prices to keep track of was starting to make my head spin, not to mention creating a bit of confusion for the galleries. Coincidentally, around the same time I was meeting with a gallery director and we were discussing my pricing structure. Given that I liked working in so many different sizes, rather than just a few standard sizes, she had a few suggestions for me, which have made my life so much easier! This is what she suggested:

Add the two dimensions together and list the results next to the sizes. Then cluster the results and create a break after about 4-6 inches, or in a place that seems logical. We established that 2 of my existing prices were fine-$400 for 8x10 and $1800 for 24x36. So she suggested working backwards from there and pricing each cluster in $50 increments, based on what I felt comfortable with. This is difficult to explain and I don't know if it is at all clear so here is my worksheet, including my prices.

Size L+H Price
5x7…………………12……………………….350
6x6…………………12……………………….350
5x8…………………13……………………….350
6x8…………………14……………………….350

8x8…………………16……………………….400
8x10……………....18……………………….400

9x12………………..21………………………500
12x12………………24………………………500
11x14………………25………………………500

12x16………………28………………………750
10x20………………30………………………750
14x18………………32………………………750
16x16………………32………………………750

12x24………………36………………………900
16x20………………36………………………900
18x18………………36………………………900

20x20………………40……………………..1200
18x24………………42……………………..1200

24x24………………48……………………..1400

18x36………………54……………………..1600

24x36………………60……………………..1800

36x36………………72……………………..2450

40x40………………80……………………..3100
36x48………………84……………………..3100

45x45………………90……………………..3950
48x48………………96……………………..3950

Although this took some time to work out, it has actually made things much easier for me and for the galleries as well. I don't work much larger than 24x36 or smaller than 8x10 these days, but I do still like to paint on a variety of sizes. When it's time to raise the prices again they will increase across the board in $50 increments.

I debated yesterday and last night about actually posting my prices. I thought it might be tacky or a conflict somehow with my galleries, but then I decided that this information is not relevant to our nation's security or anything so I've put them up. I do not include prices on my website, mostly because I do not sell directly to buyers. I direct all inquiries to the galleries that represent my work. Some of those galleries post the prices on their websites and some don't. Much of my work that is currently placed in a gallery have prices under my previous pricing structure. Once a painting is priced, that prices stays with it, it doesn't change if my prices go up. Sometimes this is puzzling to observant buyers who notice the discrepancy. I always explain (or the gallery explains) that the older prices stay with the piece, the higher prices reflect the fact that the value of my work is increasing and should be viewed as a good sign to potential buyers.

I realize that this has been a fairly technical discussion of pricing art. There's a whole other conversation to be had regarding the emotional aspect we all go through in establishing prices and since this post has, as always with me, gotten long, perhaps I'll write more on the topic. How about tomorrow!?

PS. The Intrepid Art Collector has a great post today, listing the costs involved with being a "hot" artist. I am nowhere near that level. nor do I want to be. Give up my chickens and flower gardens to pay a million dollars for a condo the size of 1/8 of my current home? No thanks. She makes a good point though, artists do still have expenses to cover, high or low, we all still have them.