What's the 'correct' price for art?

Is it only art if it costs a lot of money?

Conclusion:
There is no perfect answer on how to price art. You can perform elaborate calculations and comparisons with your competitors, but in the end you just have to wing it.

Deciding what to charge for art is very difficult for most artists, especially as they are getting started. Beginning artists are so happy that anyone would be willing to display their work that they almost give it away.

Being associated with a gallery or art consultant can help a lot; they understand the market. Often they suggest pricing that is much higher than artist/photographer would pick. But of course they usually takes 50% of the sale price.

Several years ago, as I was starting I sought the advice of some experts. One suggested a pricing structure that was bizarrely complex. It required a spreadsheet to do very complex calculations such as the number of views-per-day and the length of time the art would be on display. This did not fly with my clients. I've settled in on a simple formula that considers only two things: size and what the art is printed on.

Another expert suggested that I put off discussions of pricing until the very end, even if people ask for it. The thinking was that you want to generate mystique as the client is becoming enthusiastic about your work; then negotiate. This did not work at all for me. I was getting several calls a day just asking for pricing. In the end I decided to post my prices (which are non-negotiable) on my website: click here for current price sheet.

How often to change your pricing is another concern. One person told me that I should raise my prices 10% per year no matter what. This creates the illusion that the art was appreciating in value. However, if you look at the "after-market" pricing on fine art, it almost never goes up. Only brand names in art have prices that appreciate, and then not until after the artist dies. I've decided to simply hold my prices steady unless I can see a good reason to change.

One book that I read (Profitable Photography in the Digital Age) summarized pricing well by saying: "... the reality [of pricing] is and always will be an amorphous  concept that we will never really grasp. You just have to get better at it without expecting to perfect it."

Comments

[Daniel Sroka]

Well said. Determining your prices can be such a difficult process. I found that it helps if you can find a formula to calculate your prices, since it gives your pricing an internal logic that you can defend and feel comfortable about. For example, for my first solo show, I set my prices to be compatible with other works in the gallery. I was lucky enough to get some sales, so that price became my baseline for all other prices.