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Pricing Artwork

by Ryan Lewis

Pricing your Artwork

Determining the price for your work can be a very difficult event. Many artists hang their artwork in their homes or studios as they dry or before they go on display. Make sure you still run it like a business! Do not get too attached to an item if you want to put it up for sale.

Pricing can be determined in thousands of different ways. While I would suggest you not use your dart board or ‘Magic 8 Ball’, you may want to consider some of the ways detailed in this article. The important part about pricing your work is that you have your end goal in mind. If you are pricing to survive and make a profit then you need to include all costs in your price. If you just want to get your name out to the buying community then lower your price and write the rest off as an advertising expense. Either way, it is important to know why you have marked a certain price on your display.

The following models are for items in common categories - grouping your paintings with other paintings or pottery with other pottery pieces. You need to determine a new pricing strategy for each type of work that you do. A painting can be priced using a sizing model but perhaps your sculpture or carving cannot. Get an idea where you think your market is BEFORE you begin. By doing this, you will have a much better idea as to the validity of the outcome.

Option 1: Size Dictates the Price

You may want to have a different model for pricing your Watercolor pieces than you have for your Oil pieces.

This method works better for some types of art than for others.

Working in one style may have very different results for pottery or sculpting and the materials may be very different.

For example:
Medium: Oil Paint on Canvas
Painting Dimensions: 16 inches X 20 inches
Base cost of Painting (Signing Charge): $135
Price per square inch (PPSI): $1.02

Total Cost: Base Cost $135.00 + Variable Cost $323.20 (Painting Area (16 X 20) 320 inches X PPSI $1.02) = Retail Sale Price $458.20
Rounded Retail Sale Price = $460.00

Option 2: Time Dictates the Price

Determine how much you have sold paintings for in the past then divide the total by the number of hours you have taken to complete the piece.

Ex. Total Retail Price of a Painting $460 / Hours (including travel, working, framing, gallery, etc) 15 = $30.67 per hour worked (remember this includes expenses so don’t get too excited!)

For future projects, determine the total time you took in the process and multiply it by the hours worked. You may find that sometimes when you take more time you don’t necessarily get to charge more. You may end up looking back to one of the other price models for better use.

Option 3: Cost Dictates the Price

Cost of Canvas = $25 (16X20)
Cost of Paint = $15 (average three tubes per piece @ $5 each)
Brushes = $3 (need a new brush every 10 pieces therefore a $30 brush costs $3 per piece)
Hardware = $5.50 (brackets for painting, easel amortized over the lifespan, nails, jars, other odds and sods)
Paint Thinner/Manipulation = $4 per piece
Office / Studio space = $20 (15% or total monthly rent ($120) divided by six paintings per month (6) for cost)
Utilities = $4.16 (approx 15% of total monthly utilities ($25) divided by six paintings per month (6) for cost)
Framing (optional) = $125 for the piece
Driving / Delivery = $11.25 (30 KM or Miles to gallery times $0.375 per KM or Mile)
Shipping = $20.29 (base of $17.50 plus 16% tax and insurance $2.80)

Total Cost of Production = $233.19

This is your break-even cost. Next you need to add some back for your time or your desired profit from each piece. This may be where you look to the hourly pricing model to add your time back or you may have a set profit margin for your work. For example: you have monthly living expenses of $900 and you sell approximately 4 pieces per month. You can build in a margin of $225 on top of your costs resulting in a $458.19 (rounded again to $460) for the total cost.

Figuring out YOUR price

It is very difficult to come up with a price in the early stages of your career. You may want to do some research first by looking at other galleries and talking to the gallery owners about how they price the work or what price range is normal for your size and medium. You may also want to look at similar artwork to your own (size, medium, framing) and then adjust your price to fit your level of expertise.

Finding a good middle ground will become easier as you are able to sell more artwork; however, do not be in too big of a rush to lower your prices. Just because you had a slow day doesn't mean that you've outpriced the market. Give it a few days and see what happens. If you are getting a lot of people looking at your work thn turning when they see the price, try moving it down 5 to 10% at a time. Remember, people want to buy quality and they want to buy a name. Your prices should reflect your level of experience and popularity.

About The Author: Ryan Lewis, Artist and BComm graduate, is a member of ArtistLane.com and currently shows his artwork at the Gust Gallery in Waterton Lakes National Park. Ryan Lewis writes articles for ArtistLane pertaining to the business aspect of being an artist. You can view his work on this site or at his personal website RyanLewis.ca.
To contact Ryan Lewis, send a message via e-mail to Lewis@ArtistLane.com.