The Formula for Pricing Artwork
- Find the square inches of your artwork by multiplying its width by its length.
- Next, determine the value of a square inch of your work. This value is based on your skill level and your reputation...
- Multiply these two values and add them to the total cost of your supplies.
How do you Price an artwork?
The Formula for Pricing Artwork 1 Find the square inches of your artwork by multiplying its width by its length. 2 Next, determine the value of a square inch of your work. This value is based on your skill level and your reputation amongst your target market. 3 Multiply these two values and add them to the total cost of your supplies.
How to sell sculptures?
Fortunately, there are many different avenues you can use to sell your sculptures, from art shows to the web to your very own brick-and-mortar retail shop. Take your sculptures to a gallery. Some galleries will buy your work from you directly while others may prefer to display them and sell on consignment.
How to measure a sculpture?
You can take the measurements by determining the inches or the square feet of the sculpture. Usually, every art will have a different weight and size, and this will also reflect on the time taken to make the art. 1. Comprehensively Research Your Work
How do artists determine prices?
FORMULA 2: (Hourly Wage × Hours Spent) + Cost of Materials Your price should reflect the money and time you put into creating it. This formula ensures you are being paid for each hour you work and are covering the cost of your materials. It is an especially good formula for artists who are just starting out.
How do you price your art for beginners?
So, if a piece took you 10 hours to make, you want to get $15 per hour, and the materials cost you $45, you could use $195 as your starting point (10 times 15, plus 45). Cost of materials would include your canvas, paper, paint, ink, and so forth.
How much should I charge for a piece of art?
Think about a reasonable hourly wage and the cost of materials when pricing your art - that includes framing and shipping, if applicable. The US Dept. of Labor lists the average hourly wage for a fine artist as $24.58—use this to help you estimate.
How do you price realistic art?
Set yourself a sensible hourly wage, add the cost of materials, and make that your asking price. If materials cost $50, for example, you take 20 hours to make the art and decide to pay yourself $20 per hour, then price it at $450.
How do I price my crafts?
In her Tips for Pricing your Handmade Goods blog on Craftsy, artesian entrepreneur Ashley Martineau suggests this formula: Cost of supplies + $10 per hour time spent = Price A. Cost of supplies x 3 = Price B. Price A + Price B divided by 2 (to get the average between these two prices) = Price C.
How can I sell my art?
To boost your art business, check out these nine worthwhile ways to cut galleries out of the equation and make a successful living:Social Media. ... Art Fairs. ... Artwork Archive. ... Custom Website. ... Newsletter. ... Retailers. ... Interior Designers. ... Licensing and Merchandising.More items...
How much does the average piece of art cost?
The cost of a piece of art for emerging artists ranges between $200 and $800. Works from mid-career artists are priced around $1000 to $5000. Work from established and deceased artisans cost over $10,000. Materials, labor, antiquity, and notoriety all factor into the value of the artwork.
How much should an 8x10 painting cost?
Don't jack the price of your 8x10" paintings from $200 to $2000 overnight. Pros recommend a 10% rise in price to begin with. You can always consider going higher later, but if you go too high, you likely won't get those lost customers back.
How much do artists charge for sketches?
Naturally, some take more and some less, but 25 is a good average. My hourly rate is $30/hour, and the average time it takes me to complete a drawing is 25 hours. So $30/hour multiplied by 25 hours equals $750. I've calculated my average expenses per drawing to be around $50.
How do you price art per square foot?
Obtain your square inch price by multiplying length times width and dividing your selling price by the total number of square inches. For example, a 12″ x 16″ painting that you sell for $400 will cost $2.08 per square inch. Subsequently, your 24 x 36″ painting will be $2.08 x 864 square inches = $1,797.
How much do artists charge per inch?
Inexperienced artists should price their square inch lower than established artists. The starting rate is approximately $2-$3 per square inch. This amount can be increased once you start working with galleries.
How much should I charge for an illustration?
Hourly rates for illustrators range from $25 to $100, and can be higher depending on the area of specialty and artist reputation. Nationwide, the average costs for an illustration project can range from $90 to $465, but larger projects will command higher rates, and every project is different.
How much do amateur painters charge?
A Formula for Pricing Artwork by Hours Spent Example: Say the artist wants $30 per hour and works 15 hours: That's 450, plus $80 x 2 for the cost of materials (so the buyer pays for materials, not you) = 610. You could price it at $600 or $650.
How much should an 8x10 painting cost?
Don't jack the price of your 8x10" paintings from $200 to $2000 overnight. Pros recommend a 10% rise in price to begin with. You can always consider going higher later, but if you go too high, you likely won't get those lost customers back.
How do you price acrylic paint for beginners?
Charge by the square inch To work out your price by the square inch, multiply the length by the width of your painting. For example, an 8 by 8 inch piece = 8 x 8 = 64 square inches. If you charge $1 per square inch, this would be $64 + the price of materials if you are adding that as well.
How much do pencil drawings sell for?
Generally, pencil art sells for anywhere from $50 to $500, but some pieces can sell for much more than that. If you're a talented pencil artist, there's no reason why you can't sell your work and make a good living from it.
How to price an oil painting?
1. Multiply the painting’s width by its length to arrive at the total size, in square inches. Then multiply that number by a set dollar amount that’s appropriate for your reputation . I currently use $6 per square inch for oil paintings. Then calculate your cost of canvas and framing, and then double that number. For example: A 16”-x-20” oil-on-linen landscape painting: 16” x 20” = 320 square inches. I price my oil paintings at $6 per square inch. 320 x 6 = $1,920.00, and I round this down to $1,900.
How to figure out how much other supplies cost?
If you wanted to figure out how much your other supplies cost per year, you could add up those expenses and divide them by the number of paintings you did and add that number to the retail price. That said, I don’t enjoy math, and calculating every little expense seems overwhelming to me.
How much commission do galleries take?
Don’t charge so little that you don’t break even. Remember that galleries often take a 50 percent commission from sales, so you’ll have to take that into consideration.
What happens if you work with a gallery?
Once one is working with a gallery, the gallery price and studio price needs to stay the same… Otherwise the artist undercuts the gallery, and the gallery will drop the artist.
Why do artists overprice their work?
Some artists overprice their work in order to impress viewers, hoping to make the artwork look more valuable. Sometimes this works, but usually only when the collector is naive or when the artwork is spectacular and gets the attention of serious collectors.
Do you have to sell through galleries?
With the internet, no one needs to sell through galleries. In fact, they are much harder to get into than they were before 2008. I worked with galleries from the late 90s til about 2004. Now I sell through my website and local shows.
Do you add up the cost of framing?
Don’t forget to add up the cost of all your supplies and framing , and add that to the price of the work. I didn’t do that when I first started selling my work, and later. realized I wasn’t making much of a profit when all was said and done.
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How to price an artist?
Here’s our standard advice for an artist contemplating pricing for the first time: 1 give yourself a fair hourly wage 2 add to that the cost of materials you used and other expenses
How do artists price their artwork?
Some artists price artwork based only on size , either by the square inch or the perimeter. This is easy to explain to buyers, and certainly makes sense if you spend less time on smaller work.
How much commission do you get when selling art?
If you sell artwork through a gallery, it will take a commission. (At The Art League, it’s 40 percent to us, 60 percent to you.) Don’t forget to take this into consideration when you price your artwork! You want to make sure you’re still making money after that commission is taken out.
What to do with art you sell?
Be sure to keep records of the art you sell! You can use them to back up the prices you quote and when making decisions about raising prices (see below).
How to increase the value of your artwork?
Setting a price is only step one! Improve your sales with a healthy dose of self-promotion. Telling your story, and your artwork’s story, increases its value. Here are some other blog posts to get you started:
How much do you get paid for 10 hours of art?
add to that the cost of materials you used and other expenses. So, if a piece took you 10 hours to make, you want to get $15 per hour , and the materials cost you $45, you could use $195 as your starting point (10 times 15, plus 45). Cost of materials would include your canvas, paper, paint, ink, and so forth.
Should artwork be priced?
No! Your artwork should be consistently priced no matter how and where it’s sold. Galleries won’t like discovering they’re being undersold, and buyers won’t like discovering that others paid less for similar artwork.
How to price art for the first time?
If you are pricing your art for the first time, I recommend calculating all the production costs as your baseline price (the lowest price you should be charging). After knowing how much it cost you to produce your works, you can decide on the margin you wish to add later on.
How much discount do you get for selling art?
If you sell your art online perhaps you have seen some newsletters of selling work at 20% discount. Online marketplaces charge 40% commissions so this 20% discount won’t affect your payout. But online people are more used to have larger discounts, so I would say giving a 20% discount on your own website, just twice a year is still a reasonable thing to do.
What is the rule of pricing a product?
In business school, we learned that one of the most classic rules of pricing a product or a service is ‘cost + margin’. You might have seen this formula somewhere before:
What are the things you need to make an art project?
This is the most obvious: paint, canvas, frames, and anything that are essential to the making of your art. Also consider the equipment you need, such as easels, projectors and computers. They are not consumed immediately but they do break down slowly. You can amortize each year according to the asset’s lifespan.
How often can you give discounts to art galleries?
You can give seasonal discounts, 4-5 times a year at most. But you shouldn’t do it to the pieces of art that you also consign to the galleries. You don’t want to create a price war against them. What you can do, is to do promotion on special kinds of series, formats, merchandising, that are not sold elsewhere.
How much does it cost to paint a piece of paper?
You can spend $15 to buy paint, then you paint on a piece of paper, which can be sold at $1500. As you can see, making and selling a piece of your art could be very ‘lucrative’ and hard to demonstrate your rightful earnings as an artist.
What is the art market based on?
The art market is based on conflicting contradictions: capitalist & art values. There is not a right recipe and the game rules are not fair. Here is a pragmatic approach to how to price my art as an artist.
How to measure a sculpture?
Paintings and sculptures will always take different shapes and sizes. You can take the measurements by determining the inches or the square feet of the sculpture. Usually, every art will have a different weight and size, and this will also reflect on the time taken to make the art.
How to sell art to customers?
Let customers know your artwork prices. You can do this by sharing your prices on social media platforms. This way your customers will be able to trust you for your integrity. Usually, some artists tend to charge different rates to different consumers depending on their wealth. This is not a good behavior at all as it will only ruin your reputation and as a result, lead to the closure of your business. It can not take long before customers realize the correct value for such an art. If you are charging different prices for different buyers, they will shift to another seller. Set a standard price for every particular art and be willing to share your expenses to your customers and this way you will be able to hold your customers through your integrity even in the future.
Why should size be a key factor in pricing artwork?
Size should always be a key factor while pricing your artwork. Small art pieces would call for low prices as buyers expect to make more payments on larger sizes. Ideally, more efforts will be spent on the larger art pieces as compared to the smaller ones, and this should be reflected on the selling price too.
How many customers can an artist bring back?
With the art world, a single customer can bring back more than ten customers. however, it depends on how you serve them.
How to determine the size of an artwork?
This method is commonly used for pricing artwork. Usually, one obtains the size of their work by calculating its area in square feet or meters, whatever preference they have. You can obtain the area by multiplying the length of your artwork with its width. For irregularly shaped work, you can use an overlapping stick and measure the length and height.
How much do artists make?
The standard wage for a prolific artist is set at $24.60.This can be a guideline for determining your hourly wage. The projected profit added to the cost of the painting is your price. You can add a margin of disparity of US$1-US$5. It is a bright idea to begin at a high rate and cut it down to your expected selling price. This method is pivotal especially when the size of an artwork is not proportional to its price. For instance, a golden ornament would be more expensive than a wooden jaguar carve. Including the cost will ensure that you get the required value for your material.
What is the most challenging problem for artists?
One of the most challenging problems that many artists face, especially if they are new to selling their artwork. It takes time to come up with the right price for your work.
How to calculate the price of an art piece?
You can multiply the square inch by your personal rate which is how much you wish to earn per hour. Alternatively, multiply your hourly rate by the hours spent, then add the cost of materials. Likewise, sum the height and width, then multiply by your price per linear inch. There are so many ways you can approach art pricing.
How to standardize the price of artwork?
Standardize the price of your artwork by determining the value per linear inch. This will also be based on your expertise and artform.
Why Should You Price Your Art Consistently?
Furthermore, established collectors compare similar artists when purchasing work. Consistent, comparable rates build confidence in your work.
When Should You Consider Increasing the Price of Your Art?
If you have consistent sales for six months to a year, or you are selling at least half of your art shortly after finishing it, it is a sign that you could increase your hourly rate.
Why do galleries prefer to work with artists with uniform price ranges?
Galleries prefer to work with artists with uniform price ranges to avoid underselling work, thu s earning a lower commission.
How to compensate for commissions from galleries?
When working with a gallery, double the total price of your work to compensate for the gallery’s commission. However, use a lower price per inch when appraising large artworks to avoid outpricing your buyers.
How much does digital art cost?
The average rate that beginner artists charge is $10 per hour.
What are the rewards of creating your own sculptures?
One of the many rewards gleaned from creating your own sculptures is the look of admiration on the faces of buyers. However, getting your work in front of those buyers is in itself an art.
How much commission do you pay for sculptures?
When a gallery sells your work on consignment, you will have to pay a commission that is about 30 percent to 40 percent of the sale price .
How to sell your work to gift shops?
Sell your work directly to gift shops or arrange to sell through them on consignment. Look for gift shops with items that will complement your work. This will affect the price that the shop owner and the customers will be willing to pay for your items.
How to show off your sculptures?
Hold parties to show off your sculptures. You can have them at your house or, just like Tupperware parties, you can have people invite you to show your work to them and their friends. Make sure each item is clearly labeled with necessary information, including the name of the item and the price.
How to sell your work online?
Sell your work on the Internet. There are several ways to do this, including creating your own website, selling at an auction site like eBay, or creating an online shop through a site like Etsy.
Where to market sculptures?
Market your sculptures to establishments like companies and restaurants. Restaurants need display items to add to the ambience and make the place look more attractive. Companies usually need art for their lobbies.
What permits are needed to purchase materials at wholesale rates?
Look at acquiring a reseller's permit, which allows you to purchase materials at wholesale rates.
How do you approach pricing your own artwork?
When I was director of a college gallery, I worked with a relatively unknown artist who priced his 36" x 48" ink drawings on paper at $55,000 each. All things considered, this price was astronomical. On the other hand, if you saw that same 36" x 48" ink drawing on paper in the same gallery priced at $90, that low price would be detrimental to a visitor's opinion of the artist.
What factors into the price of an artwork?
There are essentially four criteria which factor into the price of an artwork: 1) the media of the artwork, 2) the size of the artwork, and 3) the artist’s position in the art world and 4) the venue where the artwork is being exhibited. Advertisement.
How much does an art gallery charge?
Every gallery is unique, but it's typical for prices at a commercial gallery to begin at around $300 for small works, going up to $20,000 for larger pieces , and even more at the top galleries. You also have to factor in that most galleries take a 50% commission, and that the gallery will likely have a say in determining the price of your work.
Why are prints less valuable than sculpture?
Prints and works on paper are usually priced less than sculpture and painting. Since many copies of the same print exist, several people can own the same print, therefore making each print less valuable. Many painters create companion bodies of work in printmaking, which allows them to have an inventory of work with a more diverse range of prices. For example, if an artist sells a 48" x 48" oil painting for $2,000, a 9" x 12" drawing on paper by that same artist might sell for $200.
How much does an oil painting cost?
The majority of emerging artists will usually sell an oil painting within the $100-$1,000 range. An artist who can sell an oil painting for $30,000 would be considered by most people to be very successful. Then there’s the top of the art world where some artists can sell an oil painting for $500,000 and more.
Why are paintings always higher end?
Paintings will always be on the higher end because they are unique objects. Download. Prints and works on paper are usually priced less than sculpture and painting. Since many copies of the same print exist, several people can own the same print, therefore making each print less valuable.
The Mystery of Pricing Artwork
Where to Start
- Here’s our standard advice for an artist contemplating pricing for the first time: 1. give yourself a fair hourly wage 2. add to that the cost of materials you used and other expenses So, if a piece took you 10 hours to make, you want to get $15 per hour, and the materials cost you $45, you could use $195 as your starting point (10 times 15, plus 4...
Other Considerations
- Commission
If you sell artwork through a gallery, it will take a commission. (At The Art League, it’s 40 percent to us, 60 percent to you.) Don’t forget to take this into consideration when you price your artwork! You want to make sure you’re still making money after that commission is taken out. Does that … - Size
Some artists price artwork based only on size, either by the square inch or the perimeter. This is easy to explain to buyers, and certainly makes sense if you spend less time on smaller work. Even if your smaller works take every bit the time and effort of your larger ones, buyers expect to see l…
Common Problems
- “But I don’t really want to sell it”
If a piece was particularly difficult to work on, or you are particularly attached to it, there’s a tendency to want to price it higher. That can be hard to explain to buyers, though, and is best avoided. Stick to the tangibles like the time you spent, the cost of materials, or the size — and if … - Impostor syndrome
Remember what we said at the beginning of this post? That your work has value? Don’t forget that. Lots of people, however, sometimes get the feeling that they don’t belong. That they shouldn’t be charging what comparable artists charge, even though they’re having success. It’s c…
Where to Go from there?
- Your prices won’t stay the same forever. As you get more sales under your belt, you’ll want to raise your prices — you’re in demand now! If you find that you’re selling half of what you make in a six-month period, then that’s a good sign that it’s time to charge more for your work. Raising prices by 10 to 20 percent is a good starting point. (Was this post helpful? For more resources, subscribe …
Also: Don’T Forget to Promote Yourself!
- Setting a price is only step one! Improve your sales with a healthy dose of self-promotion. Telling your story, and your artwork’s story, increases its value. Here are some other blog posts to get you started: 1. How to Create an Artist Website 2. The Zero-Budget Guide to Photographing Artwork 3. Email Newsletters for Artists in Three Steps 4. Starting an Artist Blog 5. What To Post (and Wha…
Conclusion
- We get it: you’re an artist, and you’d rather be spending time in the studio. You can always pay someone else to manage your website and even your social media, but no one but you can set your prices. That said, getting started is the hardest part. After your first few sales, you’ll have the confidence to know your prices are all right. You’ll find the pricing formula that works for you, an…
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