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Pricing paintings for sale.
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Posted
I used to charge by the hour, on the basis that I was worth around £10 or £15 per hour: but then I got a lot quicker - and that didn't really work any more.
So now, I keep an eye on what others, at around my level, are charging - in the UK and USA - and make due allowances for size and time taken. The only way that I know of to get realistic prices, however, is to get a gallery to take you up: I don't have one - I never have had. Offers invited - but in reality, a gallery is most unlikely to approach us: we need to search one out - given I don't really want to be running a business now, though, I'm not looking very hard.
Posted
I only tend to work on one size board, 40 x 50cm, I’m talking oils here, and I price them all the same, regardless of how long each painting takes to complete (I actually never really time myself though).
I do work fairly fast so I wouldn’t expect to spend more than 3 or 4 hours or so on a work.
In the main I make my own frames, I’ve got a professional Morso guillotine and underpinner etc, so I’ve only really got the expense of the moulding and a few ancillary items… this helps to keep the final price down a bit.
There’s no yardstick on pricing as you know, I just go with my gut feeling, but I probably aim at something around £100 an hour, the frame included in that… if something doesn’t sell then I know I’ve overpriced it!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
Interesting sidelight here - in between removing more God-forsaken spammers - is that you can also lose sales by UNDER pricing your work. I think I've mentioned before the artist on another forum - could have been Affordable British Art, which may or may not exist any more - who said she couldn't sell her work. I asked what she was asking for it; she told me a ridiculously low figure in relation to what she was offering. I suggested she double or even treble her prices - she did: and she sold.
You can most certainly overprice your work - I was very tempted by the latest sum paid for a Hockney, but then.... even Alan wouldn't get prices in the millions - but you can also give the impression that you have so low an opinion of your abilities that you're pricing them at a level at which you don't even expect to make a profit: if you don't value your work, you can give the impression that there's something wrong with it and no one else should value it either.
So, in response to Sylvia's original question - there is no simple answer to this: Alan thought £100 per hour; I thought £15 - but then I'd throw in extras that, given his more realistic price, he wouldn't have needed to do. What do you WANT to do? Just to sell, and share your work with others? Or to make a profit commensurate with your efforts and experience, plus, of course, the quality of the painting? It's difficult to put a price on the last of these - so go for a price which isn't silly money (in excess or in inadequacy) but which would give you the feeling that your art IS worth buying, and you're not either giving it away or pricing it as though you think wealthy collectors are bound to flock to your easel and fan you with £100 notes.
Or as someone once said to me, think of a figure, double it, and hope. I don't recommend that, but - there's not really a science to it; I wish there was.
Posted
Just a few thoughts, because this is a really difficult topic.
I was invited to participate in a charity exhibition to raise money for our local food bank and lowered my prices accordingly (I was asking £50 or £60 for a framed painting instead of £100-£125). My work was more highly priced than anyone else's - and I was the only person who didn't sell anything. The others, who all paint for fun and were happy to sell work produced at their local evening art class for £10 or £20 (which wouldn't even cover the cost of materials), sold a lot. A couple of the ladies were really delighted, but I came home feeling deflated and disheartened.
On the opposite side of the coin I'm a member of Ludlow Art Society, who have strict hanging rules and a minimum pricing policy. I entered 5 paintings into their Spring exhibition priced at £100 / £125 and sold one. Visitors were asked to vote for their favourite piece of work, and I got quite a few - which gave my confidence a boost. I also exhibit solo with 9 or 10 other artists and makers at one of the h.Art (Herefordshire Art Week) venues. While 2021 was a real success, this time I only sold one painting. The artists who did well this year were the ones selling cyclee prints of their work, greeting cards and wrapping paper. We all agreed this is more a sign of the times than any reflection on the quality of our work.
In terms of drawing conclusions, my take is that if you are known and have a following or you have been successful in a national art competition, it carries a lot of kudos and you can charge more for your work. Amateurs like me - however experienced or good we are - will always struggle. Because I primarily paint for my own enjoyment, I would rather give one of my paintings to someone who really engages with it than wait months for it to sell. At least it gets my work out there! Just think of Van Gogh, who struggled to sell anything during his lifetime .....
At the moment, I need to make space for new work and I'm about to go on a portraiture course - so some of my older pieces, "experiments" and paintings I like less might be heading for the charity shop or the bin, or I'll recycle the canvases and paint over them!
Posted
An interesting thread Sylvia, and looking back to your start of this, I took it that you were talking about one painting and one potential buyer? I haven’t taken part in many exhibitions in the last few years for obvious reasons, but I have sold a few otherwise. Our art group used to do regular exhibitions where the sale prices were anything between about £40 and £150 generally. There are weekly exhibitions near here which I usually call into, and prices there are in that sort of range, some higher.
I think Robert is right in that you can certainly price too low. I always think if someone queries a price, to ask ‘what would you do for £10 an hour?’ At the other end of the scale, you don’t want to be the one asking for £500 when everyone else is around £50-£100.
If you are fortunate enough to show in a decent gallery they will advise on pricing and obviously take a nice chunk in commission!
Posted
Well.....just reading all of your interesting answers suddenly a camper van pulls up an£ out pile two ladies One I met on Sams walk this morning they are visitors to the area . We had a usual doggy chat and introduced her to Sam the Dog Author ....I do it frequently .I'm £50 better of ...yay....Sams Tales and Sylvia cards,,,,I wished them a very happy journey and come back again next year...Sam is very happy.
Posted
Sylvia I was pleased to see this thread you started especially after our wee chat about the subject yesterday via Facebook! I have found the comments interesting and illuminating! I am having space at a Christmas fayre in a local historical house here in Orkney . I don’t expect to make a fortune but as Sylvia says it’s difficult to price artworks when you haven’t tried to sell before! I have sold one painting this year, it was a commission Iwas asked to do when visiting my house in Spain. I really struggled to price it but in the end charged €70 and they snapped my hand off! Maybe I should have gone with the €100 I had first thought! Anyway I now have food for thought and a variety of small and larger painting.. the space is free and 25% commission on what they sell ( all going to charity). I set it up and leave the rest to them so I am happy to give it a shot. If they don’t sell I am sorted for Christmas presents this year! Well done Sam and Sylvia on todays sales!
Posted
I've got pictures in two exhibitions at the moment and the feeling at both is that it's basically guesswork. If you overprice you don't sell anything, if you underprice it implies that you don't value your work.
We've had an exhibition in Melton Mowbray since the beginning of November and we've sold 56 pictures so far with ten days still to go. However none of them have been mine so I seem to have got the pricing wrong. Most of mine are £95, some less, but price doesn't seem to be the issue as we've sold several pictures for £150 and £120 so far. Maybe I'm just not good enough!
Peter