How To Price Your Artwork For Better Sales

Best Strategies For Pricing Art

Are you excited about starting to sell your art online? Are you having a difficult time pricing your artwork? In this post, I will share with you some valuable tips on how to price your artwork so you can make a larger profit selling art online.

How To Price Your Artwork

The day has come. You are now confident with your artistic skills and want to start selling your art online.

The question is, “How much is your art worth?”

Many artists struggle when it comes to pricing their artwork.

Some artists have an emotion with their artwork and believe their prices should be higher than what people might be willing to spend.

When their art is not selling, they get discouraged and think their work is not good enough.

At that point, some artists will start to change their prices from week to week in hopes of landing a sale.

Are you trying to figure out how to price your art commissions, how to price acrylic paintings or how to price your art prints?

Does this sound familiar?

To start, I would like to say that it is never a good idea to set prices with your emotions.

Pricing artwork confidently is the first step in developing an art pricing guide for your art business.

I understand you have a connection with your art, but you will find better results in pricing your artwork like a business rather than an artist.

The next thing I would like to say before we get started is that it is never a good idea to change your prices every week.

How frustrated would you be with your local art store if they drastically changed their paint prices weekly? 

I do not know about you, but I would be searching for a different place to buy my art supplies.

While there is no set rule on how to price your artwork, there are two main objectives every selling artist wants to achieve.

• One is to sell the art they create.
• Two is to make the most profit they can with each sale.

Below I will share with you some tips on how to price your art so you can land a sale and increase your profit line.

Calculate Your Costs

How much is my art worth?

This is a common question for young artists wanting to start their art careers.

Before you can start to answer how to price your art, you need to take some time to research the market.

This is an exciting time for you, but please do not make the same mistake many artists make. They tarnish their brand by pricing their art without planning or researching.

Do yourself a favor and take the time required to gather all the information you need before pricing your art.

The first step is to calculate the cost of the materials you are using.

• Do you paint on canvas or wood?
• Do you use oil paints or acrylics?
• Do you use graphite or colored pencils?

It does not matter what medium you use or if you purchase in bulk. You want to have an estimate of how much your materials cost. Your art should never sell for less than the cost of your materials.

An easy way to keep track of your costs is to make a chart of all the supplies you use for a project.

Below is an example of what a chart would look like for my graphite drawings:

Drawing Paper

• Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Board Pads 9″ x 12″ Smooth 
• Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Board Pads 9″ x 12″ Velum 

Blending

• Tortillons
• Loew-Cornell Blending Stumps

Shading Pencils Set

• Tombow Mono Professional Drawing Pencil
• Blick Studio Drawing Pencils
• Pentel Graph Gear 500 Pencil

Value Finder

• Gray Scale and Value Finder

Erasers

• General’s Factis Magic Black Eraser
• Tombow Mono Zero Refillable Eraser
• Prismacolor Kneaded Rubber Erasers
• Alvin Dry Cleaning Pad

Extras

• General’s The Miser Pencil Extender
• Sandpaper Block
• Westcott Wooden Dusting Brush

How Much Is Your Time Worth

Of course, every artist wants to be paid fairly for their time.

The question is, “How much is your time worth when you are first starting?”

Just like any career, a person’s value increases with more experience. As an artist, you will need to build brand awareness before you can start charging higher amounts.

Don’t overvalue yourself at first. As your reputation grows, your prices will increase.

The first step is to learn how to promote your art so it will sell.

When you have decided how much your time is valued at, multiply your hourly wage by the number of hours it takes you to complete a project plus the cost of the materials.

For example, if your materials cost $75.00 and it took you 10 hours to complete at $20/hour, your starting price will be $275.00.

Before you go and start pricing your art based on an hourly wage, there are more factors you will want to become familiar with.

Related Post: What Is Art Marketing – What You Need To Know To Sell Art

Size

Size does matter when it comes to pricing your artwork.

Larger-sized pieces should (but not in all cases) cost more than smaller pieces. You have to consider the cost of the materials and the amount of time spent on creating the art.

If you create assorted sizes, you will want to be consistent with your pricing scale.

Smaller pieces should cost less than large pieces. The cost of the materials and the time spent creating smaller pieces of art should cost less than larger pieces of art.

Your pricing should reflect the difference.

You might also find that your hourly wage will differ for the assorted sizes you offer.

For example, your smaller pieces of art might sell for $100.00, while your larger pieces sell for $175.00. The time spent on the larger pieces and the cost of the materials might lower your hourly wage. This will all change the more popular you become.

Price Your Artwork By Researching The Competition

The next step is researching artists with similar skill levels and artistic styles.

Start by searching for similar original art on Etsy and Pinterest.

If you are selling prints of your original artwork, go to Fine Art America or other similar POD sites, and research what artists are pricing for prints.

Keep track of any artists you find online that are at the same skill level as you are.

Write down their name, website, artist blog, and social media platforms they are on.

These people are your competition, and you will want to keep a close eye on them.

If they are increasing their prices, ask yourself, “Why?” Decide if that time is right for you to increase your prices.

Keep track of how many followers they have on social media.

If they have a more significant amount than you do, ask yourself, “What can I do better to increase my following?“

Keep an eye on their art blog.

• What topics are they covering?
• How many times do they publish content?
• How long are their posts?
• Do they have a call-to-action?
• Do they offer a way for a buyer to purchase from their blog?

Understanding what other artists are doing will help you with your pricing and also learn how to market your art more efficiently.

Do not copy them. Just learn from them.

Ask yourself, “How can I do that better?”  To sell your art online, you do not have to be perfect at marketing. You just have to be better than your competition.

After you have come up with a list of prices, you will want to find the average selling price.

Below is an example of how to figure out an average selling price:

Add all of the prices you have gathered.

• Art 1 – $100.00
• Art 2 – $75.00
• Art 3 – $95.00
• Art 4 $115.00
• 100 + 75 + 95 + 115 = 385
• Divide 385 by 4
• Average price = $96.25

The average price you come up with will give a good idea of what people are willing to spend on art that is similar to yours.

How To Price Original Artwork Overview

We have covered a lot of material. Now it is time to put it all together.

Answering the questions below will help you to make a better decision.

• How long have you been creating art?
• How long have you been selling your art?
• How much of your art do you sell in a year?
• How large is your following?
• What medium do you use?
• What is the cost of your supplies?
• What size is your artwork?
• How long does it take to complete your artwork?
• What are people willing to spend on art similar to mine?

Be Consistent With Your Art Prices

Now that you have a good idea of what you will be charging for your artwork, I would like to take a minute to talk about the importance of being consistent with your prices and when it might be a good time to increase your prices.

First, let’s talk about promoting your art online.

There are so many platforms available on the web for you to sell your original art and prints.

Many artists use multiple platforms for their art business, and there is nothing wrong with that as long as you can be consistent with the prices and inventory.

Nothing is more confusing to a buyer than seeing the same piece of art on multiple platforms with different prices.

It is even more frustrating when a buyer receives an email saying I am sorry that the product is no longer available.

Take the time to create a log for all of your prices and inventory.

When To Increase Your Art Prices

Some artists will increase their prices if the economy and sales are up.

They have a set percentage that they will use to increase their prices.

Remember that you will not want to raise the prices too high.

If you do, you will have a higher chance of losing the following you built.

Your buyers will understand a 10% or 15% increase and will probably still purchase more of your art if they love your style and the quality you offer.

If you notice that you cannot keep up with the demand, you might consider increasing your prices. Increase them in small increments to find the sweet spot.

If you notice that you are not selling any art, you might consider lowering your prices or promoting a sale. Again lower your prices in small increments.

Related Post: How You Can Increase Art Selling Prices

Art Pricing Calculator

Another solution for pricing your art is by using The Art Price Calculator.

The Art Price Calculator makes calculating your art a breeze. If you are not good at math, this might be a helpful tool for you.

All you have to do is add some simple details, and the Art Price Calculator will provide you with thousands of real-world examples.

You will receive an average price based on the specifics you specified.

This is an excellent tool for any artist selling art. You might not want to price your artwork according to their suggestions, but it will be a great tool to help you decide on your prices.

Art Marketing

Now it is time to get real.

It doesn’t matter how good your art is or how you price it. If no one knows you have art for sale, no one will buy it. If you are just starting to sell your art online, visit Sell Art Online Startup to help get you started.

You will learn everything you need to know to help you build a solid online art marketing plan.

The most successful artists are the ones who know the business inside and out.

Keep in mind they all started where you are now, not knowing anything. Stay motivated and keep focused on your dreams. Strive to learn something new every day.

Visit my Art Business – Art Marketing page to see over 400 articles I have written about selling art online.

Final Thoughts On How To Price Your Art

How to price your artwork is not a black and white question. Many variables will affect your pricing.

Take the time to research the market to determine an average price range that you should use for your artwork. The value of your art is nothing if no one is willing to purchase it. Price your artwork to sell.

As you build your brand, your artwork will become more valuable, and you will be able to charge more. Until then, be patient, create your best work, and build your name and brand.

Take the time to learn how to become an art marketing expert. Your art business counts on it.

How To Price Your Artwork Overview:

• Calculate Your Costs
• How Much Is Your Time Worth
• Size
• Research Competition
• How To Price Original Artwork Overview
• Be Consistent With Your Art Prices
• When To Increase Your Art Prices
• Art Pricing Calculator
• Art Marketing

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• How You Can Increase Art Selling Prices
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