My Pricing Story
When I first started selling my art, I had no clue what I was doing, and had no real pricing philosophy at all. At first I priced my work way too low, then way too high. Then I heard that many artists price their work by the square inch. Once I figured that out, I started pricing this way as well. Originally, I multiplied the length by the width to find the square inch. Since I started by pricing my work at $1/sq inch, the square inch was also the price--super easy!. The problem that I found was that the small paintings were too cheap and I found myself reluctant to work on them. The large paintings were too expensive and nobody was buying them. Yet the mid-sized paintings remained at a decent price point for an emerging artist in my area. Not bad, but I wanted a better system that could handle all price points. Get ready for some number crunching!
Table Showing $1/square inch:
After doing some research on how to keep the prices from spreading out so much, I switched to pricing my work by the lineal inch. To calculate, just add the length plus the width of the painting then multiply by a multiplier (this is set according to your skill/experience). This created a price structure that was closer to the middle. I started with a $7/lineal inch multiplier.
Each painting, no matter the size, needs to go through a similar creative process to create, compose and refine an idea. Of course large paintings take more time and materials to complete, but the creation process is the same. Therefore, I think that the human talent component of pricing my artwork shouldn’t be so spread out. This is why I switched to pricing my paintings by the lineal inch. Also, as my experience increases, and the value of my paintings increase, and also factoring in the market conditions, this is the area of my price that will increase. Every August, I ask myself if I should raise my multiplier. I use these principles to guide my decision (found by clicking here.) . Here's a chart showing a more current pricing structure (price does not include materials/framing costs).
I think that materials are best calculated using the square inch method, since small paintings use proportionately less paint and canvas to create than large paintings. I currently use a multiplier of $0.30/square inch. It may go up or down, based on the cost of the materials I’m using. It’s nice having a separate line item for materials, so that I have the flexibility to change as needed.
As for finishing/framing. I try to find the best value without compromising quality. I currently use a wholesale frame company that provides me with custom-cut frames that I assemble myself. I find that this gives me control over the finished look while also keeping the cost low for my collectors. (I’d rather they spend the money on the art, rather than the frame!)
That took a lot of explanation to get to this point, but here we are...this is how I currently price my pieces, when I enter one of my paintings to the market. I calculate the three components and add them together. I used to price my paintings to the nearest cent. But after a while, I stopped doing that. Often the galleries I worked with changed them automatically anyway. So now I round the price to the nearest $5. Hopefully the table below makes it easier to understand my calculation process: