It's not a secret that the majority of artists, be they beginners or full fledged veterans, have a love hate relationship when it comes to business. Particularly dealing with pricing their own work. For years I've searched and tried out many different "formulas" in regards to pricing my work "appropriately". Overall, they haven't really been effective for me (but I'm crap at marketing/selling myself anyways, so that's definitely a factor 😂). The few works I've ever been able to sell, I ended up working with the buyer one-on-one and pretty much negotiated what THEY thought was a fair price for each work they wanted. Now, is this a good tactic? Probably not. However, some of these "formulas" end up leaving my work definitely over priced in my opinion.
In 2023 I had made two portraits, Tuvalu and Sail over the Sun, for the Ohio Art League's Thumbox expo and, part of the requirements for the works as to provide prices, as all the works were available for purchase through the gallery.
Tuvalu (left) Sail over the Sun (right)
And, having no real experience "properly" pricing my work, I followed one of the recommended formulas that is said to be best for beginners. I think it was the width X length and possibly adding the cost of materials or something, I can't really remember the exact formula now 😂. All I do remember is is that it left me charging over $600 for each 6x6 canvas. Needless to say, they didn't sell (of course, very few of the exhibited works did sell apparently, so it might not have been just because of my bad pricing 😂.) and even my husband, who's admittedly not well versed in the world of art, thought the prices were a bit high. But what do I know? 😂 I'm just an artist!
And, yes, I know that one should be paid appropriately and yada yada yada. But, if beauty is in the eye of the beholder and art is what you make of it and all that jazz, how can anyone expect to properly know the legit value of art? Honestly, we need to all stop fooling ourselves and expecting art to be this "priceless" thing with infinite possibilities and meanings, while at the same time expecting it to be priced at a REALISTIC and fair value for consumers to be able to purchase and enjoy. We can't have our cake, eat it, and not get diabetes too 😂.
I think I'm more comfortable with charging for materials on top of a documented hourly wage, like any other job, and establishing a written contract with my potential clients when it comes to commissioned work. For non commissioned works, though, it's still that are of dread. Sure, I could do the same thing with those as I would a commission (account for material costs and keep track of how many hours/days I spend on each project) but that also poses a problem. One major one being that I'm a hoarder of art supplies 😂. I'm still in the process of using up all my art supplies that have an actual shelf life (like paints, markers, clay, etc). And I purchased these things YEARS ago (some legitimately more than 10 years ago and they're still good! 😂), so of course I have no clue how I much I spent on them at the time, and I'd feel a little bad charging for current prices of each material. Almost seems like fraud at that point, although it's not of course. 😂
So, I think I'll just go with the approach of going with my gut as far as pricing individual things. Like, for the two paintings I mentioned earlier, I don't think I'll charge anyone $600 plus like I had originally listed. I think I'd be happy with $300 each, or $500 for the set. The costs of the materials for each plus the hourly wage of even $10 an hour would really make them even more than $600 each, which, honestly, seems steep 😂.
Seeking advice, mentorship or just simple feedback on issues like this should be easy and even FREE, but in my experience over the years, it hasn't been either. So many people misinterpret my questions or intents half the time, trying to say that I'm short changing myself and that I should think more highly of myself and my work and so on and so forth; as if I don't think my work is worth, in this case, the $600 plus. And, truly, that's not the case. Am I a savant artist? 😂 😂 No way! Do I have talent and creativity? Definitely! No question in my mind about that, never has been nor will there ever be. I'm so creative I hate how many different ideas pop into my head every day! 😂 But, I don't have a big head about my abilities. I'm not a super talented artist, I still struggle with the basics (damn you perspective! 😂), and I'm constantly seeking out different ways and things to learn and try out. I don't own a gallery, I'm not a big name in the art world, none of that kinda stuff applies to me. And I'm AOK with that 😂. I just want to be fair to both me and my customers.
Knowing that someone is going to spend a buttload of money on my art instead of paying their bills doesn't sit well with me. Maybe because I know what it's like to struggle, to go to bed hungry, to be terrified I wont have a roof over my head tomorrow, next week, next month or next year. I don't know. But I do know that I would rather talk down my price with a client if I honestly suspected that my prices were a hardship on them. That's definitely a bad business practice on my part, I'm sure, but I don't have the desire to make it big off the backs of other peoples suffering. It's not me trying to be holier than anyone or whatever 😂. It's just me not wanting to treat others like I have been treated. And I've suffered from the cosmic forces that control the business world 😂. Is there a person who hasn't?
And of course I realize that that leaves me open to scammers and trashy people who would try and pull one over on me. Generally, I tend to spot those types right off the bat. Social media has been a good teacher in that regard 😂. And I've never had any issues being a whistleblower/exposer of scammers and D-bags that try and mess with me. Years of being bullied for XYZ were good teachers of that also 😂. So, for those situations, I'll just have to handle them case by case and hope for the best outcome in my favor. Pretty much live life as best I can like always 😂.
Well, that's enough belly aching about money 😂. I'm also procrastinating on making a commission/pricing page for my website because I dunno what to put! 😂. But I'll figure it out the best way I can, for sure! A couple of artists website offer free contract PDF's so I'm going to take a look at those and make my own. That way there'll be little to no questions for me or the client in regards to commissions. Which is always a good thing! I also have to figure out the new laws in regards to the money apps now too 😒. I'm not too keen on having my works taxed when the government that is taxing them doesn't even acknowledge art in ANY regard unless it makes THEM a profit. I wonder what can be a tax write off if you're an artist? 🤔 You probably have to make a certain amount or something to write anything off 😂. Oh well.
Till next time MMP Fans!