It often takes a good amount of time attaining a painting to the phase where you’re appeased with it is strenuous. Concluding a price for it can be more burdensome. Make your art look worthless by pricing to low can be the worst. Not to mention you are most likely going to also lose money rather than make it. On the other hand overprice yourself and you risk never selling anything. Your personality, experience, and stage your art career is at can be good determining factors for how you decide to approach the it.
The mild avenue can be easiest when you are first beginning. All paintings that are the same size all have the same price tag, regardless of the subject, how long it you to finish it, or how much you happen to like it. Your price list set out by size, with an additional set premium for commissioned paintings over finished paintings.
Then there are a few more complex avenues for pricing your art.
The first is to spend time visiting galleries and studios in your area and target market(s) look for similar type of art and note what it is selling for. Retail yours to compete. Selling directly only can open the opportunity to offer "special deals" to make people feel like they’re getting a bargain (not through a gallery).(If you’re also selling through a gallery, never undercut their prices as you’ll undermine your business arrangement with them.)
Moving on now to a more mathematical avenue where the price is measured by the area. For this you must decide on a price for a square inch (or centimeter), then multiple the area of a painting by this, then round it up to a sensible figure. Most people will use a calculator for this approach, but if you can do it with mental arithmetic then you never have worry about a client who wanted to buy the painting off your easel getting bored standing around while you hunt for one. Personally I do not use this method.
Time to walk side by side down the avenue with those who collect your art. You got it. Looking through the collectors eyes sometimes can be very beneficial. Not just thinking outside the canvas but thinking inside the investors needs. Some people who buy art do it for investment reasons, and they want to believe the value of the painting they have of yours is increasing. Read enough financial news to know what the current rate of inflation is, and be sure to increase your prices annually by at least this much. I tend to use this approach often.
Not at all opposed to strolling down the creative avenue I will also price this way at times. Have a good tale to tell with every painting, hinting at it in the title, to create a sense of buying a bit of the artist’s creativity, not just a produce. Write or print it out on a little card to go with the painting to its new home. (Be sure to put your contact details on it.) Hide your prices in the small print because it's so uncreative to talk about money.
Nonetheless, the medium used can also be another way to configure a proper pricing. Oil paintings of mine are priced higher than any other medium.
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