What to charge

Hey guys,

I'm entering a local art show for three of my photographs. They are printed on 11x14 10 inch square images done in black and white Ilford FB multigrade paper, archivaly processed. The question I need answered is... What to charge? The requirement is that submitted art work has to be gallery ready. So these will obviously be hinged mounted on 4 ply cotton rag Matt board and framed too.

ToddB

ONE---HUNDRED---BILLION---DOLLARS!!
~ Dr. Evil ~

This is a hard question. Too cheap - problem, to expensive - also problem. I would go for costs of material plus 100-150$.

darkosaric said:

This is a hard question. Too cheap - problem, to expensive - also problem. I would go for costs of material plus 100-150$.

Click to expand...

I agree.

Jeff

What is the local market like there? How good is your art? Do you need to recover more than your materials costs? How long is a piece of string? Do you actually want the item to sell?

Seriously, this kind of market research is inherently local; we can't answer for you.

Yeah, best thing I can say is to scout around some local artsy shops and see what others are getting. Or at least, what they're asking, but just like on fleabay that's no guarantee of whether they'll sell.

I've seen great (but probably inkjet) photos going for as little as $50-100 around here, and some others shot on iphones (they said so in the bio) that may be a decent subject but are technically terrible (eg CA like rainbows in the corners), and asking $400. Not that they're exactly walking out the door at those prices.

Sometimes good art works like a Veblen Good, it's more desirable if you up the price. You could always steal a page from the restaurants I've worked in, cost of ingredients and double it. It's a good starting point.

some folks charge $1 / square inch of the image size ...

( and then include cost of materials, which are usually tripled )

Is the show/sponsoring organization asking for a piece of the pie? I ask that question as I prepare an entry for a prestigeous show which has an entry fee, requires me be a dues paying member of their organization and requests a 50% donation back to the organization on any work sold in their show. The equation becomes a little more complicated.

+1

Purse problem

There are women who will buy a $15,000 "designer" purse when a $15 knockoff will do the same job. If I saw two women walking down the street, one with the $15,000 purse and one with a cheap one, I would not be able to tell the difference. But some people can. And it is those people that the $15,000 purse buyer wants to impress. She spends the stupid amount of money to advance her ego and status. How much ego and status will your photograph help the buyer advance when the buyer places it on a wall in their home? Now, a very expensive purse is probably hand-sewn out of fine leather and well made. But that accounts for only a small part of the crazy selling price. Your photos, it seems, are hand made and finely crafted out of first class goods. So they are worth something. How much? You have to take a look at what things are selling for in your community, in your gallery, and guess. Pricing is an art, not a science.
PS-- lots of guys spend too much money on dumb stuff, too. I am not picking on the ladies.

Take a look here.

http://www.photoshelter.com/resources/how-to-sell-prints

just wondering how it went? what price did the op settle on? why?

Thanks

+1

David.
www.dsallen.de