How to Price Your Art to Sell

As artists we like to focus on the making of art, not so much the selling of it, right? But in order to continue making our art and doing what we love, we need to be able to sell it. So the number one question artists will always ask is… “How do I price my art?”

Well, that is a very complicated question, but a simple answer is… “It depends”. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to pricing your art. What you will be able to sell you art for depends on a multitude of variables, such as your ability as an artist, the marketability (or demand) of your type of work, how well established you are and so on. Now, if you’re a new artist just starting out or if you’ve been creating art for a while and you’re looking to start selling it, there’s no need to fret! There are strategies and pricing structures that you can put in place to build a customer base and thus increase the value of your work. 

We would all like to start out selling our pieces for several hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But the simple truth is that without demand or even knowledge of your work or yourself as an artist, it simply isn’t going to happen! However, as a new artist to the marketplace you have the unique opportunity to establish buyers who can grow with you, perhaps into avid collectors of your artwork. And the simple fact of the marketplace is that collectors mean demand and demand means increased sales as well as heightened prices for your work. But before we get too carried away, let’s take a step back and look at how we can price our art to get to this point.

As an entry-level artist, you need to look to sell to entry-level buyers, which will inevitably mean entry-level prices. And again, these prices can depend on the particular market you’re looking to sell to and the type of work you are trying to sell. You’ll need to do some research. Find some similar artists in your area or similar pieces for sale – what is the common price point? It may be very low, $20-$40 dollars or it might be quite promising, $50-$100. Either way, you need to find a reasonable price point to start with. If you find your works sell quickly, you could even consider raising your average price point.

Once you’ve sold your first few paintings, you should be starting to create a customer base. This doesn’t necessarily need to only include people who have purchased your work, you may have come across people who are genuinely interested in your work that you could include in your customer base to market to in the future. The idea here is not so much focusing on selling your artwork right now, but establishing ways in which you can continue you to sell your art. 

So, make sure you align your pricing with the current marketplace you’re trying to sell to. You don’t need to continue selling at the initial price points you establish, remember that as your customer base increases, so too can your average price point.