How To Price Your Artwork And When To Raise Prices

So I get asked this question a lot, "How much should I sell my artwork for? and When should I raise my prices?" Now, this is a pretty tricky little topic, but I think for beginners this article might really help you out and get you through the first couple of years when trying to sell your artwork and for how much. These are 12 things to consider about the prices of your art and when and how to raise prices. 

MAKE A QUALITY ART PRODUCT 

UNDERSTAND THE COST TO MAKE YOUR ART

HOW MUCH EXPOSURE YOU HAVE CREATED

HOW MANY ART PIECES YOU MAKE AND SHOW

YOUR AUDIENCE DETERMINES YOUR PRICES

RAISE YOUR PRICES EVERY YEAR

YOU CAN ALWAYS RAISE PRICES BUT NEVER LOWER PRICES

OK TO BE A STARVING ARTIST... FOR A LITTLE BIT

SHOW YOUR COLLECTORS WHY YOUR PRICES ARE GOING UP

PRICE YOUR ART TO BE ABLE TO BE IN AN ART GALLERY

ITS NOT YOUR MONEY 

ADDING PRINTS AND REPRODUCTIONS

MAKE A QUALITY ART PRODUCT

You can't charge a ton of money for a piece if it's not really finished that well or, it's just kind of in that beginner stage or poor craftsmanship. So, you know, you need to have your name on there, title of the piece written on the back, ready to hang a finished quality, something that you just something that you ran out of time on. This is going to play a big role in what the buyer is going to see and how they're going to value your artwork.

UNDERSTAND THE COST TO MAKE YOUR ART

The cost to make your art is important. If it costs you $100 to make it, you don't want to sell for $80. You also might not be able to sell it for $3,000. So you kind of have to figure out where a little happy medium is. If you spend $50 in paint/materials, selling at $100 is great. Yeah, you might get not that much money for your time, but we're talking about those early steps of getting out there, start establishing prices and figuring out what it costs you to make it and what the collector will pay for it.

For me, my work is really expensive to make and it's very time consuming. So in the beginning when I was charging not very much, maybe $80 for an 18 x 24" original, I was losing money or barely breaking even. But I was able to sell a lot of pieces, gain experience from practicing sales, and getting exposure. I was also getting feedback from collectors, I was able to keep the art business moving forward, even though I was making very little profit. But the knowledge I gained from that time and confidence i got was priceless.

(R) Retail: cost of art online, in galleries, at art markets and festivals

(W) Wholesale: The amount of money the gallery will give you for your art.

(M) Manufacturing Material Cost: How much it costs to make art, cost of materials, studio space, etc

(L) Labor in Hours Making art: How many hours to paint your artwork

(CL) Cost of Labor: Up to you but be real and start as low as possible.

(S) Selling Labor: How much time do you spend on selling your work, art festivals, galleries, online, instagram 

(P) How Much you would like to profit. Its ok to not profit for a little bit while you grow your business. Don't quite your day job

R = W x 2

W = (2M +10%) + (L x CL) + S + P

Use this equation or one like it (I'm not a math expert) to figure out your prices. You will see your retail goes up real quick the more you cost per hour gets as well as when you start having to wholesale to the art galleries.

HOW MUCH EXPOSURE YOU HAVE CREATED

Another thing to consider is how much exposure you've received. If you've gotten articles written about you, if you've done a lot of art shows, if you're showing your artwork in galleries, art festivals, coffee shops etc, all these things help contribute to how much you can sell your art for.

It always goes up in slow steps. So don't think that you got one article you can triple your prices, you really want to inch your way up. How much exposure you have does play in to how much you can charge for your art, but at the end of the day, if you're not selling, your art is bad and or your prices are too high. Slow and steady wins the race. Exposure is great but also be careful. If someone asks you to do a project for free, but the "Exposure will be great for you" I would say that is often not the case. Exposure for you is only good if it can result in sales, traffic to your website, or get new collectors emails.

HOW MANY ART PIECES YOU MAKE AND SHOW

How many pieces do you make?  if you only make one or two pieces a year because you're kind of just a hobbyist, you're going to have a hard time raising your prices, or getting the prices you think you deserve. People want to collect from an artist who is committed to the art game.

The more art pieces you make, the more you're going to be able to show, get feedback on them, sell them. All of this is going to help you raise your prices. If you only make ten pieces total, it can be really hard to charge a lot for them. Make more art. Get more experience. Show more art. Slowly raise your prices.

If you're making hundreds and hundreds of art pieces, it becomes easier to charge higher prices for them. And a lot of it just comes from confidence of having experience, being written up in magazines, doing art shows, selling art, and doing all the stuff that helps give you the confidence to raise your prices. You get more the more you make. The more you make the better you get at it. The better you get at it the more you can charge, the more you charge the more you can spend on making better art. It fuels itself.

YOUR AUDIENCE DETERMINES YOUR PRICES

It's not just how much your artwork cost to make, it's if collectors are buying it. Your audience and the people collecting your work determine how much your artwork is worth. You may think it's worth $10,000 and your mom does too, but that's not what people are willing to spend on your art, at least not yet. The collectors determine how much your art is. If you start selling your artwork at a price point where no one's buying it, then your cost is probably too high. The audience really gives you the feedback of what you're able to charge. That is why you need to get out there and start showing and selling your work. Start low, start humble. Slowly raise your prices when you can t keep your art in stock. Selling out means that you're doing something right. Don't raise your prices the second you sell out. Be busy, stay busy, get over whelmed with too much demand. Be back ordered for 6 months to a year. Then raise your prices 10% then stay busy for 6 months then raise them again 10%. Slow and steady if you are busy.

RAISE YOUR PRICES EVERY YEAR

I generally raise my prices every year. Every six months we kind of increment our way up to higher prices. Now you don't have to double or triple your artwork price every time. Doing small increments along the way can help you get confidence and raising prices your prices at a steady rate like 5% or 10% is a safe number that wont discourage collectors. Try 10$, try 25$ a little bit can make all the difference. Now you can buy that expensive brush, or buy 2 canvases for everyone you sell. Every penny helps move the needle forward.

YOU CAN ALWAYS RAISE PRICES BUT NEVER LOWER PRICES

You always can raise your prices, but it's really difficult to lower your prices. Spend a year not making much money on your artwork, but able to grow from there, versus trying to come in hot and being like, "This piece is $700", but no one buys it. Then next time you're at a show, you're like, "This is $600" and then no one buys it or the people that are looking at your work and having interest but your prices going down. This is not a good sign in my opinion.

I think you should start low, sell your artwork, get it moving, get practice selling it, get practice with the collector, closing the sale, doing all that and then you can raise your prices. People often overestimate what they can do in a year and they underestimate what they can do in ten years. So don't think of this as a short term thing. If you want to be a professional artist, you're going to be doing this the rest of your life.

OK TO BE A STARVING ARTIST... FOR A LITTLE BIT

It's okay to spend a year in that sort of starving artist situation, but remember, that's just a phase of being an artist, and it's usually in the very beginning when you're figuring out how much to sell your artwork and you might not be making very much money or just breaking even. But you can grow from there. The more artwork you do, the more shows you do, the better you're going to get at it. Don't let the starving artist persona define you. People want to see their favorite up and coming artist succeed. They will be happy for your success because it will confirm what they believed. That you are a talented artist and they made the right choice in rooting for you.

SHOW YOUR COLLECTORS WHY YOUR PRICES ARE GOING UP

It's going to be hard for collectors to see the value in new higher prices if you don't improve. Always be improving your work, getting better at it, making a better product for collectors and the art galleries. If your art is improving, getting better, quality is going up, more exposure, better art booths, your confidence is growing, you are becoming a better all around artist, the collectors who have been watching you will take notice and see the value in your art prices increasing.

PRICE YOUR ART TO BE ABLE TO BE IN AN ART GALLERY

Art galleries generally take around 50% of the total sale. So if you get into an art gallery, you will want to raise your prices up. And you also don't want to compete with the gallery, you don't want to go to an art festival or art market and sell your prices at wholesale, or less than the art gallery is selling them for. If you do, you're going to burn that bridge real quick with the art gallery and probably not get into any other art galleries in that area, why? because all the art galleries talk to each other. It's a small art community, so play it safe. be cool, the only person who is going to get short changed is you.

You'll have to sell all you artwork at. the same retail price as the art gallery, no matter where your art is, even online. Getting into galleries is a good way to help you raise your prices and help you gain more confidence when you're selling at those higher prices.

Now, you won't be making the retail price of  $300 out of the gallery, you'll be making $150 from the gallery. So it' might be a little pay cut from what you're used to making at the art markets, but you're in a good position to grow and start raising your prices. Now more people will see your art and getting more collectors interested in your work.

ITS NOT YOUR MONEY 

When you are pricing your artwork, it's important to price your artwork in a way that it doesn't deter people from buying it. Remember that it's your not your money that's being spent. Often when you're starting out as an artist, you're often pretty broke. So $500 can seem like a fortune to you. But for someone else who owns their home and has a steady income and they want it, art makes them happy and they love looking at it on the wall. $500 isn't that much. Remember it's not your money that is being spent on your artwork. Collectors have a different relationship with money than you do. 

A good way to price artwork is going to Art Fair and look around and see what other artists are charging. If you're going to go do an art festival, it's great to have seen that art festival before. Find out the prices of other people. Try to figure out where you sit in as a new artist. It's it's really good to have an understanding of what people are selling around you. It's going to give you a really good baseline of where you should start out. It's okay to go to your first show and sell your artwork for rock bottom prices and sell out your work. You're going to be so stoked.

Yeah, you might just break even, but when you're a beginning artist it is a huge win. It is going to give you confidence and motivation to keep going and to get better at it and work on it and make more artwork.

ADDING PRINTS AND REPRODUCTIONS

Adding reproductions to your your line of artwork is a great way to increase how much money you're making. Start raising your prices is when you have another product to come in behind it and help support those lower, more affordable price points. If you start selling matted prints, you can raise you original prices. If you add aluminum or canvas giclee, you can raise your originals. It’s great to have artwork in all the price points for collectors to become fans no matter what their budget is.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you dedicate yourself and work your butt off and get out there and start showing your work, start low, work your way up, you'll be as surprised of what you can achieve. And it doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen in a year. It takes a couple of years to get to a point where you're starting to be confident in your shows. But you have to start somewhere. Start now, find out the closest and cheapest art craft fair, art market you can get into and sign up. You’d be amazed how quickly you can go from your first art fair to making $50,000 a year selling your artwork. 

If you dedicate yourself and have a lot of discipline in how you approach your shows, your artwork and just learning about the business in general, you're going to find that it goes really quick. Be prepared for that. It's super fun and I wish you the most of luck.

For more information about becoming a professional artist check out my website  Welzie Art

 5 tips for Making Art Prints for beginners

Once you dive in to the world of selling your artwork you will want to start selling prints. It’s like a musician selling albums.  A musician doesn’t want to perform live overnight, they want to see a recording of their best work. This is the same for an artist. You want to make artwork that is awesome, then sell prints of that artwork so you can continue to get financial gains from that artwork. If you are going to start doing prints of your artwork, here are a few tips I have from my experience selling prints of my artwork online and in my Maui Art Gallery

Tip #1 Quality Art Scans

Get high quality Images of your artwork. You’re looking for the highest resolution possible without breaking the bank. Can use a professional, or rent a camera, or try your phone depending on budget. Use natural light if doing it yourself, best on a lightly overcast day.

Tip #2 Use Standard Sizes

Plan on using standard sizing, 5x7, 8x10 and 11x14 for your artwork. Not only will this make your prices for making prints the most affordable, they will fit in standard frames, matts and bags etc. Start making your originals the sizes that can scale down to these sizes. Remember that 5x7 is actually an 8x10 Matt and bagged. And 8x10 is 11x14 and a 11x14 is 16x20

Also stick to one size at first. Variety is great, but it is a total hassle. I basically just do 11x14 to keep it simple. Id not have to have excessive inventory, or too many variants on pricing.

Tip#3 Choose top selling Designs first

Choose your prints based on what has sold or got the most attention. By doing this you can narrow down what you need to get printed. It is really frustrating having 400$ in prints that are not selling. Order or print 2-3 prints of a new piece if you’re unsure what the print response will be.

Tip#4 Package your art professionally

Put a bio sticker on the back of your print with a brief bio, picture of you the artist. Your website, email, and social media, so the collector can easily contact you if needed. My stickers are black and white 4’x4” and placed in the center of the back. No need for title etc on back of matted print.

Also Sign your prints. I sign mine on front right corner in black Posca pen. Sign your prints how you want but make sure that the artist name is visible to the person viewing the artwork.

Tip #5 Price accordingly

Paper prints have a lower price point than originals. Generally between 20-55$ for an 11x14 matted paper print. If you retail for 20$ that means you will only get 10$ wholesale if you sell to a gallery or boutique. Be conscience of your price. Also this is an affordable product so don’t give away too much value. For these small prints you don’t need to do a limited edition. Save those for the canvas or aluminum reproductions. 

Bonus Tip: Print your own prints. This will cost you some money in the beginning but you will save so much more by doing it yourself. You can do smaller print runs, try get the colors right before printing hundreds of dollars only to find out the colors are off. You can sell online and print to order. You can have a stack of paper ready to print. Its so much cheaper to do it yourself.

If you’re wondering what printer I recommend the Canon Pixima Pro 1000

The ink is the same quality ink used on the commercial printers, but it's a desktop. You only need to print 8x10 anyway so don’t pay for your prints to be done on a big expensive printer when you can get the same quality for cheaper. A printer won’t fix a bad scan or bad art, so make good art, get good scans, print it write, package it right and then get out there and start to show your work. Stay inspired. Aloha

Make sure to check out my artwork here in my Online art gallery 

Or See my artwork at the Welzie Art Gallery at the ANDAZ RESORT in Wailea Maui Hawaii

What Lahaina Means to Me as a Maui Artist

Lahaina has been the arts center of the Hawaiian islands for decades, with more art galleries in one square block than anywhere else in the archipelago. As a young artist going to the University of Hawaii at Manoa and trying to navigate the art world, showing my artwork in Lahaina seemed like a pipe dream. Lahaina is where the top artists show their work, and I still had a lot to learn. This is my experience as a young artist getting to show my work for the first time on the famous Front Street of Lahaina, Maui.

As my art career began to take off in my late 20’s I was able to get into a group surf art show at the Wyland Gallery in Haleiwa on Oahu.  This was a huge step for me as I had spent most of my 20's being denied wall space. The Annual Surf Art Show was a success and I was fortunate to sell a lot of pieces (They were very affordable then) . Getting into the Wyland Gallery was a giant leap for me as an artist as the Wyland art gallery brand is in my opinion the most prestigious art gallery in Hawaii.
After a year at the Wyland Haleiwa location, the owner of the gallery decided to try me out at some of her other gallery locations on Oahu. This was great for me as I was fully committed to make the art business work and wanted to get my art in front of as many people as possible. As was being coveted by many new art collectors, the owner of the gallery decided I was ready to be shown in Lahaina.

Everything always felt surreal when working with the galleries. I could not believe it when the offer was presented. A gallery director would say something in passing as I was dropping of new artwork and then next thing you know I would be packing art to deliver to the next gallery. With Lahaina, the gallery that I would be showing in was the Signature Gallery. A gallery that represented Jim Carrey, Dr. Seuss, Nano Lopez,  Heather Brown and more. This was a great stepping stone for the 30 year old Welzie, a surfboard building resin artist from the North Shore, Oahu.

I created a small body of work for the Front Street Lahaina art gallery and sent it over a couple weeks prior to my art show and I got lucky, a couple pieces had sold in the first week. I was so excited. I really felt like my art career was taking off and that I was finally doing something right, after feeling like I had been doing everything wrong for so long. Before I island hopped over to Maui, I packed a few more pieces and headed to the Valley Isle.

When Arriving on Maui it was hot and windy, I had a box of art, a backpack and a smile. I had hit the big time. Inter island travel as an artist. waiting to be picked up by my represented art gallery for a big art show in the art center of the Pacific Ocean. I envisioned all my art selling off the wall and spending the rest of the evening buying rounds of drinks for everyone at the local bar. It was going to be an amazing night.

I didn’t notice my chauffeur pulling up to the curb at Kahului Airport because it was a sketchy white Astro van, not exactly what I was expecting. The gentleman yelled "Welzie!" and I hoped into the passenger seat, eager to get out of the heat. Here we go I thought. As we headed west to Lahaina, Mike my driver and I talked art the whole way. He ran the warehouse and kept all the galleries supplied with art and packed paintings to ship all over the world. As we made to 30 min drive out to the westside I got a much better understanding of the art scene in Maui and how lucky I was to be showing my art work on Front Street. 

I had only been to Lahaina once before on a trip with my family in the early 2000's. The little narrow street was glowing with energy and I looked in awe at each of the art galleries like a child seeing real life dinosaurs. It was magical. Me, an artist, arriving on Front Street for an art show, being escorted by a driver (though in a sketchy van) to show my artwork with Hawaii’s top Artists. Wow, it was like a dream, and it still is to be honest.

I jumped out of the van and went straight into the gallery as Mike took off to another gallery to pick up a few pieces that had sold the previous day. Wow I thought, this is where art is happening. Entering the gallery no one noticed me and I couldn't find my art. Not the red carpet experience I was hoping for a North Shore surf artist with 18x24" originals selling for 350$ would expect. As I approached the sales team, and introduced myself, “Hi, I..am…uh…Welzie” 

Greeted with Aloha, I soon found my work on a back wall and started talking story with the sales team. They were so nice and helpful, suggesting pieces that might work well in Lahaina. Once I got a few more pieces hung up, I headed to my hotel to get settled and have a bite to eat.

Walking Front Street is such an experience. Being right on the water, watching surfers ride waves while tamed parrots squak at you for pictures. An old hippy asks if you need some pakalolo, while locals are throwing shakas to all their friends and family. Lahaina is a magical place and you can feel the energy and aloha strolling the old narrow streets of Lahaina town. 

After checking into the historic Pioneer Inn I think about all the artists who have stayed in the same hotel before me. Showing artwork in Lahaina is a right of passage for many Hawaii artist. Lahaina is the most well known art town in the state and was once one of the highest selling art towns in the country. As the sun started to settle over Molokai I was filled with gratitude that I have the opportunity to share my work in such a historic Hawaiian art town.

As the art show began I got to visit with the art dealers and watch Front Street come alive. So many people from all walks of life passed by the small gallery space. For someone like me who loves people watching it was so entertaining. The night went on and not too many people stopped into the gallery. I got to chat with a few interesting people but it wasn’t till the end of the night when my first piece sold. A small 12x16” shave ice art piece. The family was really nice and their kids favorite part of the trip was the daily shave ice after the beach. 

It was a humbling experience showing my art work for the first time in Lahaina. It was so much more than I expected. Though I didn’t sell as much art as needed to make the trip profitable, I did get to experience the Lahaina art scene. I knew this was a place important for me to be showing my artwork and that even though it wasn’t a perfect evening, I had to improve. This is where all the top dogs are. This is where you need to have representation. This is Hawaii’s art mecca.

Over the years my work got better and I eventually got my artwork into the Wyland gallery on Front Street. For me this was a major accomplishment. In my opinion the Wyland gallery is the top gallery and to have any wall space in the ocean front gallery is truly a blessing. Lahaina makes artist step up their art game, become better and more professional at their craft, and keep them humble at the same time. Thank you Lahaina for all that you have taught me. I will pass the lessons you taught me to the next generation of Maui artist striving to show their work in the historic art town of Lahaina Maui.

Welzie Surf Art

Welzie Art 

Welzie Surf Art

Welzie Surf Art

Welzie surf art

Welzie Surf Art

Kailua Mokes Welzie Hawaii art

Makeup by Welzie art

Painting Day Time Lapse

Here is an old video we just found of a day of resin painting in a driveway while on the road.

Welzie Art Time Lapse 2013 from Welzie Art on Vimeo.

Welzie Fish

This fish has been a subject that has been painted a lot lately. Something about graduating to more detail and color than the line fish I have been painting for so long. Here is the Big Fish again, for the first time in resin on a 30" x 48" piece. The color in the background is so deep on this one as it took layer after layer to get it where I wanted it to go. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Makapu'u Original Resin Art Piece

Here is a recent landscape piece made after a fun day of body surfing Makapu'u Beach. After hours in the water I came in and saw what a great panoramic view it was from the sand looking out. A couple quick sketches and later on in the week I was working on this piece which is 24" x 60". Hope you enjoy.

North Shore Palm Trees

New piece all framed up. "Four Palms" heading to the Wyland Gallery in Haleiwa on Oahu's North Shore.

Acrylic on Canvas Paintings

With a new studio, I have been painting a lot of acrylic on canvas pieces and getting to work in a bit larger of a format than resin art. Here is a new fish piece, one of the first canvas paintings I have done in years.

Welzie North Shore Art Studio

The home studio is really coming along with some big new canvas paintings in the works. Here is a photo of whats getting some color on the North Shore of Oahu.