What's My Art Worth? A Look At Pricing Your Artwork

How many people have told you you're undercharging?

I regularly get told I'm undercharging... but how does an individual know that? Not only an individual, but someone outside my business (and often the world of art in general).

What makes art valuable? What makes one price right and another wrong?

In my humble opinion, there are really only three things that matter when it comes to pricing your art:

1. Skill

2. Scarcity

3. Tangible Value

It's not enough to just cover costs. That means you're working for free. You need to be setting a price that isn't too hot or too cold but just right. One that allows you to grow from your starting place and begin to turn a profit.

The Psychology of Pricing Your Art

Art pricing can range significantly, even for similar pieces by seemingly similar artists. How are you supposed to know what the best price is for you?

I remember one coach early on in my career telling me that marking work unavailable will drive scarcity and popularity - even if the pieces hadn't truly sold. Another coach told me that to accurately price your work, use square inch or just see what others were charging and charge that.

And one horrible, core moment in my cringey creative journey to find the price people were willing to pay, started with a well timed comment asking me why I was charging so much for a piece that wasn't even that good.

(A 9x12" abstract, $175... I deleted everything promptly after seeing the remark.) That way, no one could look upon my shame at not knowing why my work was worth anything, let alone the hundred and seventy-five I had asked for.

Now historically, paintings are the some of the most prized and assumed priceless works of art in the world. For example, the Mona Lisa, arguably the most famous painting ever, has an estimated worth of over a billion.

This leads to my hot take that painters can quite literally charge whatever they want because individuals are more likely to nod (rather than question) a large price tag on a painting.

Society at large has assumed that paintings, are just more valuable, though they can't necessarily say why.

Now depending on what you sell your price may already be set. Functional art tends to have a price cap that can be difficult to break beyond. A mug will almost always sit between $25-$45. Anything lower buyers will assume it's cheap and anything more the buyer will wonder if they're being overcharged. Any art on a mass produced item (thanks industrial revolution) or art that is a better made version of a mass produced item, becomes a battle of showcasing and explaining the value of investment.

But then of course, the individual wonders why make the investment when it's too nice to use. At this rate, it's hard to feel like the artist can win in any sale scenario.

Factors to Consider When Pricing Art

One of the easiest ways to confidently select a starting price is to assess your skill and to find artists in your arena that have similar:

1. Years selling

2. Skill level

3. Market Placement (where you're selling)

4. Audience size

This will give you a place to assess your price from:

Is your work not moving? Maybe it's priced too high.

Is it selling too fast? Maybe you need to increase your price.

Are you covering costs? Are you getting weird looks?

There's simply not enough space in this blog to put all the nuances that come with your starting price but it's only meant to be that: where you start to ask for the sale.

If you're not successful, then you can continue to look at why that might be.

Emotional Connection

If you emotionally price your work, I will slap you. 😤

No one loves the baby as much as the mother. This same principle is true when applied to art: just because you think you will never be able to make another piece like this one, doesn't mean it can be priced double what you would've priced it at if it was just moderately good.

Emotional pricing derails logic and in a consumeristic culture, you want your pricing to make sense. Your customer won't see the love you see when you look at this piece, they'll see price. And when they question you about it, because they will, the answer will not make sense if the only explanation you have is that you love it.

Cost of Materials and Labor

Please pay yourself. Cost x2 is where I started from because looking at an hourly wage is just depressing in the beginning (and in the middle). The reason why I like and still push for cost x2 especially for painters and 2D artists is because it is easy to remember and it allows you to make more work.

While most of us artists want those part-full time job paychecks right away, giving yourself an achievable starting place will make it easier as you work towards them. Don't feel embarrassed if you're only making $5 profit off a piece, everyone starts somewhere and it's usually at the abysmal beginning.

Everyone Is Influenced By Something

Scarcity and Urgency

If you're not hitting someone over the head like it's Black Friday 2001... you must not really want it. While you will be limited to the amount of originals you will make in your lifetime, I do think more collectors will be won over by the story you choose to tell in your work vs. a flashing sign declaring BLACK FRIDAY DEAL OF THE CENTURY.

While scarcity and urgency work in typical business scenarios, for the artist they can feel... soul sucking? There are ways to use these feelings in a way that build interest and make collectors feel special and there are ways they're used that erode at the uniqueness of your art by encouraging you to mimic what Target is doing at any one second.

Instead of creating more mass panic and FOMO, think about your work. Think about what makes it special and unique, take the time to highlight the slow nature of your process and the limited quantity of your art.

Use these qualities not to force people to decide and connect right now, but to build a relationship with an individual who wants to continuously invest not only in your work but also in you.

Where Is Your Tangible Value?

What can you point to in your work that carries tangible value? Are you making it with precious stones? Are you utilizing a difficult technique or firing process? Are you using high quality materials and pigment? Are you incorporating gold leaf, exotic woods, or fibers?

The overlapping components of your work are tangible areas of value you can point to. Flesh out your process, talk about the difficult nature of putting together your pieces. Find the obvious parts that boost the value of each piece of art.

I can tell you right now, a simple frame around my paintings have made them look hundreds of dollars more expensive.

The tangible areas of your price work with the intangible; meaning that when you weave your story, (why you make your work) with what your work is made of, it will help you reach the price tag you're looking for. Selling art is an individual process with some parts that overlap with others experiences, but mostly it's full of distinctive moments that will define your art and your art alone.

There is no such thing as the right pricing strategy for artists. It's always been about finding the price you can ask for and feel good about while doing so.

TL/DR: your art is always worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it.