Posted by Jeff Rhodes on August 7, 2007 at 11:28 AM
I will be selling my photos at my first art show in a couple weeks. I plan on having framed prints for display only and selling matted/bagged photos for sale (as well as greeting cards). I also have the same prints available on my web site as just prints. I am selling my 5x7 show prints for $20 but on my web site I list them for $7 (no mat). How do others handle pricing?
That makes sense. The web store has a lot less overhead. The show prints require more work, transportation/setup expenses etc. and obviously include instant delivery - all of which justify a somewhat higher price tag.
Guy
Posted by Ron Niebrugge on August 7, 2007 at 12:55 PM
I feel like the cost of overhead has little if anything to do with what I charge for a print. We charge $25 for a 5x7 no matter where we sell them with one exception - we sell to galleries for half that amount. This way the gallery can double the price and still be selling for the same price as we charge. The last thing I want to do is undercut a gallery.
Galleries can be an important market and I think a lot of times photographers set there prices so low they don't leave themselves enough room to sell to a gallery and still make a profit.
The advice we are given at school is to set a price you can live with and then keep it consistent (assuming the item is the same; obviously adding a mat or a frame will increase the price). The reasoning being that if someone buys your work at one show and then sees it somewhere else for less it may be confusing and possibly alienate someone who might buy your work again in the future.
I think you have to respond to your market. I would like to get $25 for a 5x7, and I could in Saint Louis, but where I live now people don't have any money. At the local Elk Festival I sold two 5x7s for $5, but I had $.50 in the prints, envelope and the inserted business card. I sold probably $350 worth when nobody was selling any big, framed prints.
I try to have a range of products, and "grab and go" stuff sets my base. They are moving very well for me in settings where they don't sell art. At the same show I sold 24x36's for $120 as well. I sold 5x7s framed for $10 to $14 depending on the frame. I imagine people would think I was crazy with these prices, but I moved a lot of stuff. I actually sold more than an established local painter who has been in this market 17 years. His cheapest print, numbered and limited editions, are $40. He had his worst show in 10 years. I think the economy is very hard right now and we need to adapt. People around here are generally low income.
Discussion
4 repliesGuy
Galleries can be an important market and I think a lot of times photographers set there prices so low they don't leave themselves enough room to sell to a gallery and still make a profit.
I try to have a range of products, and "grab and go" stuff sets my base. They are moving very well for me in settings where they don't sell art. At the same show I sold 24x36's for $120 as well. I sold 5x7s framed for $10 to $14 depending on the frame. I imagine people would think I was crazy with these prices, but I moved a lot of stuff. I actually sold more than an established local painter who has been in this market 17 years. His cheapest print, numbered and limited editions, are $40. He had his worst show in 10 years. I think the economy is very hard right now and we need to adapt. People around here are generally low income.
Michael Dougherty
Compton, Arkansas