Pricing Your Work

These are a few things to keep in mind when determining the selling price of your work.

• Is the piece matted, gallery ready, framed, unframed, on a stand or podium?
• What might the shipping charges be for its size and weight?
• Will your piece be on exhibit at a gallery that is taking a percentage while it is also on this site where it could sell here as well?
• What is the cost of materials that you have put into it?
• Are you an artist that looks more at time put into the work's creation or the skill level that shows in the outcome of the piece?
• What will it cost to insure the piece for the entire purchase amount when it is shipped?

Here is an example to consider:

You have put 30 hours into a painting. The piece was professionally framed and the frame cost $350.00 with your artist's discount, but would have run $425.00 without it. You figured you have about $30.00 into supplies. You also have put out six portfolios that are being reviewed by galleries. You also determine that you want a minimum of $700.00 for your time and skill.

Adding the figures above gives you the bare minimum that needs to come back to you of $1,155.00. Most galleries take between 40%-60% commission. To figure out the necessary markup to achieve your desired payment, use this formula:

If a gallery were to take 50% the selling price would be found by using the formula:

If you then add a 10% commission from another agency, the total commissions become 60%, so:

You decide that the shipping will be approximately $40.00 with the insurance included. You also forgot to include packaging materials of roughly $20.00. So now you need to add $60.00 to the minimum markup of $1,155.00 and use the formula again. You now know you would need to price your piece a minimum of $3,037.50 in order for you to get the $1,155.00 that you wanted for yourself at the start.

Please see the packaging and shipping section of this site for information on those subjects.