HOW TO PRICE YOUR SMALL PAINTINGS
I’ve been asked how I would recommend pricing small paintings. . Pricing is such an individual thing. There is no formula. I suppose we’ve all been thinking about this as long as we’ve been painting. This is what I’ve come up with after thinking about it for the last few days: use your head, your heart and your stomach.
You have to be realistic in your pricing. Maybe the best thing to do is treat your paitnting as you would a piece of real estate; get estimates from three different professionals (ie. Gallery owners). Also you can do comps as they do in real estate, ie look whats on the market and compare yourself to them and price accordingly.
Next, check in with your heart to see if you agree with their consensus. Make any adjustments you feel necessary (either up or down).
Finally, your stomach needs to be fed so if this is an issue you might need to make further adjustments as most of us need to make sales to sustain ourselves. Keep in mind that as your reputation grows so can your prices.
After reading this over I realize I have treated pricing small paintings as I would any size paintings. I guess that's because I think of them that way. I can get very defensive about small paintings being just as important as large paintings. What it boils down to is reputation and quality no matter what size.
I'l love to hear your thoughts either on the blog or personal email!!
4 comments:
Hi Joyce - from far off Wales.
You must have been reading my mind. I have been staring at my large paintings in terms of area, thinking 'I could get 40 pictures out of that canvas!' Yet, to reduce the price for the small one by 40 would be mean me GIVING MONEY to the public.
Your comments are very wise. It has to be 'follow your heart', area, gallery, stage in the painters life.
You're welcome! I thought of you when I wrote this!
I guess my problem is that I tend to fall in love with my small paintings and I've sold more of them than anything else. Many people don't have room for large paintings and are happy to have a small one and at small price! Sometimes, the small ones take more time than the larger ones!
it is so true. I find there is little time difference between a med sized painting and a small one.
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