Much has been written on the web lately about the lowering of the barrier of entry to collecting art, thanks to sites like Etsy and 20×200, who make artwork much more affordable and easier to find than ever. Of course, I think it’s great that art is becoming more affordable and available, especially while, at the same time, the high end of the market is still exploding and feels even further out of reach. Looking around the house, I know I’ve certainly benefited from it as a consumer. Is anyone talking about whether the lowering of prices is actually good for artists, though?
Don’t get me wrong: I believe that the free market, with a few exceptions, knows what it’s doing. I also have the luxury of asking this kind of question from the sidelines, because I don’t support myself or my family by making art. I’m sure if that were the case, I would be much more proactive about marketing my work and making sure I was fairly compensated for it. As it stands, I’m just excited to know that anyone is interested in owning something I’ve made at all, and I generally have no idea what to charge for it.
The question has been nibbling at me for a few days now because I’ve finally made the decision to actually sell some work. I’ve been wishy-washy about it until now, selling a few pieces here and there, but never making much of an effort. The obvious thing to do seems to be to sell online, so I’ve set up a new web shop (Editor’s Note: The web shop has been taken offline for now) and uploaded a bunch of recent photographs. I have no idea how to market it beyond writing this blog post.
Here’s the pricing structure I’ve chosen:
matted 8×10: $35
framed 8×10: $60
matted 11×14: $100
framed 11×14: $150
I hope to add larger print sizes as soon as I can find space for a bigger printer.
So what do you think? Are these prices fair? Would you buy a photograph from a complete stranger on the web from a website you’ve never seen before?
Any ideas on marketing and feedback on the new shop pages would be welcome as well. I built the infrastructure when I was putting together the new site (about 2-3 weeks ago, now), but just now have enough photos in there that I felt it would be worth opening to the public. I still have a few bugs to work out, so please let me know if you run into anything of that sort, as well.
2 Comments
Hey Dalton,
This is a really interesting post. I’m setting up an online gallery at the moment and currently deciding on pricing for the art that I have on sale (mostly prints).
The thing that I’ve noticed about some artists is that they get the word out about their art everywhere, especially online … and this in turn lifts their profile, which makes their work more collectable.
Having said that, I know artists that are making no money selling their masterpieces on sites like etsy. Such a shame, because they deserve much more than they earn for their work.
I think your prices are a pretty good balance between being affordable, and being worth it for you.
Good luck with the sales.
ben @ ivoteforart.com
Hi Ben,
Thanks for the ideas. I agree that it seems almost impossible to make any real money selling on Etsy. The competition is so fierce, the prices get pushed way down. From the small amount of market research I’ve done on art and marketing in general, it almost never makes sense to compete on price alone. Even though Etsy offers some good exposure with it’s large network of users (and the occasional superstar does pop up, who is able to raise prices a bit), I think I’m going to stay away.
I stopped by your blog and read the post about pricing. Good to know other people are thinking about this seriously as well. I’m looking forward to seeing your new site.