Pricing Your Work

Later this month, MEG will host Success as an Artist, a six-hour seminar led by Catriona Fraser, owner and director of The Fraser Gallery and an expert on what it takes to develop a successful fine arts career. One of the topics Kate will cover is pricing, and we asked her to share some insights ahead of time. 

MEG: What are some of the factors artists need to consider when setting prices? What harm comes from setting prices too low? Too high?

Fraser: Pricing your work correctly is one of the hardest things to do if you're an emerging artist without a sales history. A common mistake artists make is to ask other artists how to price their work...this leads to unrealistically high prices. Another mistake is to compare your work to what you perceive to be similar work in a gallery. The price of artwork has very little to do with artistic merit, or hours spent on the creative side...the price of art is based, for the most part, on the professional accomplishments of the artist...and size does matter...bigger is better.

Unfortunately, prices for fine art photographs by mid-career and established photographers have been in a steady decline over the last few years...you can buy a limited edition, signed and numbered print by an internationally known artist for under $1,500, so even very well established photographers with gallery representation, museum exhibitions, great reviews and multiple books published can only get $800 - $1,000 for their work...for emerging photographers prices are in the $200 - $400 range.

The main rules to remember when pricing your work are to start low to build your collector base; be consistent with your prices, whether you're selling from your studio or through a gallery; and gradually increase your prices as you build your professional credentials.

Fraser will share what it takes to build your professional credentials and much more at the seminar on March 22nd and March 29th at MEG. Information is available here. To register, please contact Fraser at 301-254-0586 or by e-mail at info@thefrasergallery.com.