Art Sales For Artist | Cost Based Pricing

Artist Dana Haynes: Seed of Eden-Tears in Heaven

The first step in owning any business, is having a clue what to price something at. My understanding is: They just don't teach this in Art School. That selling your art is sort of a taboo subject. Which makes me rather grateful I didn't take out any 200K loans to go. That I went into the “real world” of business an learned management. The first step I learned to take, no matter what business I was in, was to do a inventory of the business. So I would know how much I was responsible for materially. What I was going to be held accountable for.


So when I decided I wanted to do art again.


I did something similar: I took out the old portfolio an considered it's worth.


But just like most artist: I wasn't sure what it's worth was. Or how to price it's value. A PNL is a profit loss summery document most businesses that sell something have. It shows the true cost of something. What your selling it for. How much your making off a product. An how much your inventory is worth. An a bunch of other details about your business in numbers that help you make decisions effecting it. Unlike other businesses I had ran, I couldn't just look at a PNL an see what the cost of the item was. Then add 35-45% profit margin to it an put it out on the floor. I couldn't do a survey of what others where selling theirs for, because they where originals. So, I stumbled for a while on what to charge. Just like most artist do.


An because I wasn't sure, it got me taken advantage of plenty.


My first customer was gracious: She recognized I was way under pricing myself because of lack of confidence in this department an paid me $100 more. After her, I thought about it a little more: But I was just so happy I made a sale an someone liked my work: I just kept churning out Artwork daily without thinking much about it. I wasn't worried about making a profit, living or anything else but getting myself back in the habit of making art. Disciplining myself to do it daily. An art sites I was posting to automatically priced it for me. I didn't know if it was, right or even fair.


I sold my first fractal print, to someone in California on Imagekind.


I made a whole $28 dollars for a days work, but that didn't registrar with me I had made less then minimum wage for a days worth of work. I was just excited I had sold one, an people where interested in my work. People started asking for me to do artwork for them. And I still didn't know what to charge. A band, was interested in using some of my fractal work as a cover for their album. Wanted T's of it...... all things artistically I could do: So I set about working on it but knew there was a right way to charge for Tshirt creations. I had paid them myself for the family business: Even with me doing the artwork for them for free. Spoke to a music producer friend of mine, who let me know I should have a contract an receive residual income from the album sales.


The customer was difficult.


Wasn't sure what she wanted: Vague other then the Tshirts needed to be cheap. So they could sell them. An she wasn't like my first customer, she kinda really did expect something for nothing in exchange for exposure. She thought nothing of my time involved in her little project. Which ate up weeks, days an hours of my time. I got the job done, but she wasn't happy an frankly neither was I. I still had a living to make but wanted so badly for it to work out. That I worked basically for $50 bucks. An was disgusted by the whole process because I didn't walk away from that experience feeling valued as person, or artist.


So, I put the brakes on selling art right there.


An sat down an thought about all my time that got wasted. This wasn't exactly her fault. It was mine for not understanding what or how to charge. An it was something I felt needed to be addressed before I took on one more client. Because working for “exposure” wasn't going to pay my bills. No matter how much someone likes the attention, or doesn't. I'm very much a pay attention to my art, not me sorta gal. If I personally wanted attention, I already had a venue I could get plenty of that from.


The whole situation, while successful wasn't.


An I found myself online, with people expecting a lot for nothing: Entertaining them for exposure. It's become a dirty word to a lot of artist. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth. While you want word of mouth about your art: What you don't want is people under valuing you. I got cranky about it privately. My kids can tell you: I was pretty frustrated because I wasn't going to work for free.


So I sat down again, thought about how business really works.


What it really takes to get a Snicker's bar to market. Since I didn't have a PNL I could just look at: I was going to have to figure out what it was costing me to create a piece of art work. It was overwhelming because I can do just about anything under the sun a well. So I made a list of every kind of artwork I could do. An thought long an hard about how long it actually takes me to do each type of artwork. Because I decided right then: I was going to at least make minimum wage or I doing this. I'd just keep doing artwork as a “hobby” an go back into business management if people where not going to pay a reasonable price for something.


Period.


I think everyone should own art. I think it should be affordable to lower incomes just as well as the higher ones. It's not just a luxury item to me. I see art an design in just about everything an on everyone. From the art you hang on your walls, to the couch in your living room to what you wear. What you eat off. So narrowing this down for me, was a difficult task.


Cuz I see the art in a snickers bar.


So I had to narrow this down, a lot. I knew my basic traditional art portfolio needed to be worked on as an artist, so I went through that. All the different types of mediums I can work in an approximately how long it takes me to do one to do that one particular thing: Like shading a drawing with pencil.


I made it easy, an just used ten dollars as a base.


I wanted to be affordable, an at least get paid what I would an unskilled worker would. I sat an thought about every art subject I was could an was willing to do. Such as portraits of pets, children & adults. Houses. Landscapes etc. an how many hours go into doing one specifically.


An then I though about that snickers bar, again.


Not only does Mar's have to pay their workers a base pay, they have to pay for the materials to make it to get that base cost on a PNL. An that was what I was trying to put together. My wholesale cost to make something. I learned from the first painting I ever sold in high school that it should AT LEAST cover the cost of the paint you put on the canvas. Someone got pretty upset with me for selling that oil painting for $100. It cost more then that to make in just paint. So I researched cost of paints & materials, an came up with approximately how much they'd cost me just to buy to do the work. But the surface you paint on actually cost something as well. So I researched that an came up with a reasonable price list as well. But since surface sizes vary, an people want different dimensions this had to be factored in as well. I even gave them the option of matting or non-matted.


An because that person devalued my time so much, I charge a one time fee just to cover all the consulting time they might take up. Each art project has a set up fee. This covers time spent via the phone/email with a customer, the client discussing the project. I use the time to gather ideas, research and collect the details from you regarding your order. It covers approximately a 1-2 hours: the beginning & end of the project not to be abused. The service is non-refundable. I do this so folks will not abuse my time. They either value it or they don't. I don't want to work with anyone again who doesn't.


Factor in Travel time as well: Because gas cost money, especially these days. Mines just for a a three hour window. Locally. If someone needed me to travel further, or plane expenses, hotels and food would have to be charged as well. Because just like a Snicker's bar: It cost money to get it to market on the truck.


Thinking about everything it cost me to produce a piece of art, made me as an artist be more realistic about what to charge. An this wasn't me being over the top, or a high end luxury artist.


This was a base price of Traditional Art. It's true cost to make.
An this is the simplest I can explain cost based pricing for artist.


You can see an example at: Commissions


It's a list of everything that goes into making a piece of work. It adds up. An you can not be doing it for less then that. Or it's costing you money an your making nothing. An it helps if you think of it like a Snickers bar. How much chocolate, sugar, nuts does it go into making that candy bar. Nuts aren't cheap you know. Just like paint isn't. Workers to mix it have got to be paid. That's YOU. Equipment needs to be bought & maintained. Your brushes, your drawing table, your counters. Your studio. The candy bar has to get to market: Someones going to have to drive it to a location to sell it. Or pick it up. Or move it around a store, to sell it. It's packaging cost money. It's design on it cost money. Marketing it cost money.


All the things just to make it an get it to market: Cost money.


That is your true cost. An you would find it on a PNL if you ran a store. A brick an mortar business. Most business take that cost, an raise it to at least 35% to make a profit. Walmart does. Some big box stores raise a products price 45%. Grocery stores raise it about 25%. It's business.


An if you are a serious artist, an want to keep doing it:
You have to treat your art like a business.


Unless, you like working for free & nothing. I don't. I won't. The reason I won't is because it ruins the industry if you do. I happen to believe the art industry is important. That artist should be taught how to sell their art, so they don't ruin it for other serious artist. I can't compete with the idiot selling a drawing for $5 on the internet. I can't support my children doing it. Nor am I going to compete with someone who won't take art or themselves seriously. I don't want those type of customers. Let cheap ol buy from them. But they aren't going to get something of value from me, for nothing. Nor any other decent serious artist.


An this is how you have to look at it. The Cstore down the street isn't going to give you a Snickers Bar for free. Nor are they going to sell it to you at cost. They can't keep their doors open for you if they did. As an artist you have to look at it this way: Do I want to do it for a few quick bucks, loose money doing it. Not be able to afford to keep doing what I love or do I want to still be around in ten years able to?


I wanted to be able to keep doing art.


So I looked at it like any other business would who still wanted to be around. To succeed. I probably need to update my price list. I made that over a decade ago now. It's out of date, but it's a very good example of having some guidelines in pricing to go by. So you remember to charge accordingly. My cost per hour as an artist never really has dropped below $150 hour since I made that. My average portrait sales where always above $185. Which is extremely good in this over saturated market. The lowest I drop to is $129, an that's usually because I give a $20 discount as a referral fee.


Artist have to get their pricing down. You can raise them as you go but you have to start off as reasonable enough to live to begin with. I was always confident in my ability to do art. Always have been but found not having pricing shaked my confidence. People can an will take advantage of you if you don't. Which weakens your confidence in yourself. Not because your a bad artist, but because you do not know how to sell your art.


The best thing I did, was create some kind of pricing guideline for me to follow. It chased off anyone who didn't value me as a person. Who for some odd reason, didn't think I deserved enough pay for my work to eat. It established, me & my art are worth something. Charging base prices isn't just you holding yourself in high esteem. It's keeping your esteem in tack an that you time is important. That you respect yourself.


An when you respect yourself, others tend to as well.


That the work you do has importance, not just to you but others as well. That it's useful. Has meaning. & you or anyone else doing it deserves to be paid. Artist, designers, writers, photographers work gets seen so much these days: People take it for granted. They seem to forget it takes time an effort to produce quality work. It took me years of studying how to do this or that. It's a its a skill. So every time they pay me, they are paying me for years of expertize. I didn't just pick up a pencil yesterday, or a camera. I spent years studying, practicing an perfecting how to do something. When you hire me, your getting years of knowledge. Experience. To create what client & people want.


I don't give that away free.


The internet started out, with a debate about free source vs paid. So, a lot of people & businesses on it will give things away for free. People are use to getting content for free: Artwork for nothing because they assume it's always going to stay this way. Or if you take a good hard look around, they don't just give it away for free. Content that is being created these days leads back to something. An it's not exposure folks are so interested in but branding. But before you can even get to that stage realistically you have to take a hard look at this subject.


Cost & Pricing = Success.
Successful Business. Successful Artist.

An that, is what will keep you doing what you love.

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