On Feathered Wings
A couple days ago I talked about the trouble with selling art online. It has been my observations the art which does sell online is inexpensive. Before reading the two articles mentioned I had been contemplating offering a line of unnumbered prints at a lower price online to capitalize on the garage sale mentality which is seen for most online art sales.
The reasons to do so would be to create a market that I would otherwise not have with my limited edition prints, but the costs and time would be taking away from other areas of my life. I’d end up putting in more time behind a computer and less time out doing what I love best……being outdoors witnessing all the tiny miracles that are put in front of us every single day.
I won’t be giving in to the temptation of lower priced prints for an Internet market that may (or may not) exist. I will continue to offer my limited edition prints online at the same price as found in brick and mortar stores. Why? I am not some fly-by-night online artist looking for a quick buck. I’ve spent my entire adult life working as an artist, and I will continue to do so until I die.
Being an artist is who I am. It is so much more than a job, or an income, or a means to an end. Whether I create for myself or others is immaterial to my well-being – it is the creative process itself. It is the seeing. The questions. The understanding. I put my work in front of others because I believe it’s what I’m meant to do. I want to share the wonders of this world with others. I want to create a realization that the world is worth trying to understand and appreciate, and value.
My prints are priced in such a way as to allow me to operate a sustainable business and take into account such things as gallery commissions, transportation, promotion, and the basic business expenses that allows me to show people my work. While there may be a large price difference between the photographs found on sites such as Etsy, RedBubble, Imagekind, or many of the other online art sales sites, my work is also much lower priced that many other high end limited edition photographers. I want my art to be affordable, which for most people it is.
I’ve adopted a European pricing formula which takes the width and height of an image and multiplies it by a career factor number. This number usually starts at 6 for a brand new artist just beginning, and increases as the artists career progresses. My number is 10. So to determine the cost of any sized print add the width and height and multiply by 10. For example a 12×16” print (one of my standard sizes) would be 12+16=28×10=$280.
That is less than a pair of designer jeans, or a new pair of quality shoes, or a night at a concert, or even dinner and movie. But unlike all those everyday purchases we make, artwork will last a lifetime bringing years of enjoyment. Purchasing my work is an investment which is likely to appreciate in value as my career progresses; and because I’m in this for the long haul, it will progress.
on March 10, 2010 at 7:08 pm
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Hi Roberta!
I’m very interested in this topic and the discussion on your Open Edition & Limited Edition post (I couldn’t find a way to make a comment on that post). My wondering in a nutshell: Can a photographer sell different lines of work in different price points successfully/authentically?
I’ve heard of painters whose work becomes very expensive start to make small, quick one-a-day paintings at very affordable prices. It excites those patrons and friends that knew the painter way back when his work was much less expensive and reaches out to a whole new set of folks to become excited in the work.
I wonder if the same type of model works with photography and how it might be done….
on March 10, 2010 at 7:47 pm
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Good questions. I don’t know there is any easy answer. Comparing painting and photography is a bit like apples and oranges though. People understand the difference it takes to create a large, elaborate painting, and a smaller piece completed in a few hours. The quality of the artist is the same, but the quality of the art isn’t. With photography that difference isn’t as obvious. The same amount of work probably went into that open edition print as the limited edition one. It’s just a matter of how they are marketed. How does the collector differentiate the two? Especially if both editions are signed? The writing of a number is not enough of a distinction. If a collector knows they can buy a small print for $25 that is signed, what motivation is there for them to spend $250 on a print, which is most likely the same quality, still signed, but simply missing a number? How much of the purchase is because of the number, and how much of it is based on an emotional reaction to the image?
on March 4, 2010 at 5:51 pm
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I agree with your decision to not bother with low-end work. I tried selling inexpensive versions of my art through Etsy for a while, but it just didn’t make business sense. The cost of production, marketing, etc simply outweigh the minuscule profits. And I believe that unless you are very careful, it can hurt the perceived value of your more expensive work. So for now, I am doing what you do, and only offering my work at a price that I know is fair, and an accurate reflection of what I think it is worth. Let other people chase after the constantly-dropping low-end markets.