Cost of a 40cm x 50cm framed photograph.

Folake · May 6, 2017

Hello All,

I'm in need of some help. I'm about to enter a photography competition and part of the application process is to state the price of the price of the photograph I'm submitting. Once I've been nominated as one of the finalists, my photograph is automatically available for sale and the proceeds of the gallery are shared 50-50.

Photography is a hobby of mine and this is the first time I've had to consider putting a price on my work and so I have no idea where to begin. I'm asked to consider the cost of production, the time on my work, my margin and multiply that by two to come up with a number. None of this really applies to me so how do I come up with a number?

Any ideas or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks...

john.margetts · May 6, 2017

The price of an art work has little to nothing to do with cost of production or artist's time. Around here for an unknown photographer, you would be looking at about £100.00 max. The issue for the artist/photographer is whether that is worthwhile or not.

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Folake · May 6, 2017

Thank you john.margetts for your response. And you're very right when you say whether £100 is worthwhile or not. But at least I now have a figure to think about.

Thanks again.

Derrel · May 6, 2017

Yeah, sure, $75-$125 sounds reasonable if the photo is a good one, if it has been printed well, and matted nicely or framed.

Dave442 · May 6, 2017

The value of your time and your margin can be whatever you want in that calculation. I usually have two parts that I calculate differently and add together. The cost plus covers things that have a cost, like a frame, and then just add a margin to that - usually 25 to 50%. Then I have time based costs and I just use a base salary and then multiply by the time spent and then by 2.5 or 3.

Is there any history of prices you can look at? What are the prices of current photos shown at the gallery? I think if you have an award winning photograph then it moves you up above unknown for the moment and many times a gallery will bring in people that are willing to drop some money on the winners of such events by buying their work. But it helps to be in the range expected.