How in the he!! do I price my prints?

[lyonsroar]

I'm entering my first art show. We're allowed to submit 3 things with one being guaranteed to go up. I've already chosen which 3 I'm putting in. I've ordered the prints and all is fine there.
On the submission form, there's a spot for "price." My question is: How do I decide how much to ask for these? They're worth a lot to me, but maybe not to other people? I entered mainly to get my name out there, but if I sold one that'd be great too!

Here are the three I entered:


untitled by Lyonsroar91, on Flickr

(I did some slight changes to the B&W rendering of this before submitting)


Soft Water by Lyonsroar91, on Flickr


Lily B&W by Lyonsroar91, on Flickr

(I've already sold two of these prints.)(One of my favorite shots ever.)

 

[KmH]

You will have to consider the size of the print and how the prints are presented.

Who is making the prints? Are they chromogenic prints, inkjet prints, or Gicleé prints? On what kind of paper, canvas, or gallery wraps? Are the prints coated for UV protection?

How will the prints be presented? Just the prints? Mounted prints? Matted and bagged? Matted and framed?

Is it a juried art show?
Is there an entry fee or space rental charge?
Does the show get a cut from any sales?

Printing them with a watermark, like you show here, will seriously kill their potential value.

 

[red__zed]

Agree with overpricing. Humans are funny, too-- they will think the prints are better if they are priced high...

 

[lyonsroar]

You will have to consider the size of the print and how the prints are presented.

Who is making the prints? Are they chromogenic prints, inkjet prints, or Gicleé prints? On what kind of paper, canvas, or gallery wraps? Are the prints coated for UV protection?

How will the prints be presented? Just the prints? Mounted prints? Matted and bagged? Matted and framed?

Is it a juried art show?
Is there an entry fee or space rental charge?
Does the show get a cut from any sales?

Printing them with a watermark, like you show here, will seriously kill their potential value.

Size:

#1 - 10x20
#2 - 12x18
#3 - 11x14

I just ordered them from Mpix. Nothing spectacularly expensive or fancy. This is my first show...first time displaying my work in an avenue other than Facebook or FlickR.
My brother works at the framing store where the show is and he says that they are framing them for the show, we just provide the prints.

Not juried I don't think.
No entry fee, no space rental charges.
The entry form I filled out says nothing about the store getting a cut of the profit. I do have to hand deliver it though so I will ask then.

Of course I didn't print them with a watermark. I'm not dumb.

Of the two you sold, how much did the buyers pay?

Humans are very odd creatures indeed. I am a Network/Systems Administrator by day and do family computer repair for extra money on the side. I used to charge $30. It was a flat fee. I live in a poor county in Minnesota and we have a lot of poverty-stricken citizens. I'm not greedy so I thought I would charge $30 for whatever needed to be done (plus hardware/software prices when needed). Apparently, though I know what I'm doing and stand behind my work, people must assume my low price means low ability to get the job done correctly. Most people wouldn't pay me. They'd let me fix on their computer, I was nice enough to let them take it now, pay me later and that later never came along. I do all this under-the-table, so holding on to their computer until they pay me would get me thrown in jail for theft and my "tax evasion" scheme would get busted. So I now charge a flat-fee of $60 and so far, all of my clients have paid me no problem. WTF???!!!

What I'm saying is, think about what you would want to charge and then double it.

The two that I sold were...erm...very cheap, BUT they were small 4x6's.

 

[DiskoJoe]

what ever they cost to make, doubkle that. thats your base then look online at similar stuff and make an educated guess. there is no exact way to do it. its art yo.

 

[KmH]

OK. Mpix makes chromogenic prints. Did you order the prints on E-paper, metallic, or the B&W paper.

Will they be matted in the frame? Who is paying for the framing? I get the impression the frame shop adds the cost of framing to what a buyer would pay?

The 3 are essentially the same size.

For just a print many use the 3 times the cost formula, some use a $x.xx per square inch formula, so at $0.45 a 10x20, being 200 square inches would be $90 for just the print. At $0.25 the same 10x20 would be $50.

 

[MissCream]

Off topic but I LOVE the Calla lilly picture

 

[lyonsroar]

OK. Mpix makes chromogenic prints. Did you order the prints on E-paper, metallic, or the B&W paper.

Will they be matted in the frame? Who is paying for the framing? I get the impression the frame shop adds the cost of framing to what a buyer would pay?

The 3 are essentially the same size.

For just a print many use the 3 times the cost formula, some use a $x.xx per square inch formula, so at $0.45 a 10x20, being 200 square inches would be $90 for just the print. At $0.25 the same 10x20 would be $50.

E-paper. Didn't know they had a seperate B&W kind. Good to know.

All I know about the framing deal is that I'm not charged for framing them. My bro even says they'll let you keep the frames and stuff after the show. IDK specifics yet. I'll have him ask about it when he's at work today.

3x the cost isn't a whole lot to ask for a print (IMO) considering all 3 cost me $47 shipped.

Thank you for the help.

 

[lyonsroar]

Off topic but I LOVE the Calla lilly picture

Thanks! :thumbup:
Everyone always loves that one. That's the one I'm marking as guaranteed to be shown. If any of them get bought I think that's the most likely.

 

[KmH]

E-paper. Didn't know they had a seperate B&W kind. Good to know.

All I know about the framing deal is that I'm not charged for framing them. My bro even says they'll let you keep the frames and stuff after the show. IDK specifics yet. I'll have him ask about it when he's at work today.

3x the cost isn't a whole lot to ask for a print (IMO) considering all 3 cost me $47 shipped.

Thank you for the help.

Mpix.com - Paper Types

Chromogenic color print - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Giclée - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You can charge more for gicleé prints, but they cost more too. Gicleé is a high quality inkjet print made with archival inks.

Do you have an artist statement you can post by each framed print? I would mention in the artist statement that the Kodak Endura paper and chromogenic print process Mpix uses is archival, and that it's standard archival value is 100 years in home display, and 200 years in dark storage.

Did you have Mpix Lustre coat the prints? Lustre coating adds sheen, UV protection, and protection from fingerprints.

The cost of the print includes the time you used to shoot the image, your post processing time, a portion of your camera and computer gear depreciation, and part of any other non-reimbursable expenses. Not just what Mpix charged you.