Pricing strategies?? please help me

[shorty6049]

Hey everyone, i feel bad even asking this because i know its been asked before. I recently got invited to hang a few of my photos in a small cafe in downtown st. paul , MN. (http://www.blackdogstpaul.com) . They are having a show of sorts which lasts for roughly a month. I am having the photos printed on lustre paper at 16X24 inches. Mounting them in plastic poster frames (7 dollars at walmart) The frame would be included in the price. Another thing to consider is that Black Dog gets 20% comission from the sale (if i sell any).
Printing for all four photos was 83 dollars, plus 7 dollars for each frame.
so the final price of each photo with frame is $27.50. I am just at a complete loss though when it comes to pricing these things. The art will be hung alongside other artist's prints. I dont want to charge too much and get undersold by everyone else who submitted pieces, but i dont want to charge too little and get less than i'm worth. does anyone have any ideas on this, or maybe your own pricing structures? below are links to the photos that will be hung, if it matters. Thanks!

http://flickr.com/photos/tony_bombardo/2286758877/

http://flickr.com/photos/tony_bombardo/507241729/ (signature wont be included)

http://flickr.com/photos/tony_bombardo/2509717474/

http://flickr.com/photos/tony_bombardo/612091915/

oh, also, does anyone know how to edit the title of a thread? noticed that right after i pushed submit...

 

[shorty6049]

I know nobody likes responding to these types of threads, but if anyone has any ideas, please speak up. I'll send you an e-card. ;-)

 

[tirediron]

My rule of thumb is between fifty cents and a dollar a square inch for non-commissioned work.

 

[shorty6049]

so between 200 and 300 dollars each? anyone care to agree or disagree?

 

[onedayillknowbetter]

It seems like you are almost looking for a price to value your work, not to sell it at. YOU, and only you set the value of your work. If you know that the photos you are displaying are your very best work, price them accordingly. After all, it's your best work. No one can tell you what your art is worth, except yourself.

 

[ukreal1]

I went to a seminar back in San Diego and read in the pamphlet that your Cost Of Sale (COS) should be at 25%. So in your case it would be $110, but that seems low, maybe it is different for prints sold in your type of situ. As above said this is more about your worth and your art...

 

[Big Mike]

My first thought is...why would you use a $7 frame? Maybe they are nice $7 frames, but a bad frame can really devalue your product.

I don't know if custom framing is worth it for you...but it might help to sell your photos if they are in a professionally done frame with a nice matte etc.

There is no 'right' way to set your prices. Some advice I've heard is to add up your costs and double or triple it.

One thing to consider is that if you give it a high 'value'...then people might be more inclined to see value in it and spend money on it. For example, it might sell better at $250 than at $25...because at $25 people think it's just a picture. At $250 they start thinking of it as Art. This goes back to the frame issue...if you think of your art work as too good for a cheap frame, them maybe other people will think that as well.

 

[Big Mike]

oh, also, does anyone know how to edit the title of a thread? noticed that right after i pushed submit...

You can't...but I can

 

[shorty6049]

Thanks mike. I kind of figured it was only mods that could do that. In reply to the statement about valuing my work, Its not that i'm trying to value it for myself, its that i want to figure out how much people are willing to pay, and what big mike said is what i'm talking about. too low, people just see it as cheap art, and too much and people will just buy someone elses, but at the right price, they see it as fine art, and be more likely to purchase it. I'm using 7 dollar frames because i cant afford to be buying custom frames unless i charged even more for the photos. I'm hoping people will just either keep the cheap frames, or re-frame them. OR, i could even just say the frame isnt included and they could do it themselves. I'm actually trimming all the frames to make them the correct size for the prints as well. I am having them printed at 16X24, but the only frames that are close to that are 18X24. They shouldnt be too hard to resize. The only place i could find 16X24 frames were online and they were at least twice the price. The woman at the place where i'll be hanging them said that they didnt even necessarily need frames, just a way to hang them up, so i dont think that it will be a huge deal.


how does 150 sound?

 

[astrostu]

If you're just starting, you may want to price low because you don't want to price yourself out of a sale. But double costs is about as low as I'd go.