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01/24/2005 06:18:22 PM · #1 |
Hey everyone. Just had a question here. I've gotten a couple random emails from people requesting to buy prints of images from my site. I am excited about that but I really don't know how to go about selling them? I was thinking just to send people the prints matted in a box frame. I have no idea what to price my photos at however.
I'm not realy concerned with making too much money off of them now but don't want to underprice anything seeing as in some years ahead I may be trying to sell my work en masse. my photos can be seen at //www.phdmidcoast.com but what would you pay for an 8X10 matted and box framed for your favorite image on the site (if you even see one you think worth buying)?
Thanks for any feedback!
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01/24/2005 06:22:24 PM · #2 |
Very nice stuff, Peter. I've been having a difficult time with this myself. I've looked around and I think I've decided (I think...) on these prices:
5x7 Framed: $45.00
5x7 Unframed: $35.00
8x10 Framed: $70.00
8x10 Unframed: $60.00
8x12 Framed: $75.00
8x12 Unframed: $65.00
...but I don't really know if this is right either. I've asked her before but was told to look on DPC Prints...
Edit: I like your pano shot of the silhouetted umbrellas!
Message edited by author 2005-01-24 18:24:05.
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01/24/2005 06:39:24 PM · #3 |
Whatever you think you would have to have, as a rule, double it.
If you ever put your images in a gallery they will charge between 20% and 60% commision on the sale. The most commom commision being about 40%. That said you don't want to under sell someone who may potentially be selling your work for you.
Think of the cost of paper, ink and framing material. It is always wise to factor in a small percentage of the price of equipment you used such as camera, lens, computer and printer. No one is giving you this stuff and when it wears out or breaks the money to replace it comes out of your pocket. One other important factor to consider into the deal is your time. You may have enjoyed taking the picture but it took you time to take it, proccess it, print it, frame it and sell it. Your time is worth money.
I don't know at what quality you are printing, but considering all of the above factors, I personally cound not see selling a 8x10 framed print for less the $125. With a cheap frame. (under $12)
Message edited by author 2005-01-24 18:40:51.
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01/24/2005 06:57:00 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by nsbca7:
...I personally cound not see selling a 8x10 framed print for less the $125. With a cheap frame. (under $12) |
Wow. I think that sounds a little high...BUT...I think a lot of it has to do with your area. If you are in or near a big city or artsy area you can charge more. Here in the sticks people don't spend (or make) what they do in the cities and you have to adjust your prices accordingly, imo.
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01/24/2005 07:05:48 PM · #5 |
I have read that you should mark up each part of the finished product. There is generally at 50% + mark up from whole sale to retail. Therefore if you are framing and matting, double your cost of the frame. Double your cost for the mat.
I base my prices for prints on DPC at 4 times the base price. |
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01/24/2005 07:08:50 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by ButterflySis:
Originally posted by nsbca7:
...I personally cound not see selling a 8x10 framed print for less the $125. With a cheap frame. (under $12) |
Wow. I think that sounds a little high...BUT...I think a lot of it has to do with your area. If you are in or near a big city or artsy area you can charge more. Here in the sticks people don't spend (or make) what they do in the cities and you have to adjust your prices accordingly, imo. |
What are you talking about? You live in NY. I live in south Alabama, 95 miles from the closest mall, gallery, or city. If I can do it here where the pay scale is far lower then it is in upstate NY then you can do it there. It is all a matter of holding out till you get what you want. If your work is good and people want it they will pay for it.
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01/24/2005 07:18:26 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by nsbca7:
What are you talking about? You live in NY. I live in south Alabama, 95 miles from the closest mall, gallery, or city. If I can do it here where the pay scale is far lower then it is in upstate NY then you can do it there. It is all a matter of holding out till you get what you want. If your work is good and people want it they will pay for it. |
Okay, you got me. You're a bit further in the sticks than me. :-) I've been watching prices at different art shows and things and 8x10's are going for around what I listed above. I think 11x14's are closer to the $125 range though.
Just out of curiosity, and don't feel you have to answer... Where do you sell most of your images? Through your site or shows, or what...?
Thanks,
Jen
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01/24/2005 07:32:26 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by spydr:
I have read that you should mark up each part of the finished product. There is generally at 50% + mark up from whole sale to retail. Therefore if you are framing and matting, double your cost of the frame. Double your cost for the mat.
I base my prices for prints on DPC at 4 times the base price. |
I see you have an 8x10 under $10 and then you'd have to subtract the base price and then share 50% of the remainder with the site, right? That doesn't leave you much, does it?
Let's see, mark up base prices 50%... For me an 8x10 would figure out to roughly:
print: $2 * 2 = $4.00
mat & backboard: ($.68+$.30) * 2 = $1.96
frame: $5 * 2 = $10.00
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Total: $15.96
And four times base would be:
print: $2 * 4 = $8.00
mat & backboard: ($.68+$.30) * 4 = $3.92
frame: $5 * 4 = $20.00
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Total: $31.92
Even four times the cost is $38.08 less than what I suggested...and nsbca7 thinks that's too low.
I hope other's have some suggestions. I'm curious what the general consensus is.
Jen
Message edited by author 2005-01-24 19:33:32.
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01/24/2005 07:55:13 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by ButterflySis:
Okay, you got me. You're a bit further in the sticks than me. :-) I've been watching prices at different art shows and things and 8x10's are going for around what I listed above. I think 11x14's are closer to the $125 range though.
Just out of curiosity, and don't feel you have to answer... Where do you sell most of your images? Through your site or shows, or what...?
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If I was selling 11x14s they would be in the $175 - $180 range. The smaller end of my prints are 12x16 - 16x20. The 16x20s I sell for $225 - $250. These are with good frames though not the cheap thin gallery frames. My larger prints sell a bit more . I havea 54x24 that is priced at $850.
Where do I sell these? I avoid most open shows like the plague. Any event with the word Craft attached to it is off limits. I'm not selling my work next to a $12 decorated mailbox. When I thought my work was ready I went to the most upscale galleries in Montgomery and Mobile that I felt suited my work and presented a portfolio. I chose the Galleries, not the other way around. They all accepted my work and so I let them do the selling, which is a part of this business that I get the least enjoyment out of anyway.
I currently have my work hanging in two galleries in Montgomery and one in Mobile. I will try to find a suitable venue in Pensacola next.
The webpage has only been up since September so it hasn't done much in the way of sales, but it has gotten me work and helped many people to be able see my work who would not have had the opertunity otherwise.
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01/24/2005 08:09:48 PM · #10 |
Charging 10 dollars extra to matte and frame a photograph is beyond absurd. I take my gallery images to a professional framer who charges me a steeply disocunted price of 70 dollars for a 20x24 frame and matte on a 13x19 image.
I sell the 13x19 unframed and signed on the print for 225 dollars, if they want it framed I sell it for 350 dollars. I don't do cheap frames, though. Frankly I'd rather not be bothered witht he framing issue, I prefer to sell unframed, unmatted prints and let the client deal with how they want to present them.
These print prices are on the low end around here. I don't have a "name" here. Established artists are getting 500-750 dollars for the same size print, and people like Joel Meyerowitz get more.
Much more.
But then, I don't sell many prints. I print them myself, incidentally. I can't imagine having anyone else print my art for me. But I have a large-format, archival printer.
Robt.
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01/24/2005 08:21:21 PM · #11 |
wow these numbers all sound good to me. I think I am going to go ahead and tell these first few people about 50-70$ because I can get prints cheap, and print them till they look good to me (photo lab employee discount). I guess I'm going to think about putting a section on the website talking about this, and establish prices a little higher until I can actually justify my work being worth money! but I don't know how much time I'll have to put towards that right now seeing as I'm a full time college student, but this is cool nonetheless. Thanks for the input everybody.
ps. i guess i just wanted to do box frame for safety during shipping and display purposes, because I do want to matte the photo, they can replace the frame easily, and it only costs me a couple bucks.
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02/01/2005 12:59:04 AM · #12 |
Your photographs are "original art" and as such have value for that alone. I've seen mass produced posters going for over $150 ... so why hesitate to charge a reasonable fee for your photos?
Just because someone lives in a rural area or small town doesn't mean you can't charge for something that has value.
In addition to the paper, chemicals, matts and frames, you have your equipment costs, travel, and the years it took to develop your talent.
Melanie |
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02/02/2005 02:13:12 AM · #13 |
I'm in the same boat as far as what to charge (ignoring of course the fact I've never even printed a single photo yet nor do I own a dslr).
But I've been thinking about it a lot and looking at other people's posts and thinking of the niche market I'm looking into and thinking to myself, why on earth would people pay $70 for my 8x10 photograph?
But if you look at it correctly it's pretty obvious. It is original artwork. And there are a LOT of people out there that have more money than they know what to do with, and 70 to 200 dollars is nothing to a lot of people, especially if they get a nice picture in return...
AND think about the decades of enjoyment they are going to get out of this photo hanging on their wall. This isn't a toothbrush or a razorblade that will be tossed and replaced next week, this is something that is exactly what they wanted, when they wanted it, original piece of artwork from an artist that will give them years of enjoyment.
I tend to think of these prices being too much because I'm thinking of multiple sales, how can I get 50 people to buy this photo for that much money?
But you only need to think of it as selling one single photo, because that is all a lot of people will buy (at least of the same photo). So look at the cost of your camera, food, rent, gas, etc. and look at one of your photos at a time and ask yourself "Is this 1 photo worth $70 to 1 person somewhere?" if it's a good photo, you bet it is. And it will probably sell more than once if it will sell once at all.
I go to a lot of estate auctions where I see limited edition art prints of all kinds, usually pencil drawings or whatnot, number 657/1000 or so, and these drawings are nothing mind bending, just average work on a halfway interesting subject, and to think they sold 657 of those for what? $100? $200? $300? a piece? and I can't even find their name on the internet, and to resell their work on ebay you'd only get $10. I still have prints of large drawings my grandparants paid $200 a piece for, and I can't find mention of the artist anywhere on the entire internet, she's that unknown yet she was able to sell thousands of dollars worth of prints.
In my uneducated opinion I think you'll have a better reputation in the end (and more money) if you stick to your guns and sell 20 prints for $100 each rather than 100 prints for $20 each.
Though I do understand when you're first getting your name out there, and with friends, it's fine to give them a discount.
Good luck!
-Ryan
P.S. I love your shot of the surfboards, wetsuits and tent... If I wasn't buying a camera outfit in the next couple months, I'd easily drop down $70 for an 8x10 of that one. Would also look great in an outdoor gear store, you might want to go to some and ask if you can display your work there, free advertising... |
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02/02/2005 02:01:07 PM · #14 |
Hey Ryan,
I loved what you had to say on this subject, RIGHT ON!... would you be interested in turning this post into an article and posting it in my article bank? I am just starting to build a bank of articles on photo businesses ... freelancing, wedding photography ect. If you are interested check it out at //www.proofpositive.com/articles
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02/02/2005 02:09:50 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by RyanE:
I see limited edition art prints of all kinds, usually pencil drawings or whatnot, number 657/1000 or so, and these drawings are nothing mind bending, just average work on a halfway interesting subject, and to think they sold 657 of those for what? $100? $200? $300? a piece? and I can't even find their name on the internet, and to resell their work on ebay you'd only get $10. |
wow, that's a loaded statement. As an artist (who studies mainly sketching and line drawing no less.. lol) I won't take offence to this. Just as a point, some of Canada's top photographers can't be found on google either (I've looked). |
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02/02/2005 02:11:57 PM · #16 |
These prices sound fine for galleries etc. but what about DPCPrints? Is that the same customer?
So here's a poll. What is the "most" you've charged for a print and successfully sold it on DPCPrints?
The most I've sold one for is $29 for an 11x14. I raised most of my prices though recently, because after the cuts, it amounts to very little. But I didn't raise them anywhere near what's being discussed here. |
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