Discounts

We hear a lot about how we need to increase our prices. I've always felt like I didn’t want to raise my prices just to raise them, like some artists do so they can give big discounts. I hear over and over about this, one guy told me he doubled his prices and told young ladies he would give them 50% off if they smiled. Other times, I heard at certain shows, artists would jack up their prices since people had more money in the area. No wonder customers are always asking if we could give them a better price.


I myself have also been talked down on a price, but it doesn’t come easy. When someone tells me “is that the best you can do on this?” I say “yup” and follow it with a “I can get that much for it” or something. If they push on, I say the purchase has to be cash, because if its credit I could just charge the regular price. Also if its cash I want exact change because if you talk me down a few bucks then pull out a big ole wad of cash its gonna piss me off. I had a guy come in the gallery once wanting a $20 print, but he only had $10 bucks and it was a sorry excuse of a $10 bill, all waded up, so I let him have it. Most times I tell them if they buy 2 pieces I could give them 10% off or if it’s a big purchase I could give them free postcards or a necklace.


Most times we try to stick to shows where no one is asking for discounts. But every now and then we find ourselves in the middle of a discount frenzy and some of those times we aren’t doing so well, so we are forced to give big discounts to save ourselves. I heard someone telling an artist next to us one time “are you ready to give me that painting for 200 bucks?” I think it was a $500 painting and that the artist did the show every weekend. The artist said “nope” then he said “Ok, we’ll see you next weekend”.

How do you folks handle discounts?

Prices

Once again, I've been online chatting with some artists about prices, and how hard it is to price art. You would be surprised how difficult some feel it is to put a price on something. I myself have never had this problem, l just started as low as I could go (about what I would pay for something) and just slowly went up from there as the years passed. I went with a nice round number of $100 for a 16”x20” painting and I stayed right there until I started making works on paper. But when I went to pencil on paper the drawing was about 8”x10” and framed in a 16”x20” frame and I sold them for $400. I also provided a smaller 4”x6” piece for $100. I felt like I always needed to have something at that $100 price point.


The only big thing I can stay to the artist out there trying to build a name and make a living off their art is that you can’t start at the top with the big prices. You gotta build. When I started, I had a job and didn’t need to make a living off my art. So I priced them super low so they would move.

I loved selling art and it didn’t matter how much I got for a piece.

But as the demand for my work went up, so did my studio time and of course so did the price. For me a clear sign my prices need to be a little higher is the amount of commissions I am getting.


When I did increase my prices I only did so in 10% increments every 6 months or every year depending on how we were doing and also if I had gotten any good write ups, interviews in magazines, newspapers and blogs. Like when my work showed up on two big San Antonio newspapers almost back to back. A lot of outside factors like this dictate my prices. The more “out there” I get, the more I feel people have heard of me, and the more I think I am worth. So this year I went up a bit more being that soon we will be published artists - and having a children’s book under your belt is a good thing in the eyes of the public. Plus I see a few more on the horizon and that’s never a bad thing. Plus licensing deals pick up a lot of the slack. We do plan on more and more of these outside types of things to help push our popularity and in turn help online sales and gallery sales. People love to know about someone before hand.


Price-wise you have to be price "wise" - we try to have smaller priced items with us at all times, say our necklaces, small reproductions and postcards in the 20 buck range. Then we go up with more reproductions starting at 40 bucks for one, 70 bucks for two and 100 bucks for three and I’m sure we would give a really great deal if someone wanted to buy more. Then we have the originals, we start with small marker drawings for 50 bucks and go up to about $2k for a lager pencil drawing. We have something for everyone and most people don’t seem to get offended by our prices when they come in the gallery. Just remember, at any price there is going to be someone who thinks you’re too cheap and another who thinks you’re too expensive. I once heard some women complaining over $5 bracelets in a booth next door.


I hope this blog has given you a different way of looking at your prices vs. your worth.

Just remember, its all about growth, little by little, til you’re at the place you want to be, then grow some more.

We try really hard to keep our prices just below our popularly and demand, then work hard on the popularly and demand part.