As I reflect on another gallery night, another show, and another 400 people briefly met, I realize that the same questions and comments tend to arise. First of all and probably least surprising is "how did you make/think of that?" Answer : "Magic." But the few that come after are a bit more interesting and actually help in figuring out, at least to a point, the way people look at art...
One of the most asked questions I get is, "how do you come up with your prices?" I know, pretty lame and technical when considering everything that goes into a piece of art, but really, it can lead to discovering a lot. For me, I try to price things so that most anyone can afford it, to a point. I always say, If someone loves a piece, I'd rather they bought it for 100$ than some millionaire for $2K who will put it in a warehouse for 10 years. In no way does that mean I'd deny someone a sale, turn down anyone rich, or that rich people can't actually like art, but it's more of the idea behind it. If there is someone who loves your work to the point that they would shell out a good deal of money for it, I'd rather give it to that guy than just someone with a lot of money to spend.
A lot of artists are very at odds with that whether they realize it or not. I here from a lot of people complaining about how art just isn't affordable. They go to gallery night completely for the experience. Out of the countless people I talked to, almost none of them were really looking to buy. One reason I heard was that the prices are just too high. That tells me a few things about artists:
1. We all want to make the big sale.
2. We don't know who we are marketing to.
3. We think people are willing to spend more than they are.
4. We are a bit over-confident.
After making a sale, a fellow artist said, "you should have priced that at 500$". I said, that I would have loved to, but the guy wouldn't have bought it then. I got a very blank stare, "but it was worth 500$."
I find that line of thinking very unhelpful for artists, and especially for young artists. What something is worth is not always what you get for it. And what YOU think it's worth is something else entirely. You have to think about what it's worth to the people that might buy it. If you only hang out with millionaires, maybe 2K is a fair price, but like the rest of us, if you are showing in a gallery to the general public in Milwaukee, 99% of people can't afford much over 200$. While it may hurt the ego, selling four pieces for 200$ is worth more moneywise than putting up one piece for 5000$ and seeing 500 people ooo-ing and aaah-ing and then moving on. Even more, selling 20 pieces throughout the year for 200$ each is the same amount of money as selling 4 for 1,000$ per, but with the 20, you have five times as much exposure...which would you rather have?
The main piece of advice I have is to not get stuffy. Nothing is less attractive than an artist who is stone-cold set on their importance to society and reflects it in their pricing. We all want to sell art for 100,000$, but the simple fact is that most of us never will, and the few that do probably have a long way to go. Be fair, don't give art away, but don't restrict it to the huge lakeview mansions. There are many people out there who adore art, the ability to create it, it's importance, and WANT to buy your stuff, however, there are far less people who can or are willing to pay you 500$ for it. Putting a huge price on a piece is exhilarating, a big confidence boost, and slightly impressive, but it can also come off as cocky, inaccessible, and disappointing for a person willing to put out some, but not quite as much. It discourages people from talking to you about the piece if they have no chance of affording it, and it also stops people from asking for a deal if the price point is much to high for them.
I guess the main point here, in the land of art where anything can mean anything, is that money is something people latch onto. They may not understand the piece, but they understand the price and when someone of their own economic stature is out of their own league. Just be reasonable. There is no reason to give your stuff away for free, but there's also no reason to exclude such a huge group of people. Maybe it's just me, but I want my art in the hands of the people that love it whether or not they can single-handedly support my career.
So next time you put up a show and need to decide on some prices, think about what 99% of the people attending are going to be able to afford. It may not be top-dollar, it may not be what you hoped for, it may not be your dream sale, but you can be sure that there will be a few people who are happy to find some art that they can, at the very least, think about owning.
As the great philosopher Nelly once said, "Hey, It Must Be the Money."
