Question on selling art

Looniatic

Hey!

I'm not sure which board to use but hopefully this is the right one!

Right, so I have a few paintings lying around in my room and am thinking of selling them.

So how do I put a price on them? Because I've seen some paintings that are (in my opinion) not great. (some like to call them modern art :cool: ) and they go up into the thousands....

Hopefully someone can answer my question!

They are A2 size paintings, acrylic paint. Unframed.

ztoical

When pricing your work you should work out how much the materials cost for creating the piece [if you spent 20 euro for paint but only used half of what you bought then it's 10 euro not 20], work out a % of your studios rent/heat/light/insurance etc, work out an hourly rate for how long it took to create the work and add around 20% to 25% on top of the finished price.

As your Artists CV hopefully develops with a strong client list, residencies, publications, group/solo shows, and grants/awards you can increase your rates. Also be aware of the current climate, it's always better to have stock moving then sitting around gathering dust in your studio.

You can put insane prices on your work but if the work doesn't sell it's not much good to you. Be ambitious but realistic. At a group show last year there was a guy selling paintings with what I thought were unrealistic prices and he sold nothing while I sold four pieces. I saw the same artist at the Kilkenny Arts Festival 9 months later with the same paintings with the prices increased [cus it was an arts festival he told me ] and once again sold nothing. Now if he sold one fantastic for him but if you only sell one painting a year your not going to make much of a living.

keefg

Looniatic wrote: »

Hey!

I'm not sure which board to use but hopefully this is the right one!

Right, so I have a few paintings lying around in my room and am thinking of selling them.

So how do I put a price on them? Because I've seen some paintings that are (in my opinion) not great. (some like to call them modern art :cool: ) and they go up into the thousands....

Hopefully someone can answer my question!

They are A2 size paintings, acrylic paint. Unframed.

Did you paint them yourself or do you just own them?

Looniatic

keefg wrote: »

Did you paint them yourself or do you just own them?

I painted them myself. :P I don't buy paintings as I have no where to put them..(hence why i need to sell my own!)

The one I want to sell is a painting I did when i was 18. (i'm not 20) It's not bad and took quite a long time to paint. (only because I was a bit lazy here and there) I probs could have done it in about 2 or 3 weeks.

I can put a picture of it. but just wondering, would 1,000e - 1,200e be too expensive of a price to sell it at?

ztoical

Looniatic wrote: »

I can put a picture of it. but just wondering, would 1,000e - 1,200e be too expensive of a price to sell it at?

honestly without even seeing them I would say yes that's too expensive. At 20 without either a good Art degree behind you or some shows [juried, group or solo]/awards/resdiencies, you can't really price at that mark.

You say they are acrylic but what type of acrylic? Paintings that go for high prices would normally be made with the highest quality materials. You don't say what they are painted on - are they canvas? if so was it store bought or did you stretch it yourself?

keefg

Looniatic wrote: »

I painted them myself. :P I don't buy paintings as I have no where to put them..(hence why i need to sell my own!)

The one I want to sell is a painting I did when i was 18. (i'm not 20) It's not bad and took quite a long time to paint. (only because I was a bit lazy here and there) I probs could have done it in about 2 or 3 weeks.

I can put a picture of it. but just wondering, would 1,000e - 1,200e be too expensive of a price to sell it at?

Try these guys http://www.thestreetgallery.com/ , I know the guy who runs this company and he is sound.

They sell art all over the world on behalf of Irish artists so they might be able to look after you.

snorlax

well personally if i was going to buy id want somehting smaller the a2 and id want to pay a lot less for it. The higher the price the greater the chances of pricing out intereste people. id save that painting until i was famous and build up a reputation first.