what are my photos worth?

positivenote · 20-09-2014 2:30pm #1

Hi all,
just received the great news that an image of mine has been curated for a gallery in the U.S and I've been asked to provide a price if I am making it available for sale. Prices have generally been between $300-$900 for previous prints in the gallery but many have been sold for more. Im at a loss as to what value i place on my work or wether i should even make it available for sale. It has not cost me any production cost as the gallery cover printing and framing, but do take a 50% commission on all prints sold.
any advice would be welcomed.
Thanks

pullandbang · 20-09-2014 2:43pm

Between $300 - $900..........:)

Wabbit Ears · 20-09-2014 7:15pm

Its a piece of string question but IMHO, Put a high price tag on it which will make people believe its worth the money. Go low and it looks like you're merely hopeful.

amdgilmore · 20-09-2014 7:35pm

I'm interested to see this photo.

You have to factor reputation into those prices too. Who was the photographer? Are they well known? Is he/she an established 'brand'? Etc.

These are cynical times and the idea that setting a high price will automatically convince people that the work is valuable doesn't really hold true in most cases.

If you really don't know, maybe it's smarter to test the waters with a lower price.

amdgilmore · 20-09-2014 7:37pm

Or you could simply ask the experts in the gallery to set a price. They deal with this stuff every day. And I'm sure you're not the first photographer who has no clue what phis photos are worth!

Wabbit Ears · 20-09-2014 8:14pm

amdgilmore wrote: »

I'm interested to see this photo.

You have to factor reputation into those prices too. Who was the photographer? Are they well known? Is he/she an established 'brand'? Etc.

These are cynical times and the idea that setting a high price will automatically convince people that the work is valuable doesn't really hold true in most cases.

If you really don't know, maybe it's smarter to test the waters with a lower price.

Its not cynical, any secondary school economic book will tell you snob value is is real and works. Take apple products for example.

amdgilmore · 20-09-2014 8:37pm

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

Its not cynical, any secondary school economic book will tell you snob value is is real and works. Take apple products for example.

I'm aware of the theory behind premium pricing - and precisely for the fact that it's in every secondary school textbook people are far more conscious of these tactics now and are less likely to be taken in. And you can double down on that sentiment when talking about art lovers visiting a gallery. These aren't your standard consumers.

As for Apple, like it or not it's an established brand name with renowned quality and design. That plays a big part in people agreeing to pay a little bit more. It's not a good example of what you're talking about.

obrano · 21-09-2014 11:23am

I have no clue but I would really like to see your photos. Any chance you could post a link?

Congrats by the way!! What great acknowledgement of your work.

dinneenp · 22-09-2014 7:32am

Hi,
Hopefully it's legit but how was your photo selected, did you just receive an e-mail from someone? Or was it through a website? Just asking as very little detail is provided, you want to be 100% sure it's not a scam.
Cheers,
Pa.

positivenote · 22-09-2014 2:00pm

Photo was selected following an open call from a gallery under a specified theme that co-insided with a series of images I am currently working on. Images will be on-line in the next week or two as part of the exhibition so I can post a link to it then.

EyeBlinks · 24-09-2014 1:15pm

Do you know what it is exactly you are selling?

Is it the print that will be hanging in the gallery only?
Does it include the frame?
Are there any shipping costs?
Are there any Taxes?
What size is it?
Is it a limited edition or editions run?
If so are you building in scaled pricing (i.e. later ones more expensive) ?
If so are you keeping AP's and how many?

ScumLord · 24-09-2014 4:48pm

You could go to your nearest art college and ask about pricing. My sister is an artist and how they price their paintings seems to be fairly complicated as doing it wrong and later changing prices can have a negative effect on everything else you produce. That's if you want to continue selling your prints. If it's a one off it's not so much of an issue.

EyeBlinks · 25-09-2014 11:57am

I have a pricing structure that works, for me at least.

All my prints cost the same regardless of what they are.

I offer an unlimited affordable edition and various limited sized editions all on top of the range archival paper and numbered with a certificate and hologram.

That way, I know exactly what I want/need from every photo. If you're selling through a gallery as a rule of thumb you end up with about a third of the purchase price.

So for the example here would be how I would work out my price in this case.

Start with the $900 say

Purchase Price to Customer 900
Sales Tax -90 (Variable Cost)
Shipping and Handling -25 (Fixed Cost)
Printing and Framing -200 (Fixed Cost)
Net Proceeds from Sale 585
Gallery Commision -293 (Variable Cost)
Income to me 292

All costs above are guesses, actual costs will be different. Some of these costs may not apply and there may be others not included here that do.

So, say for that size, edition etc, I want/need $400, I would re-do the above ending with $400 and working back, taking into account the fixed and variable costs to a purchase price to the customer of roughly $1140. If you only need $200 do the recalc in the same way and you end up with a customer end price of roughly $700.

There's a million ways of doing it, that's just my way:D

what are my photos worth?

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