Advice on selling prints

[From_the_NEK]

I've recently been approached by someone interested in buying multiple prints. However, I've never actually sold anything. I'm trying to figure out how to price my work. The first picture of interest is this one:

Vermont Bald Mtn by Tim_NEK, on Flickr

I had a 12x28 professionally printed, mounted, and framed. So there is already about $90 into it right there.

I know there is a huge range that I could charge for the print. However, I don't want to be too expensive and potentially scare away additional sales to this person.

However, I also want to ensure I'm not underselling myself. It would be nice to make enough selling some of these prints to pay for some better lenses.

Any advice from those of you who have experience with this would be great.

[sal the salmon]

I price my prints at roughly double there production costs. i do not factor my travel expenses into that cost, just the physical price of the print. if its limited rights or limited print runs, you may be able to squeeze another 25 percent, up the sky depending on how far you pushit.

[teletripper]

I tend to price my prints like this, length x width x .42 then double that number. That seems to be what the market will bear here.

[sal the salmon]

do u include the size of the frame in that equation, or are u talking unmounted prints?

[Wiilbert]

I too sell my prints for ~double production cost. I'm of the philosophy that it's better to sell them for cheap than to have an inventory of expensive prints on hand.

On a related note, any advice on who I should use to do a canvas print in the US? Need to send a housewarming gift to a friend in California

[huckbucket]

Whatever number you come up with, do yourself a favor and ask they buyer what they want to pay. They may throw something at you that's above your number. You can always coach them up to where you want to be if they come in low.

[From_the_NEK]

Thanks for all of the advice. I think I'm going to go with $140 which is about the result derived from Teletrippers equation. I don't think I have pro-quality pictures quite yet. Once I reach that level, I'll up my rates a bit .

[teletripper]

do u include the size of the frame in that equation, or are u talking unmounted prints?

Ooops, that is unmounted prints.

[From_the_NEK]

Ooops, that is unmounted prints.

Well I guess I undersold

[bfree]

I tend to price my prints like this, length x width x .42 then double that number. That seems to be what the market will bear here.

Or skip the doubling and multiply by .84 instead

[From_the_NEK]

Yikes, I guess I missed the doubling part. In that case I'm waaaaayyyy below the CO market rate.

[abraham]

Or skip the doubling and multiply by .84 instead

Get cher math out of here.

I have nothing of use to add, just curious to see how the sausage is made

[teletripper]

Or skip the doubling and multiply by .84 instead

I use the .42 thing because that seems to arrive at a price that is acceptable across the U.S for prints, here I get double that, it was only a reference point for NEK; his situation may be different.

[teletripper]

Yikes, I guess I missed the doubling part. In that case I'm waaaaayyyy below the CO market rate.

It happens!

[sal the salmon]

The goal is price your work for max profit and at a rate the market is willing to bear. I sell prints for more in the summer then I do in the winter, because the market allows me to.

[smmokan]

On a related note, any advice on who I should use to do a canvas print in the US? Need to send a housewarming gift to a friend in California

Since no one else addressed your question.... I'd recommend CanvasOnDemand.com. If you have a website, you can sign up for a "Pro" account which gets you some pretty legit pricing. That, and you can always use their existing coupons for discounts on top of that pricing. For example... with the Pro account, if you order three or more prints at once (they can be different pictures) as "studio samples", you get 40% off pro pricing. Then you can use the online coupons on top of that, which means you're getting killer prices.

I've been using them for a few years now and they do great work.

[Meathelmet]

Congrats!

Some quick pointers. The most simple thing is to sell your prints un-numbered, just the print and then leave it to the buyer to frame it etc. That way you can sell dozens or hundreds of prints
without a hassle. The downsize is that it is harder for you to make a name as your name wont be standing that much, proverbially or literally.

The other option is to sell them (still) un-numbered but taking time to get them framed properly (type of frame/glass/passpartou/your signature) and selling them as "pieces".
If you have the connections you can make some dough by being the middle man as decent frames and whatnot can cost 50-200€/A3 picture.
Or do the frames yourself and you can make extra 200 bucks while selling a 200 buck picture.
Yes, there is a lot of extra hassle as people might want something specific to suit their own taste and it takes time to sort stuff out. But just an idea..

And the third option is to make serialized pieces, like 1/25 +2 ap´s (artists pieces) editions where you state clearly that you will make only 25 prints (ever) of that size and they are actually collectibles.
The whole shebang with certificates of authenticity and all. That is one way to hike up the price as people sometimes want to buy art works and not just some "pictures". The problem is that you
actually have to start to pay attention where you print them, how you mount them (aluminium, museum grade printing) and keep track how many you have sold and where. It might be far fetched
but if you are serious looking into that angle might be worth a shot? Maybe not now but in the future if (and when) you start to make name of yourself and want to start to make a living or whatnot.

But yeah, most of the time the way to go is what other peeps have already suggested. Just try to throw in a bit of extra angle to the buyers, to make them feel special. Like they have made
a real purchase of art. And send them a 10€ photobook every christmas of your works that you have done in the previous year and try to lure them in to buy a piece or two more...
If they have liked your stuff, there is a good possibility that they will buy more. And they might brag to their friends about their purchase and voila! More clients!