There is no single guaranteed way of setting just the right price for your work of art but putting some simple principles into practice can help put your work in the right ballpark to help it sell.
Be fair
Setting a fair price for you work will definitely help to attract buyers, particularly if you are a new or emerging artist, who may struggle to command really big prices. What is fair? The starting point is to consider your time and materials in producing the piece of art. There’s no point in selling your works if you can’t at least make your costs back with a little profit. On anon-art.com, we recommend that you sell paintings and pictures unframed as this keeps the costs down for worldwide postage, which is another factor in attracting buyers but, if you do frame your work, this is another cost to include in your pricing. Anon-art.com does not charge for listing and charges a very reasonable 18% of the sale price but it’s still a cost to bear in mind with your pricing. If you post with other platforms that charge listing fees, these need to be included, too.
Once you’ve added up all of your costs in producing your piece of art, a reasonable percentage to then add on would be somewhere in the region of 50%-80% to allow you a level of profit.
Leave room to negotiate
Most buyers will try haggle the price a little, particularly those who are experienced buyers. On anon-art.com, buyers are able to put in an offer of anything over 50% of the displayed sale price. Think about adding on some extra to the price (maybe 10%) to allow you room to negotiate a little on the price so the buyer feels like they are getting a good deal. If it ends up you’ve priced too high, you can always reduce your price.
Look at your competition
Check out what other artists, in a similar position to you, selling a similar type of art, are charging for their works. That can give you a good idea of the market value for what you are producing.
Don’t panic!
If your work doesn’t sell quickly, don’t panic. It can be hard to be seen in a market that is almost entirely online, these days, with a wealth of sales platforms out there. Look for a good site that doesn’t charge for listing, doesn’t tie you down to exclusivity (at least without proving to you they can sell your work), doesn’t charge an arm and a leg in commission, and that promotes your work (oooh! That sounds like anon-art.com)
Great art can take some time to sell, so hang in there.
