First I’m assuming that your artwork is a luxury item. If so, then the answer is NO. If you’re not sure if it’s a luxury item then you have bigger concerns and need to clarify your market.
Discounting luxury items is a very big mistake. You’re asking people to pay a big premium for something that they don’t need and then changing your mind. It’s very confusing. No wonder people are reluctant to buy art.
Another important rule in business negotiation is that you should never give away something without receiving something in return.
Another option to discounting your art is to offer a friendly service. Offer to come hang your art on their wall, or provide them with complimentary, notice I didn’t say free, shipping, maybe donate 10% to their favorite charity. This is called cause marketing.
Artists desperate to close a sale will often discount their prices. Rather than doing this you should provide a range of price points for your collector to reach. I start with a note card for $5 and go to $36,000 for my largest commissioned canvas and I maintain a price point everywhere in between. This way I can make the conversation about the collector’s selection and not the price they’re going to pay.
Open up a Tiffany’s catalog. They get this. Tiffany’s offers beautiful Canary diamond engagement rings or a silver key chain with their logo, which is what the key chain buyer really wants. Tiffany’s knows their market.
It’s also important to remember if you work with a gallery they are selling your work at a retail price that you’ve established. If you discount your work then you’re undercutting your representative. And that’s not cool.
Some galleries ask if they can negotiate a discount on your behalf. This is your call but my answer is still no. I think that it’s worth noting that an art consultant that I worked with in Los Angeles told me that the artists that she represented who did not discount always sold more work then those who did.
I have a deep appreciation for my collectors and out of respect for them I can’t offer one price to one and not to the others. I don’t think it’s fair. Maintain integrity in your business transactions and reflect that in your pricing.
About Ann Rea
Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.
Thank you for this wonderful feedback! yet, I think I just messed up, cause I am again after almost 5 years of no painting decided to start again…so I am painting producing right? ..so I am ready to sell …in order for me to get supplies and represented by a gallery(?)…need MONEY!…so I contacted my personal friends and family and contacts..and offered my private collection from my home at a very low prize..thinking..is worth to do this cuase I need the money to keep building my dream! right? ……so I think I just messed up….cause my art work from my site I do not negotiate….! then again I offered other paintings really cheap…..and they say that when you do not fell good about something is because is not good!…and I felt hurt and nostalgic knowing I am selling some of my art work so cheap!….so reading this…I learned so much and encourage me to really believe in me and selling my art right! It is true…is respsect for you and your buyers!..thank youmeansremarch
I’d like to pass along a personal story which supports the article.
Once I had an opportunity to run my own gallery (prime location in Santa Barbara, CA.) A man came into the gallery and said he wanted to buy one of my larger paintings. Needless to say, I was very pleased to chat with him.
He said, “I’ve never bought art before, but I’ve negotiated and purchased a number of collectable automobiles.” Then he asked if the prices were negotiable. I said yes. He offered about 70% of the asking price. I was so anxious to make the sale, I said “Sure.” He made some excuse about needing to “think about it.” I never saw him again.
It was a valuable (and painful) lesson that I learned. by undercutting myself, I didn’t give him respect as a collector or negotiator and I didn’t give my artwork or myself respect. I won’t do that again.
Sometimes artists do wonder if not discounting is impacting their sales.
But art consultants who work with a number of different artists have told me that the artists who do not discount tend to sell much more.
This has always been something I have struggled with, been tempted, but have resisted. Often we don’t look at the big picture and look for immediate gratification. I think in the long run, most artists are better off resisting this path. I ask myself, will it really make a big difference in my life? The answers to this point have always been no.
Godin just did a post about online pricing and the possibility of real-tim adjustments. I think there is a place for bargaining/dealing with luxury items. Just because it’s a splurge for someone doesn’t mean that you’re always right on with your price point at the outset.
I will do introductory pricings, limited time deals, and also offer premium services. Mostly though, I feel out a developing connection, going with my gut on whether the buyer will balk at my “regular price” and deciding how to make them feel good about buying my art.
Remember, people remember how you made them feel. Art is not a commodity.
Peace,
@vinylart
Always glad to know that I can help!
I just went through this yesterday. I had a collector try to go around the gallery where I currently have a solo show hanging. I was prepared, and put in action all your techniques. He’s buying 2 smaller unframed prints and is still thinking about one of the large pieces in the show.
This is always a challenge! I spent a lot of time doing research and serious thinking when I originally established my prices. Yet whenever sales are slow, I revisited by a nagging urge to throw that research and history away and drop the prices. I think it’s our culture’s love of bargains that can trick you into thinking that a drop in prices will help your business. As the retails stores learned this fall, their super bargains did generate more sales, but because of the lower prices, they didn’t make any more money.