One of the hardest things as a photographer is trying to figure out how to price your work. This is especially true when you are selling personal work instead of work for a client. Photo District News recently published a great article on this topic. In the article PDN guides us through the process of pricing your work, go check out the full article to get the full effect. I will be highlighting a few points that caught my eye below.
Supply and Demand is of course the name of the game here just as with any business where you are selling a product. In the post PDN makes some great points about not over pricing your work when you are new, its better to start low and raise prices than lower prices. The reason for this is that if you raise your prices it gives the impression that your work is becoming more valuable, if you lower your prices it gives the impression that work is decreasing in value.
Another point that comes up that I found useful may seem like a no brainer, but you would be surprised at how many people skip this and pay for it. That is researching comparable artists and works when setting your prices. This is probably the best way to get a quick idea of the general range where you should be pricing your work. If you have a really awesome mountain landscape shot then look for other mountain landscapes that have sold recently. This way you can see a comparable print and what it went for, and then adjust your price accordingly.
The last point that I wanted to touch on is releasing your prints in small editions. If you release too many prints in one edition the collectors will shy away from it because too many other people have the print. Ideally a first edition run should be 3 to 6 prints, no more than 10. This is especially true if you are new to the game, your name has no recognition value to it yet and therefore it is imperative that your work be seen as rare and collectible.
You can learn more about all of the points above and more in the original post over on PDN. Head on over and check it out if you have not already.
