Debra Jones - pricing and markets

Joan Breckwoldt · 04-30-2005, 04:00 PM

Hi Debra,

First of all, your portraits are fresh and beautiful! Second of all, I'm worn out just reading about your week! Whew! You have A LOT of energy.

I agree wholeheartedly with the previous posts about you raising your prices. Here is my example: I participated in a 'show' at a friend's home last fall, I sold little oil paintings of fruit and flowers for $350 (for the 8x10's) and $500 (for the 11x14's). They were framed. But YOU are painting somebody's child or pet, which is about 100 times more valuable to a client than a few lemons from the local grocery store, which is, by the way, why I aspire to painting portraits. I'm not saying you should raise your prices 100 fold

but certainly they should be doulbe what you are getting, at the minimum. In my opinion.

I've had some experience delivering finished advertising and design products to clients. I had a few that wanted things on a 'rush' schedule and I always charged them 50% more. I'm just afraid that if you get yourself into delivering something the very next day, you'll stress yourself out. It would stress me out anyway. I'm just afraid you may have some emergency or personal thing that you need to take care of and there you are, with a portrait promised the very next day. You could always offer the next day service but at a premium. Just a thought.

I think if you keep offering your small fresh portraits, even at twice the price, they will still sell like 'hot cakes'. The clients will find you. And . . . . . just had another thought. Think about how much an 8x10 professional photograph costs! Here in Houston the sitting fee alone is $150-$200, then another $200-$250 for the actual photograph. I'll bet in most cities you can't even get a professional photo done for $200, unless you count Sears. No wonder you're selling those portraits like hot cakes. Have I convinced you yet?

Good luck,

Joan

Mary Reilly · 04-30-2005, 11:49 PM

Wow, a one day turn around is pretty impressive. I agree with Joan, though, that promising a portrait in one day could present a problem at some point. I think people would be just as pleased if you said it would be ready within a week. Then you could deliver it 3 three days later, and they would still be impressed.

I also agree that you could increase your prices without losing business. My personal thought is that people prices should be higher then pets even if you feel the degree of difficulty is the same. You could always leave your pet prices as they are for now and just raise you people prices. Then consider reviewing all your prices every 6 months and increase them a little at a time.

Mary

Jeremiah White · 05-02-2005, 02:47 PM

I was considering doing something similar to help transfer myself over into full time portraiture. I was debating the costs and such and if I even wanted to offer small sketches in oils. I've been seriously considering adding a less expensive alternative for people who just can't afford a $1,000 painting but are still interested none the less.

If you can knock out a painting in one day or two and still get at least $200, that's a pretty good and fair return to start out with.

My other concern was whether or not it would take away sales from my larger works. I hope that if I get more sales from smaller pieces that it just means that they were potential large works that I couldn't get a commission for but instead was able to pick up a commission for a smaller piece. That's what I hope of course.

Seeing the success that you've had with these lately, it's encouraged me to go ahead and go forth with my own. Sometimes it takes seeing somebody else dive into the pool before you feel confident enough to swim as well.

Congratulations on what you've accomplished thus far.

Michele Rushworth · 05-02-2005, 03:15 PM

I think an artist needs to decide what end of the market they are going to aim at and pretty much concentrate on that one area. I imagine it would be all but impossible for an artist to try and get some high end work, but also sell low end work for a greatly reduced price. The high end clients will be turned off by the low quality/low price stuff. They want to feel that you're truly a high quality artist, because that's what they're really buying: you.

Jeremiah White · 05-02-2005, 03:42 PM

That's a good point Michele; that's another thing that I've been wondering about as well. I haven't really seen too many traverse the two ends too often so I have a hard time finding those that can provide some personal experiences with it.

I've seen other markets do well with being able to sell to a broad group of people by having an economy version and a luxury version of their product. My question would be, does that prove true in portraiture as well?

Regarding the lower priced artwork, do you think that it would be more acceptable to sell them as sketches in a different medium instead of just smaller, lower quality artworks while still being seen in a positive, high quality artist light? Would you consider a small oil or charcoal sketch as something that would be seen by others as an equivalent to the high end finished paintings?

This thread has given me a lot to think about.

Joan Breckwoldt · 05-02-2005, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremiah White

Regarding the lower priced artwork, do you think that it would be more acceptable to sell them as sketches in a different medium instead of just smaller, lower quality artworks while still being seen in a positive, high quality artist light?

Hi Jeremiah,

I'm not sure I understand the above sentence, but I don't think it's a good idea to put anything less than your very best work out there for the world to see. For any price. Forgive me if I don't understand you correctly, but it seems that you are thinking of selling some lower quality artwork for a lesser price? I would rather throw something out that I'm not completely happy with than sell it cheap. I know it may seem like a quick fix or an easy way to make some money, but I strongly believe it's the long haul that counts. And the payout in the long run will be greater, if you can just hold out. Just my opinion.

Ah, just had another thought. Have you heard the saying that one's portfolio is always judged by their worst work? That scares the heck out of me, maybe that's why I'm so particular about what leaves my studio.

Joan

Jeremiah White · 05-03-2005, 12:45 AM

You're right, I wasn't very clear.

What I meant was, do you think that it would be more acceptable to market the lower priced work as sketches and sometimes of a different medium. For example, instead of just offering it as a quick 8X10 painting, you could make it seem more as an 8X10 sketch. A sketch being something that people would normally associate with fine art but also realize that it's not just some sloppy and quick piece of work but instead a skilled gesture. So, in other words a fast work is not a sloppy rushed work but instead a high quality sketch.

So to sum it up, would you still be viewed as an artist of high caliber if you offered a lower priced sketch (not a painting in the traditional sense) as an alternative to people that couldn't afford a full painting? In doing so, making sure that you're differentiating your normal work from your sketches that you offer.

I wrote more words this time but that doesn't always mean that it makes more sense. If it doesn't I can try to throw out more examples and such to make more sense out of my ramblings.