Average Price for a Fine Art Print Note Card

A few weeks ago I received an email from John, one of our customs members. John enjoys sports photography and asked how much should he accuse for prints of his images?

I'1000 trying to start selling some of my hockey pictures and I was trying to figure out if anyone or anything tracks the boilerplate cost people are charging for a sports related four×6, five×7, viii×ten, etc. My intention is non to undercut someone else but I definitely desire to exist competitive. So far I have found a couple of dissimilar sites and they vary widely in toll. For example, I constitute the post-obit prices for 8×10; $vi, $xix, $7 and $22.

Below is my response to John and I idea I would share information technology with the rest of our customs. While some of my suggestions and comments are specific to John's sports photography, they can be applied to any type of fine art photography.

There really aren't publicized databases of what people are selling photos for. In fact nearly of what y'all'll discover online is either opinion, best guess or an average taken from several sources. The best way to determine pricing for your prints is to effigy out your costs and make up one's mind what the marketplace tin can acquit.

Here are a few thoughts that will help to determine the cost of your time and materials needed to create your prints:

one. You already did some enquiry and found varying prices for similar photos to what you're creating. These numbers are good to know because they are your competition and if a consumer is looking for hockey photos near likely they'll exercise like research and stumble beyond the same sites.

2. Now you need to determine the "price" of creating your prints. How much fourth dimension practise you put into the creation of your images?

+ Prep Time
+ Game Time
+ Post Game Time
+ Travel Time
+ Processing/Retouching Time
+ Printing Fourth dimension
+ Matting/Framing Time
____________________________________
= Total Time spent to create your terminal product

Effigy out a realistic hourly rate that you think your time is worth for each one of these tasks. Now break this number downward into a per print cost. Go along in mind, you may shoot a couple hundred images while you're at a game only virtually likely only a handful will really be good plenty to sell. For instance, if out of 200 images y'all only take 10 that are good enough to sell, then accept your total time and divide past x and that is your cost of fourth dimension per salable image.

3. Since you're just starting out selling your images it's going to be hard to make up one's mind, simply you need to figure in how much fourth dimension you'll spend marketing and promoting your photos and also the time involved with fulfilling the orders (processing credit card transactions, creating mailing labels, packaging the products, dropping packages at the post office/UPS/FedEx, etc.). Once again effigy out a realistic hourly charge per unit for each one of these tasks, then you lot'll want to break that down into a per impress cost.

Note: You equally the "artist" tin can command a college hourly rate. So the fourth dimension it takes yous to create the final print should be figured out at that higher charge per unit. Other than the marketing and promotion time, the fulfillment time should be figured out at a lower hourly charge per unit. The reason being is, y'all are the only "creative person" and theoretically the only 1 who is able to create your "art". The fourth dimension spent fulfilling the orders tin can be washed past someone else for a much lower hourly rate. If you lot get so busy that you have to rent someone to fulfill your orders, you would exist calculating their time at that lower rate. In the beginning you lot most likely will exist doing everything yourself so you should plan on less per hour for those tasks. The flip side to this is, while you're processing credit cards and packing up your prints, it's time taken abroad from creating new images that you tin sell. Merely in the end this is just the toll of starting and running a business.

iv. Yous also demand to figure out how much your total out of pocket expenses are for your printer inks, paper, frames, mattes, packaging materials, etc., and then break that down into a per print cost. This number volition vary based on the size of the prints you're creating. If y'all're using an outside lab to create your prints, so information technology's just a affair of adding in those costs.

This will go you downward to the cost of your fourth dimension and materials to create your production. This is the minimum corporeality yous have to charge to be compensated for the creation of your production. If you lot tin can't sell you prints for this minimum price then STOP here! Unless you lot want to share your images with the world for fun and the love of it, don't bother moving forward as it will be a losing fiscal proposition.

So you've figured out a cost for your fourth dimension and materials and found based on the marketplace research you did, you'll exist able to sell your prints for enough to at least encompass those costs. Now you demand to figure out the "value" of your product to determine if y'all can make a turn a profit. Consumers in general don't have a real understanding of the value of art. Sure they know the paintings hanging on the wall in the museums are priceless but that'southward because the artists are dead, right? The consumers "perceived value" of fine art is what nosotros need to accost. What practise they think the photo is worth and how much are they willing to pay for information technology?

Portrait and event photographers are creating images unique to the client. These images tin't be obtained elsewhere short of hiring some other lensman. The client has a perception of value that these photographic services hold. While photographers wish this perceived value was higher about of the time they are able to justify the costs to them. When you're selling fine fine art photography it's much harder to justify the cost of the prints to the customer. They either get it and are happy to pay or they don't and won't pay. Many look at fine fine art photography as a commodity that'south easily obtained. At that place are tens of thousands of photographers selling fine art prints online many of which share similar styles and looks. Because of this, selling your prints turns into more of a price battle than a true appreciation of art.

Here are a few questions and thoughts that will assistance you determine the "value" of your prints.

i. Are your hockey photos of professionals (I'm going to presume they are)? If and so, how widely available are similar images? If you are shooting amateur players or youth leagues that'due south a whole different story.

two. Are your photos posed portraits or action shots that you took at games? Did the players pose exclusively for you or did yous shoot them from behind the boards? Why I'yard asking is, if the players posed exclusively for you in that location is a piddling more value to the images because they are more unique. If they are activeness shots from behind the boards that anyone else could have made (and probably did) they are going to exist more common and probably not as valuable.

3. Why would a client buy your print over someone else'south? What makes your image unique and dissimilar? Developing a style or look is very important and will make more mutual shots look extraordinary. They will take on a higher perceived value of art and not that of just a snapshot.

4. Is the market flooded with images of this type? Sports images in general are very popular and bachelor everywhere. You can observe images online for free, y'all can go to your local sports store and notice images sometimes signed, they're in magazines… everywhere.

From the questions higher up if yous make up one's mind your images are mutual to what's out at that place then you really volition merely exist able to charge what everyone else is. Prices may vary but fifty-fifty at the highest price of $22 for an 8×10, that'south not a lot of money for "art". If you lot goal is to mass produce these prints and attempt to sell volume then the lower price is fine but you're not really selling art at that indicate, y'all're selling a widget.

If y'all want to sell "art" and take it to the next level you need to be different and offering something that no one else is.

1. Maybe you can brand a few connections with some players and go them to sign some of your prints. Y'all could sell them every bit numbered, limited editions that are matted and framed.

2. Develop more of an cocked way. Maybe it's camera angle, maybe information technology's the way you procedure the images. Make it unique and make it yours.

3. Focus on just i team to photograph and get afterwards the diehard fans. True believers are willing to pay for cracking wall fine art to hang in their Man Caves.

4. Connect with charities and offer your art to be auctioned off in a fundraiser. The charity will take them on consignment and if they sell, will pay yous the agreed upon price and proceed the rest of the coin for their crusade. It's a smashing way to assist out a worthy crusade and get your proper name out at that place at the same time. By the way, sports images sell great at charity golf outings.

These are just a few ideas on how to ready yourself apart from the rest. There are many, many more than ways, y'all only take to be creative in your approach.

So how much practice you lot charge for "art" ? At very least you desire to price the art at a 100% markup or double what your cost of time and material was to create it. If it costs you $50 to create an 8×10 matted and framed piece, you lot should easily exist able to sell it for $100. The larger the piece the higher the percentage you can marker it upwards. A sixteen×twenty disordered and framed impress that cost you $75 to create could hands be sold for $200 or more because the perceived value is higher. A larger piece takes upward more wall infinite. At present if y'all really want to go big, expect into the Gallery Wraps. A 30×20 might cost y'all $150 to create just yous could easily sell it for $300+. The bigger and more than unique your images are, the more they will exist perceived equally fine art and have a higher value to the boilerplate consumer.

View our Grow Your Business organisation section for even more keen
tips and ideas to aid you succeed in business.

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Founder of Current Photographer, co-host of The Digital Photography Cafe Show, Designer, Photographer, and overall tech geek.

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