If you're an artist:
- Do not hand out your own personal business cards at your opening and/or an art fair where your work is being exhibited. What you should do is work it out with the gallery, and if agreed, make your own personal business cards that list the gallery (and not you) as the contact point.
- Do not start a relationship with a gallery without a contract or written agreement.
- Do not vary your prices from dealer to dealer, or city to city, etc. What you should do is to have an established process (via contract/written agreement) where it details what discounts (if any) are offered in cases of multiple buys, museum sales, etc.
- Do not have "art sales." This hurts your established price points.
- Do not have prices in your website, instead force interested collectors into communicating with you or your gallery. Make sure that you note your gallery representation in your website.
- Do not operate on a handshake; always have a contract or written agreement.
- Do not hide the names/address of buyers. All that accomplishes is that it tells the artist: "I don't trust you."
- Don't work out price issues on the fly. Work out pricing issues ahead of time to ensure that you and your artists are all clear on all possible scenarios.
- Don't skip on art insurance.
- Don't take too long to pay your artists (period should be specified in your written agreement/contract (such as "Artist will be paid within ___ days from the time that the artwork payment clears").
- Don't undercut the gallery by "skipping" them and going directly to the artist.
- Don't trust art dealers/artists who offer prodigious discounts on the artwork - nearly always that means that the prices were inflated to start with.
- Don't be afraid to ask if the artwork is done to conservation standards.
- Don't call a painting a "picture."
While I agree with most of your don'ts, there is one that you need to reconsider, and that is variable pricing. I price my work based on the assumptions that a) the gallery will be taking a 25 - 30% commission, and b) the gallery will not discount my work. Recently I was accepted into a show by a gallery that takes 50% and allows prices to be negotiated down by 20%. If I did not change my prices, any sale from that gallery would cost me money: my share would be less than the cost of materials and shipping.
ReplyDeleteYou are making the most common and worst mistake that artists make... variable prices based on the commission of the gallery... here's the scenario:
ReplyDelete- Client A buys a 16x20 limited edition print from your gallery in Poughkeepsie for $500
- Client A shows his work to friend B, who then loves it...
- A few weeks later, Friend B walks into a gallery in Boondock and sees the print for sale for $300. He buys it and tells his friend that he bought the same print, in the same edition, same frame for $200 less.
- Client A storms into the gallery where he bought your work and demands to know why he was overcharged. The dealer gets an unethical black eye and yells at you for giving him a different price than your Boondock gallerist.
Result: You have a pissed off collector, a pissed off dealer and have established that the real price of your print is $300 and wherever it is being sold for $500, the collectors are being gouged for an extra $200.
Hard fast rule: One price everywhere.
Other result: You are competing against yourself.
Warm regards,
Lenny
Lenny is correct -- artists need to work out whatever issues there are about pricing, commissions, etc. ahead of time and with the joint goal of straightforwardness, open communications, and ethics when it comes to pricing: ALWAYS the same price no matter what the venue, and this includes "open studios."
ReplyDeleteJessica
Interesting that you both take the side of the gallery. Why is it that some galleries are able to operate - even in major metropolitan areas - with commissions under 40%, and without discounting the works on sale, while others charge 50% or more, then, to compensate, offer discounts that cut even further into the artist's take?
ReplyDeleteI see your point, and in the future simply will not deal with any gallery whose sales policies result in my not making a reasonable return on my investment. I've always identified with the little guy, whether a struggling artist or a young collector with a limited income. That's what got me into trouble in the first place: pricing my work at an affordable price point.
Oh, by the way, Jessica: In the dozens of times I have had my work shown in a gallery, the number of occasions on which I have had any input on pricing and commissions is: ZERO.
ReplyDeleteOnce, in fact, I did attempt to start a dialog, by asking if they would take a lower commission. Their response was to tell me that in the first place I had no right to comment on their business processes, and in the second, if my margins were so small, then I should increase my prices. There is a real world example of your straightforwardness, open communications and ethics.
The industry standard for private, independently owned commercial fine arts ethical galleries is 50% -- Anything more than that is too high... anything lower than that is great for the artist!
ReplyDeleteCoop galleries often charge between 30-40% commissions.
Art centers and non-profits also often charge 30-40% commissions.
Many university art galleries charge zero commissions.
If you had zero input in your pricing discussions with your gallery, then I'd recommend to leave and find another gallery (easier said than done, right?)
ReplyDeleteGalleries have 100s of artists approaching them, but that doesn't mean that they should dictate... it's ECON 101 and the law of supply and demand that takes over, and if the dealer is unethical, the artist gets screwed.
There are many, in fact most, ethical dealers who will establish a real partnership with artists... sounds like you haven't found any ... yet.
Starting a dialog by asking for a lower commission is a non starter... why would a gallery charge one artist one commission and another artist a different one?
That is why a written contract is a MUST - if you don't like their commission (standard is 50%) then don't sign up!
BTW: Nearly 80% of gallery sales in most major cities are conducted at art fairs... that should light up some interesting guerrilla tactics in your mind.... :-)
In addition to Lenny’s & Jessica’s comments it’s helpful to consider the progression of economic value. Progression: Commodity $- Product $$- Service $$$ - Experience $$$$!
ReplyDeleteAs an artist you make a product and want to be compensated for that effort.
A gallery provides the service of retailing that product and wants to be compensated for that effort. This may include: marketing, insurance, display (rent & utilities) and staff.
If you sell your work directly then you should compensate yourself for the service value you’ve added.
If you sell your work from a studio tour you may also be adding an experience value to the product and service.
It’s helpful to consider this progression of economic value when you price your work as it gives you the flexibility to new markets and partners.
-Lou Gagnon
ps. Having tried 5 times to post this through google, take it for what it's worth, because google clearly thinks I'm a moron.
In addition to Lenny’s & Jessica’s comments it’s helpful to consider the progression of economic value. Progression: Commodity $ - Product $$ - Service $$$ - Experience $$$$!
ReplyDeleteAs an artist you make a product and want to be compensated for that effort.
A gallery provides the service of retailing that product and wants to be compensated for that effort. This may include: marketing, insurance, display (rent & utilities) and staff.
If you sell your work directly then you should compensate yourself for the service value you’ve added.
If you sell your work from a studio tour you may also be adding an experience value to the product and service.
It’s helpful to consider this progression of economic value when you price your work as it gives you the flexibility to new markets and partners.
-Lou Gagnon
ps. Having tried 6 times to load this comment please take it with a grain of salt. Clearly google thinks I’m a moron.