Charge for a 16x20 matted print
Jul 14, 2019 11:07:25 #
The OP's particular case and all of my business talk aside, for a moment, from what I see here in this thread many of y'all are underpricing, underrating and underselling yourselves and you work!
First, again momentarily, let's forget about the "art" and look at the materials. Anybody has been to a custom frame shop lately- big bucks! A 16x20 frame cut from a decent molding with a really nice matte can set you back a couple of hundred dollars. A compound matte and some good quality glass are gonna add to the price and if you wanna go acid-free/archival that's gonna cost even more. They charge for fitting as well.
For my studio, I buy my frames from wholesale sources and the don't come cheap.
My son did a five-year stint as a manager at a Michaels Art store. Their framing department yields a good percentage of their gross sales and profits- the ain't cheap either. They do so well with framing that the bought one of their major manufacturing suppliers.
So... now let's go cheap. Walmart has some pretty decent looking frames for the money, the products ain't too shabby and the prices are low. Nonetheless, a 16x20 goes for an average of $35.00. the glass is not the best and you still need to cut a matte and do the fitting. A pre-cut matte, non-acid free is $10.00 Theses frames are imported from China. I don't know if the joining is any good or exactly what some of them are made of. Some may be solid woods, others maybe some kind of composition material. If the wood is not well seasoned, it will eventually warp or split. The finishes are nice enough.
Now let's look at the "art". Nice lithographic prints of original art are not cheap, decent stuff average about $50.00 Limited edition or signed prints are more expensive- some are going for $200. or more. Original art, obviously is far more costly, especially if it is the work of well-known artists. I'm not talking about masterpieces hanging in museums- just run-of-the-mill stuff you find in retail galleries in shopping centers etc.
Original photographs can command a decent price as well- again, depending on the popularity of the photographer, the quality of the prints and the rarity. Both commercial, portrait and fine-art photographers do not necessarily sell the images strictly based on size and price like a color lab or photo finisher- the promote a concept or finished piece.
Lab Costs- The lowes price for a halfway decent 16x20 digital print in my city, outsourced is $25.00 and the quality is OK but not to write home about. Custom work by a really good printmaker is much more! I make my prints, up to 30x40, in-house and my time and labor costs are much higher whe all is said and done.
I'm posting this, not to tell anyone what to charge- just to give some of y'all some perspective.
By the way, there is absolutely nothing wrong with gifting a friend, relative or business associate with your work or doing someone a favor and just have them cover the costs. My issues with folks running themselves out of business or killing their potential business before it gets off the ground by grossly underpricing and undervaluing their products and labor as well as their talent.
So...heads up out there. Get a pencil and paper or fire up the calculator, or get some fancy software and create one of those newfangled spreadsheets and examine your costs, your time and whether or not you want to earn a decent profit. Hey, next time you have a "GAS attack", you'll have some extra money burning a hole in your pocket and the money will be derived from your PHOTOGRAPHY. That will keep your significant other, financial manager, or any othere critics off your case
!!!
First, again momentarily, let's forget about the "art" and look at the materials. Anybody has been to a custom frame shop lately- big bucks! A 16x20 frame cut from a decent molding with a really nice matte can set you back a couple of hundred dollars. A compound matte and some good quality glass are gonna add to the price and if you wanna go acid-free/archival that's gonna cost even more. They charge for fitting as well.
For my studio, I buy my frames from wholesale sources and the don't come cheap.
My son did a five-year stint as a manager at a Michaels Art store. Their framing department yields a good percentage of their gross sales and profits- the ain't cheap either. They do so well with framing that the bought one of their major manufacturing suppliers.
So... now let's go cheap. Walmart has some pretty decent looking frames for the money, the products ain't too shabby and the prices are low. Nonetheless, a 16x20 goes for an average of $35.00. the glass is not the best and you still need to cut a matte and do the fitting. A pre-cut matte, non-acid free is $10.00 Theses frames are imported from China. I don't know if the joining is any good or exactly what some of them are made of. Some may be solid woods, others maybe some kind of composition material. If the wood is not well seasoned, it will eventually warp or split. The finishes are nice enough.
Now let's look at the "art". Nice lithographic prints of original art are not cheap, decent stuff average about $50.00 Limited edition or signed prints are more expensive- some are going for $200. or more. Original art, obviously is far more costly, especially if it is the work of well-known artists. I'm not talking about masterpieces hanging in museums- just run-of-the-mill stuff you find in retail galleries in shopping centers etc.
Original photographs can command a decent price as well- again, depending on the popularity of the photographer, the quality of the prints and the rarity. Both commercial, portrait and fine-art photographers do not necessarily sell the images strictly based on size and price like a color lab or photo finisher- the promote a concept or finished piece.
Lab Costs- The lowes price for a halfway decent 16x20 digital print in my city, outsourced is $25.00 and the quality is OK but not to write home about. Custom work by a really good printmaker is much more! I make my prints, up to 30x40, in-house and my time and labor costs are much higher whe all is said and done.
I'm posting this, not to tell anyone what to charge- just to give some of y'all some perspective.
By the way, there is absolutely nothing wrong with gifting a friend, relative or business associate with your work or doing someone a favor and just have them cover the costs. My issues with folks running themselves out of business or killing their potential business before it gets off the ground by grossly underpricing and undervaluing their products and labor as well as their talent.
So...heads up out there. Get a pencil and paper or fire up the calculator, or get some fancy software and create one of those newfangled spreadsheets and examine your costs, your time and whether or not you want to earn a decent profit. Hey, next time you have a "GAS attack", you'll have some extra money burning a hole in your pocket and the money will be derived from your PHOTOGRAPHY. That will keep your significant other, financial manager, or any othere critics off your case
!!!Jul 15, 2019 10:21:07 #
Jul 15, 2019 10:48:44 #
alliebess wrote:
I don't know if this applies to photographs, but I was told the rule for pricing handicrafts was to charge three times the cost of the materials.
It does not apply. A craft generally is an object made to a repeatable design where the value added is the time, effort and skill required to implement the design. A photograph includes those things but is also a unique product particular to the time, place and artistic eye of the photographer. These additions are additional value and should be compensated. A craft object can have these attributes but usually does not. For instance a handmade pot holder or toilet roll cozy is not going to be sold as a limited edition. A photograph usually is limited in production.
Jul 15, 2019 13:59:13 #
spaceytracey
Loc: East Glacier Park, MT
$20 is way cheap for a good, quality matted 16X20 photo! I don't sell mine under $100.
Jul 16, 2019 01:09:59 #
dsmeltz wrote:
It does not apply. A craft generally is an object... (show quote)
Well said. That is one of the best differentiations of art vs craft that I have read.
What about a photo that is made into a print and sold as a poster, etc, on a larger volume basis? Answering my own question... I guess the above would still apply, the added value from the artist et al, but in that case the printing cost would be fairly low but there would be distribution costs and sales costs.
Jul 16, 2019 10:16:09 #
JD750 wrote:
Well said. That is one of the best differentiations of art vs craft that I have read.
What about a photo that is made into a print and sold as a poster, etc, on a larger volume basis? Answering my own question... I guess the above would still apply, the added value from the artist et al, but in that case the printing cost would be fairly low but there would be distribution costs and sales costs.
What about a photo that is made into a print and sold as a poster, etc, on a larger volume basis? Answering my own question... I guess the above would still apply, the added value from the artist et al, but in that case the printing cost would be fairly low but there would be distribution costs and sales costs.
And at that point the value has been sufficiently diluted by the number of prints made to return to a price relative to production cost.
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