How Much Do Fine Art Photography Prints Cost

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

I'm trying to start selling some of my hockey pictures and I was trying to effigy out if anyone or annihilation tracks the average price people are charging for a sports related four×vi, 5×7, 8×x, etc. My intention is not to undercut someone else only I definitely want to exist competitive. So far I accept plant a couple of unlike sites and they vary widely in price. For instance, I establish the following prices for 8×10; $6, $xix, $vii and $22.

Beneath is my response to John and I thought I would share it with the residue of our community. While some of my suggestions and comments are specific to John'south sports photography, they can exist applied to whatever type of fine art photography.

There really aren't publicized databases of what people are selling photos for. In fact most of what you'll find online is either stance, all-time guess or an average taken from several sources. The all-time manner to make up one's mind pricing for your prints is to effigy out your costs and determine what the market tin can bear.

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

1. You already did some inquiry and constitute varying prices for similar photos to what you're creating. These numbers are good to know considering they are your competition and if a consumer is looking for hockey photos most likely they'll do similar research and stumble beyond the same sites.

2. Now you lot need to determine the "price" of creating your prints. How much time do you put into the cosmos of your images?

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

Effigy out a realistic hourly rate that you call back your time is worth for each i of these tasks. At present interruption this number downward into a per impress cost. Keep in mind, you may shoot a couple hundred images while you lot're at a game but nigh likely only a handful volition actually be good enough to sell. For example, if out of 200 images yous simply have 10 that are good plenty to sell, then accept your total time and separate by ten and that is your toll of time per salable image.

3. Since you lot're but starting out selling your images it's going to be hard to determine, simply y'all need to effigy in how much time 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 mail service role/UPS/FedEx, etc.). Once again figure out a realistic hourly rate for each one of these tasks, then you'll want to suspension that down into a per print cost.

Note: Yous every bit the "artist" tin can command a college hourly charge per unit. So the time information technology takes you lot to create the concluding impress 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 rate. The reason beingness is, you lot are the only "creative person" and theoretically the merely one who is able to create your "art". The time spent fulfilling the orders can be washed past someone else for a much lower hourly rate. If you go so busy that y'all have to rent someone to fulfill your orders, yous would exist calculating their time at that lower rate. In the beginning you well-nigh probable will be doing everything yourself so y'all should programme on less per hour for those tasks. The flip side to this is, while you're processing credit cards and packing upward your prints, it's time taken away from creating new images that you can sell. But in the end this is just the cost of starting and running a business.

4. You lot also need to figure out how much your total out of pocket expenses are for your printer inks, paper, frames, mattes, packaging materials, etc., and and then break that down into a per print cost. This number will vary based on the size of the prints you're creating. If you're using an outside lab to create your prints, and so it'southward just a matter of adding in those costs.

This will get you downwards to the cost of your fourth dimension and materials to create your production. This is the minimum amount you take to charge to exist compensated for the cosmos of your product. If you can't sell y'all prints for this minimum price then End here! Unless you lot want to share your images with the globe for fun and the dearest of information technology, don't carp moving forwards every bit it will exist a losing financial proposition.

So y'all've figured out a price for your time and materials and plant based on the market research you did, you'll be able to sell your prints for plenty to at to the lowest degree cover those costs. Now y'all need to effigy out the "value" of your product to determine if yous can make a profit. Consumers in general don't have a real agreement of the value of fine art. Sure they know the paintings hanging on the wall in the museums are priceless but that's because the artists are expressionless, right? The consumers "perceived value" of art is what we need to address. What do they retrieve the photo is worth and how much are they willing to pay for it?

Portrait and upshot photographers are creating images unique to the customer. These images can't be obtained elsewhere short of hiring another lensman. The customer has a perception of value that these photographic services concur. While photographers wish this perceived value was higher about of the fourth dimension they are able to justify the costs to them. When you're selling fine art photography it'southward 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's easily obtained. There are tens of thousands of photographers selling 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.

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

1. Are your hockey photos of professionals (I'm going to assume they are)? If so, how widely available are similar images? If yous are shooting apprentice players or youth leagues that's a whole different story.

2. Are your photos posed portraits or action shots that you lot took at games? Did the players pose exclusively for you lot or did you shoot them from behind the boards? Why I'grand asking is, if the players posed exclusively for you lot at that place is a little more than value to the images because they are more unique. If they are action shots from behind the boards that anyone else could have made (and probably did) they are going to be more common and probably not as valuable.

3. Why would a client buy your print over someone else's? What makes your image unique and unlike? Developing a manner or look is very of import and volition make more than common shots look boggling. They will take on a higher perceived value of art and not that of but a snapshot.

4. Is the market flooded with images of this type? Sports images in full general are very popular and available everywhere. You can find images online for complimentary, you can go to your local sports store and find images sometimes signed, they're in magazines… everywhere.

From the questions above if you lot determine your images are common to what's out there then you really will only exist able to accuse what everyone else is. Prices may vary merely fifty-fifty at the highest price of $22 for an eight×10, that'south non a lot of money for "art". If you goal is to mass produce these prints and try to sell volume and so the lower price is fine but yous're not really selling fine art at that point, you're selling a widget.

If you lot want to sell "art" and accept it to the adjacent level you lot need to be dissimilar and offer something that no one else is.

1. Perchance you can make a few connections with some players and get them to sign some of your prints. You could sell them equally numbered, limited editions that are matted and framed.

2. Develop more of an artsy style. Maybe it's camera bending, peradventure it'south the mode you process the images. Make it unique and make it yours.

3. Focus on merely ane team to photograph and go after the diehard fans. True believers are willing to pay for great wall fine art to hang in their Man Caves.

four. Connect with charities and offering your art to be auctioned off in a fundraiser. The charity will take them on consignment and if they sell, volition pay you the agreed upon price and proceed the rest of the money for their cause. It's a great way to assistance out a worthy cause and get your name out there at the same time. By the way, sports images sell great at charity golf outings.

These are just a few ideas on how to fix yourself apart from the rest. There are many, many more ways, you simply take to exist creative in your approach.

So how much do you lot charge for "fine art" ? At very least y'all want to price the art at a 100% markup or double what your price of fourth dimension and material was to create it. If it costs yous $50 to create an 8×10 matted and framed piece, you should easily be able to sell it for $100. The larger the slice the higher the pct you tin can mark it up. A 16×20 disordered and framed impress that cost you $75 to create could easily be sold for $200 or more because the perceived value is higher. A larger slice takes upwards more than wall space. Now if yous really want to get big, look into the Gallery Wraps. A 30×20 might price you lot $150 to create but you lot could hands sell it for $300+. The bigger and more unique your images are, the more they will be perceived as art and have a higher value to the boilerplate consumer.

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

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

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