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halves of the value of the work. If you turn the sales half of the process over to a gal- lery so that you can devote your time to creating, the gallery earns the second half. Let me say it again: Do not under-value your work by quoting it at a less-than- retail price. Not in any circumstance. 2. BE CONSISTENT WHEN PRICING YOUR ART. T irty years ago, an artist could price artwork almost arbitrarily to adapt to circumstance. An artist from India- napolis could price an artwork at one price if selling locally and a completely separate—and usually higher—price if selling in another market. T e prevailing logic was that there were higher expenses involved in get- ting a piece to, say, Florida than would be incurred by hand-delivering it to a gallery in Indianapolis. (Not to mention the fact that buyers in Florida are gener- ally in a higher tax bracket, and can af- ford to pay more.) T e concept was always tenuous, in my opinion, but the Internet has made it impossible to put into practice. You can bet your buyer in Florida is going to be on the computer the second he or she gets home aſt er having seen your work, and is in essence going to have access to your entire inventory and pricing with several clicks of the mouse. Nothing is going to infuriate him or her faster than feeling he or she has overpaid for your work. Creating long-term success for your work demands you price your work consistently. Another aspect of this principle is to raise the prices on your entire body of work if you institute a price increase. Your work already on the market should climb to the new price, lest you confuse your collectors. 3. INSTITUTE A PRICING FORMULA. T is one should be a no-brainer. Why would you torture yourself by having ARTBUSINESSNEWS.COM Organization reigns at Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona 27 "YOUR ART IS WORTH WHAT YOU ARE ASKING FOR IT." to fi gure out the price of each piece as it is created? You will drive yourself to drinking and, worse, you will lose sales to confused buyers who can't make sense of your pricing. Remember that a buyer—especially a novice—is look- ing for reassurance about his desire to buy your work. Confusion about your pricing will create too much doubt in a buyer's mind (I've seen it happen) and instead of a sale, you will have a collector walking out the door. Painters: Price by the square inch. T ere is simply no easier method to con- sistently price your work than by size. A collector may not realize he is paying by the square inch, but it is quietly reassur- ing to him that the larger the painting, the higher the value. Figurative painters: Price by size; but add one more variable—the number of fi gures. Sculptors: Take your casting costs, multiply them by three or four and set the result as you retail value. Photographers: Price by the size, factoring in the number of prints. T e higher the edition, the lower the price per print. T e idea is to have a formula so simple you could hand it to someone else and, with a few variables, she could come up with your price. 4. RESEARCH COMPARABLE ARTISTS. One of the most important factors in determining your own pricing is researching the pricing structure your competition has in place. Aſt er cracking the artists' formulas for pricing (I guar- antee most of them are using the meth- ods I mention above), it's time for you to determine how to position your pricing in comparison to the competition. Create a spectrum of the prices you fi nd: Place the lowest price on the leſt and the highest on the right, then plot each of the artists you are researching on the chart. Once you have done this, you will have a clear picture of your competi- tion. Now draw a line in the center, and somewhere close to this centerline is where you want to be priced. T e tendency of an artist who is searching for a price is to start lower than the competition. T is is a mistake. Under-pricing your work can be just as detrimental to your sales as over-pricing it. Oſt en a collector will fall in love with