I took a couple hundred pieces of art to V-Con to sell. I had Joyce frame about ten or so pieces (mostly paintings) and I also brought three binders with clear sleeves in them that were filled with (mostly pencil) drawings, and one RED binder with no sleeves, just maybe a hundred drawings. The red binder says “Each drawing in this binder only $10 each.” Those were drawings I don’t care to ever see again. Not that they are all bad or anything, I just find them to be dull. Everything in the other binders ranged from $35 to $135, and my painting I went up to I think $500 on the big one. I didn’t know how to price any of them but everything I read on the internet was “don’t undersell your paintings.” So, I tried not to do that.
When I went back to V-Con on Sunday to pick them up I had a few people approach me about how much they liked my art. One guy, the auctioneer, said that they were very good but overpriced. I sold about $110 worth of art, and I believe it was from 11 of those $10 drawings. This could mean one of two things: V-Con is not the best place to sell art; or I really did overprice them.
Anyway I’m taking some pieces to Strategies Games on Main and 23rd to have hang in their gaming area in the back. I think I will leave prices off and just leave some cards or something with my contact information.
ps – World Fantasy Con is happening in Calgary next year around this time. This year it was in New York, so obviously Calgary is a little more realistic for me to approach. I think that I will go. Anyone want to come with? NERD ROAD TRIP!!! I may rent a car so I don’t have to worry about packing my paintings into a plane.
I’m up for WFC – I know a place where we can crash.
You’re not over pricing your art. The auction guy is an idiot. Artist always seem to agonize over the price of their paintings in the same way a good sales person doesn’t. Sale people know their worth and demand it. If you total the hours of work and cost of supplies, living expense, etc. your average artist prices their work so it works out to about $2.00/hr at best. Phooey!
Demand what you are worth and fuck the penny pinching, “does it go with my sears couch” weenies!
VCon is pretty minor-league, in terms of buyers. WorldCon, you’ll do much better (bigger crowd with more money.
What Mbeck said…
About pricing, there’s something else to consider: the price enhances the perceived value of the work. I think you’re better off putting out a smaller number of pieces, priced higher.