How I Price My Artwork

 I've been making ceramic pieces for over 30 years, so I've had a lot of experience with pricing.  There are many factors that go into what I charge for a piece.  I'll try to cover some of them.  And maybe it's because I've done this type of work for so long, but I don't adhere to any of the many equations floating around that tell you what to charge for a piece.  It's much, much, much more complex than any simple formula. The point is you (I) have to make a living but get reasonably paid for your (my) work.

• First, complexity of the piece, how long it takes to make it, how long it takes to paint it.  How much work goes into it.  How hard was it to make.  While some complex pieces aren't necessarily hard to make, some other apparently simple pieces are very difficult to make.
• Second, its weight and size; so what it costs me to package it and ship it.  
• Next, (not third, because these following considerations have no real order) how original is the piece.  How unique is it?  Is it a one-of-a-kind that I most likely will never make again?
• How much I must clear after all costs per piece to make a reasonable profit (I have bills to pay, food to eat, etc.)
• Referring to my original, standard pieces such as the animal masks and similar wall pieces, their popularity, literally how much people are willing to pay.  These pieces have survived and evolved over the 30-something years I've been making them, so they have over time a lot of work in them, if that makes sense.  
• How much do *I* like the piece?  This is a big one for me.  If I love a piece, I am going to charge more for it, whether or not it makes sense, because it's a one-time creation from my mind.  Even if I make similar subsequent pieces, which I may even charge less for, that first one is extremely important to me, and I think it deserves a higher price.
• Lastly, the "going rate" for similar items.  This one doesn't concern me very much.  I have seen some people asking what I consider a ridiculously high price for a piece, and maybe that works for them.  I've seen other people asking way, way too little for their work, which devalues their entire body of work.  So there's a bit of "magic" going on in this last consideration.  There's a saying called "what the market will bear,"  which is variable with time, popularity of a certain style, the zeitgeist of a particular time, even larger, world or political circumstances, what's going on currently, has gone on, etc. 

I think this list probably only covers a small part of how I price my items, but it's a good start.  It's worked pretty well for me.  I know I've made some really large pieces that I alone could not sell and earn a decent income from them, but the galleries who bought them were able to make more than I would ever dream of making for one of my pieces.  But they have the real estate, the clientele, the "scenery," etc.  I no longer make those pieces.  The risk of a flaw that would make them in my opinion not salable, the sh,eer weight and size of them made them not worth it for me, the cost of materials, the cost of shipping, etc., to me is not worth the income from them.

And one final thing:  I (You must...) love, love my work, so that's the most important thing of all.  I can pay my bills, have some left over, and know that I, and the loyal buyers I have, love what I do.