Pricing art work

19lottie82

A situation like this is where the basic law of supply and demand comes in. The painting is worth however much someone will pay for it.
The only way to find out is to ask the potential buyer and then haggle out a price, if appropriate.

Good luck J

Norma_Desmond

If it's not too late, I'd say punt it at £750 - cheap for what is obviously a good painting, but expensive enough to show your son's serious about his work in his future portfolio.

podperson

Artytarty wrote: »

More fool me then for choosing to shift the work at some profit than have it in storage at home.

It's supply and demand, the OP's son already has someone wanting to buy it so it's obviously in demand. If you have twenty stacked in your garage and need the room but no great demand for them then if you want to price them low then that's up to you.

I work in the creative industries though and I find it quite frustrating that people seem to constantly undervalue work that has taken a great deal of time and effort to produce - and this often comes from eager amateurs or hobbyists selling their work for next to nothing as they're just happy to make a few bucks on the side. For those of us who need to make a living out of it it would be nice to earn more for our 'talent' then we would get working in a supermarket or something at min wage.

Artytarty

podperson wrote: »

It's supply and demand, the OP's son already has someone wanting to buy it so it's obviously in demand. If you have twenty stacked in your garage and need the room but no great demand for them then if you want to price them low then that's up to you.

I work in the creative industries though and I find it quite frustrating that people seem to constantly undervalue work that has taken a great deal of time and effort to produce - and this often comes from eager amateurs or hobbyists selling their work for next to nothing as they're just happy to make a few bucks on the side. For those of us who need to make a living out of it it would be nice to earn more for our 'talent' then we would get working in a supermarket or something at min wage.

I knew I was asking for trouble!ouch!
I'll be perfectly honest then on a nothing to lose basis, I think a six former asking £750 for a piece of his coursework is pretty ridiculous!
There, I said it.
If your work is that good, it will sell at its market value despite people like me.

Norma_Desmond

Artytarty wrote: »

I'll be perfectly honest then on a nothing to lose basis, I think a six former asking £750 for a piece of his coursework is pretty ridiculous!

Of course it is, but then again the entire art world is ridiculous.

The point here is that the principal of the college wants this lad's painting - and pretty desperately too by the sounds of it!

StumpyPumpy

Norma_Desmond wrote: »

The point here is that the principal of the college wants this lad's painting - and pretty desperately too by the sounds of it!

I don't want to be a wet blanket, but how do you know this? Unless the OP has posted elsewhere, all they say is that the Principal is interested in buying it and after the end of the exhibition has moved it to his office (one assumes for safe keeping)

It could just be a mild interest on the Principal's part. Perhaps his wall has a damp patch and the OP's son's picture is the right size to cover it. At this point we don't actually know what level his interest is at. Ridiculous or not, it takes two prospective buyers to create a market for an artwork, so far it appears there is only one. That is why it is important to get your one buyer to blink first and state a price.

I collect a number of "Objet d'art". Some I won't pay more than £20 for no matter how much I "want" them. So if I see one with a price of (say) £750 I won't even bother to haggle, because although I think I'm pretty good at haggling, I've never managed to get 95% off a sticker price. Other things I'll happily pay in the £,000's. You'd have to be an expert in the field I collect in to know the difference beforehand. To say "StumpyPumpy" is interested in item X therefore it must be worth £5,000 is probably not going to garner many sales.

SP

podperson

Artytarty wrote: »

I knew I was asking for trouble!ouch!
I'll be perfectly honest then on a nothing to lose basis, I think a six former asking £750 for a piece of his coursework is pretty ridiculous!
There, I said it.
If your work is that good, it will sell at its market value despite people like me.

I'm sorry, I know I was quoting your post but it was more making a point then a personal dig so apologies if it came across that way. Possibly some minor frustration coming out there as times get harder
For the record I agree that £750 is very high for a student's work and I suggested earlier that if going off an hourly rate then £10 a hour might be reasonable so would make it about £200 then I think with materials.
You also have to think that as his A-Level piece it may have some sentimental value to him and I think he may regret later letting it go too cheap - especially as his principal, who presumably sees a lot of pieces every year, seems so desperate to have it.

NAR

I'm with artytarty here, there are some crazy figures being bandied here. I bet the principal hopes to get it for about £50 or £60, which should be graciously accepted. Let's be realistic the artist is a kid!

skintchick

NAR wrote: »

I'm with artytarty here, there are some crazy figures being bandied here. I bet the principal hopes to get it for about £50 or £60, which should be graciously accepted. Let's be realistic the artist is a kid!

All great artists were kids once. Talent is talent

Takeaway_Addict

£750....get real. Its a 6th formers piece of work £150 would be the upper limit IMO and even then most likely under a ton