Could You Repeat That Please?

In the early 1990’s I left my corporate job at the telephone company in my quest to become something other than I was.  The first thing I landed on was a decorative wood painting business.  I bought a scroll saw, table saw, drill press and belt sander and transformed our little ranch-style home into a virtual carpentry shop.  I began developing my own designs to cut out of wood, paint and sell in the local craft markets. 

I had two driving age teenage sons and car insurance was astronomical, so I needed to bring in a fair amount of money.   The name of my business was Corn Street Designs, and I was able to develop a great customer following by offering what I call “multiples”. 

The term, “multiples”, means nothing more than repeat business.  I cut six foot lengths of 2 x 2” pine into little squares and painted one side of them with seasonal symbols like pumpkins, ghosts, holly, candy canes, Easter bunnies, sunflowers, crows…etc.  I sold them for $2.95 each.  They were like potato chips, you couldn’t just buy one.   The other line of items was a Welcome sign to hang on the door, with three hooks for interchangeable, seasonal symbols.  The signs sold for $12.95 and all the symbols sold for $3.95.  So if you bought the sign you had to buy at least three symbols, and you HAD to change them out for each holiday.  There are several other examples of the multiples concept, but I think you get the idea.  My income per month averaged about $600 a month with sales before the big holidays well over $1,000.

"The Diva"
6 x 6 Pastel on Paper
SOLD

How does that translate to selling art online?

Well, I think I’ve mentioned this before and if I haven’t I should have.  You’re not likely to be successful if your approach is all about having a "happy accident" painting in your studio and then deciding to list it in your Etsy shop.  You are more likely to build a following if you have a strategy.  A strategy consists of what your art “brand” is about with listings supporting your brand, what sizes you will offer, and consistent pricing for those sizes. 

I stumbled across an Etsy shop the first part of the week, the art was wonderful, but the shop was not user-friendly.  There were some interesting types of art mentioned in the shop banner, but the categories did not reflect those types of art, and when I clicked on the category of mixed media and 10 art pieces appeared no sizes were apparent and the prices were all different – so confusing. If you don’t make it easy for the customer to buy in your shop, it will be difficult to make one sale, let alone multiple items or repeat business.

We will be visiting this multiple sales concept more in the upcoming posts.

Today’s Nitty-Gritty Nugget:

Think “multiple” sales in your marketing strategy with like-sized paintings, pricing, and categories.

"Yellow Chile Pepper"
5 x 7 Oil on Board
SOLD

What’s Next?

1.   Do you offer items that are grouped into consistent sizes?  Or are you painting a 2 x 3” today, and a 4 x 6” tomorrow, and planning a 10.75 x 16.325” painting for next week?

2.  Are your prices consistent for your groups of paintings? Are your 4 x 4" paintings all the same price, your 20 x 40's, etc.?  Don't price based on how good you think the painting is.

3.  Are your categories set up to let collectors compare apples to apples? Or coconuts to kumquats?

How Much?

Nitty Gritty Nugget

The paradigm for pricing that I started with is:

- Sell your art for the least amount you can bear (told to me by a successful gallery director.)

- Once you are selling faster than you can produce, you can increase your prices (don’t know where this piece of advice came from, but it’s fairly common sense.)

Am I in the Painting or Shipping Business?

My first 4 x 4” oil paintings (which at that point were my practice pieces) were listed for $13 (free shipping in the US).  So you figure a couple of dollars for fees and $2.80 for shipping and I was getting $8.  Figure in supply costs and I was making enough to buy a cheap cup of coffee. They sold like awesome organic blueberry hotcakes.  I spent so much time shipping paintings that I barely had time to paint. 

I increased the price of the 4 x 4’s to $19 - a more expensive cup of coffee, and maybe Starbuck’s perfect oatmeal on the way to the studio.  The sales slowed down a bit, but I was still painting at a fever pitch.

In a really bold move I shot up to $25, and then….in a blinding flash of confidence went to $30.  And while I was at it, I added in the selling fees, for a nice round $33.  I began to set my sights on paying my studio rent with my sales. 

To my 4 x 4’s I’ve added 5 x 5’s, 5 x 7’s and 6 x 6’s.  I’ve come up with a standard pricing so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel as I go forward.  I don’t go back and change old listings in my shop.  My thought is if it hasn’t sold by now, raising the price is not going to help.  At some point I have considered taking the old paintings off and letting them breathe for a while, and then relist them as a totally new item.

I also work in pastels and I have added pastels to my “impulse buy” category.  They are 6 x 6” paintings and take a while longer to complete.  I just added them in the last month, and have sold two at $60 apiece.  In about 6 months I will review my sales and decide if I want to increase the price on my pastels.

"Peach"
6 x 6 Pastel on Paper
Click Here to Purchase Painting

What’s the Competition Doing?

There are a million and one daily painter artists these days, and prices are all over the board.  Some prices are way too high, some way too low.  I try to compare my paintings with similar styles and sizes, and maybe price a hair lower.  As always, those with name recognition can ask higher prices.  (There’s a subtle piece of advice for you, build a following.)

What's Next?

1.  For each product you are going to sell, what is the lowest price you can bear? Remember this is not about what YOU think it's worth.  It's about what others are willing to pay.  Be sure to remember your selling fees and shipping costs.

2.  Check out what others who paint/create similar products are charging.  As in real estate, price a hair lower.  If a buyer has similar products to choose from, one factor in the sale is the lower price.

3.  Have a plan for when you are selling alot and working too hard, that's the time to increase your prices.