If you are an established artist, what strategy do you use for pricing your giclée prints? At Grand River Giclée, we often work with early career artists who are new to having prints made of their work. A common question we hear often in our conversations is “How much can I charge for a giclée print?”
The Value of a Giclée Print
Many artists consider offering giclée prints as a less expensive option for those customers who aren’t ready to purchase an original. While it is certainly true that a giclée print will always be priced lower than an original, I think it would be a mistake to think of it as a “low cost” option. If you want to profit fairly from your creative efforts, you don’t want to think of your print bin as your “bargain bin!”
In fact, many artists find that successfully marketing giclée prints can greatly enhance the profitability of their artistic efforts. An original can be sold once, whereas you can continue to sell giclée prints long after the original has found a happy home. Selling giclée prints can provide a lasting income stream from a single creative effort which, over time, could easily exceed the profit from selling the original.
What To Charge for a Giclée Print
So what can you charge for a giclée print? As in all questions surrounding how to price your work, there is not a single one-size-fits-all answer. But, for early career artists, I usually suggest a multiple of three times their cost as a minimum markup. For some people this seems a bit steep, but I think it is important not to think of that margin as profit. Profit is what is left over after all of your expenses have been taken into account—not just the cost of the print.
Every artist has expenses associated with running a business. You may have rent, utilities, transportation, accounting, and equipment costs, to name a few. Every sale must make a fair contribution to these “overhead” costs before you will truly profit from the sale.
So that is my advice for early career artists. More established artists might take into account the relationship between the pricing of their originals and their prints. An artist who is selling originals in the $200-$500 range will not be able to charge as much for their prints as an artist whose originals sell for $2000-$5000.
If you are interested in printing your art, Grand River Giclèe provides artists and photographers with the highest quality giclée prints available at affordable prices, and we are happy to answer any questions you may have about printing, selling your prints, or establishing your career in the art world.