What determines the price? No matter how much you think and ask, the decision is ultimately yours. Accept it. You decide how much your work is worth and at what price to exhibit it on a specifically chosen platform for online art sales. In doing so, perhaps you consider several factors important to you personally.

For example, I'm amazed at the question of how much time I spent on a piece. But for some artists, this is important. Or what's difficult for one to draw might be easy for me. For instance. I also often browse what's being exhibited on sales websites and auctions. Sizes, levels, prices. And, most importantly, the level of name and career comparable to yours. Here's a quote from some comments directed at me personally as an author: "You're not La Fe!" Yes, I'm not La Fe, nor are many worthy masters of watercolor painting and drawing. And those masters aren't all architects. Get the idea?

Here's the thing. When you see a work and its selling price, make sure it's actually being bought. Because if what you see isn't selling, then the price means nothing. And another important point. Having low prices as an idea isn't good at all. Let me tell you a story.

I was browsing works for sale posted in one of the Facebook groups. There was a very decent copy of Shishkin's painting. The first thing that caught my eye was the price being too low. Very. You can't imagine how many questions it raised! And not from happy buyers, eagerly clutching money in their hands. But from specialists. And buyers read all these dialogues and discussions and draw their own conclusions. If you're tired of selling at reduced prices, then raise them urgently! There's a chance that sales will increase.

And I know what's happening. That nothing sells at your low prices. Why? That's a separate topic for another article. So you sit there with a pile of works and no profit. That's why it's become tiresome. Raise your prices.

For some reason, people usually take into account only time and materials. They take out a calculator, do some math. Look at the art market around them. And are surprised. Where's the artist's profit? Why don't you pay yourself? But you want the buyer to pay.

Another story. This time about my hand-painted T-shirts. I collected almost 1000 comments under a post on social media in one evening. On one hand, people started calculating the quality of the cotton in the T-shirt and its price. On the other, they showed comparisons and prices. I was amazed. Thankfully, they started calculating the paint consumption. Nobody thought about the artist's labor. To create a design and paint it personally. And when I looked at the examples they sent… when I subtracted the price of the finished T-shirt from the actual T-shirt price, it was sad – what's left for the artist?

Here's what I do. I have prices for each work. I change them periodically. It mainly depends on the presentation and the platform I exhibit on. I also consider the nomination. There's a difference between "decor" and "original by the author," after all. Plus, I know the shipping costs to different countries. And I always base my prices on my profit. What else, in my opinion, is important when I set the price? The price range from $30 to $300. So there's a choice. Besides, it's emotionally difficult to part with some artworks. It happens, yes. I have a whole folder in the closet called "not for sale." Thick.

Set a price that you're willing to part with, and it will cover your lost emotions. Not for 50, but for 370, okay, take it. Got it? Here's to good buyers lining up for your paintings! And to decent profits!

Lack of truth. About themselves. About the level of their creativity. About the number of paintings and series. When you listen to an artist, they have paintings for museums. But when you look, they're just for a small kitchen wall.

Lack of truth about their work capacity and ability to see things through, to be consistent. Yes, discipline, that's the key. Most artists turn to painting due to social unrest. And they lack the skill to achieve goals. Suddenly, they won't emerge as artists from anywhere. If someone is a professional failure, they are a failure in all areas of business. The mess in the mind is inexhaustible. And denial of the actual situation is widespread.

The desire to shift responsibility onto others is common. With rare exceptions. Those exceptions manage to sell their paintings.

What needs to be done first? First, see and understand the starting point. What you actually have in terms of paintings and discipline. A honest audit, so to speak. And then think about what can be done about it. Understandably, you don't want to. Understandably, there are a hundred reasons why you're not doing it and there will be a hundred urgent tasks just to avoid doing it. Understandably, you lie to yourself about being active. I'm not talking about self-criticism right now. I'm talking about clear data analysis without exaggerated expectations. About facing the reality of the situation.

If you keep records and note the date and volume of series of paintings created. If you note how much time and money is spent. And keep records for at least a month, then the picture of activity looks completely different from the rosy brain of the artist. Very often, what he imagines and what actually happens don't match at all. What do you think? Write to me.

How much does it cost? How to evaluate? What does "expensive" mean? Periodically, we discuss this topic in the group "How to sell your paintings?" Specifically, this means that the artist shares their work with a description, and fellow artists evaluate, discuss, and share their experiences.

It's easy to say, I smile. There's no abstract price or simple sale. Never. There's always a real, specific piece of work. And that's not enough. Because for each specific piece of work, there's a target audience. And that's still not enough. The main question: where are you selling your work, on which platform?

If we're talking about the internet, then through which website, platform? Specialized online galleries and auctions by style? Are there mixed platforms, marketplaces? Also, you can promote-advertise-sell through your profile and pages on social media and online. In this case, the price is influenced by your self-esteem, and the purchases are influenced by your influence and reputation as an artist. This is what it's all about. The mechanisms and justification of the price, as well as the amounts, are different. I can give you a real-life example from the realm of intimacy. There's no abstract intimacy, agree?

There's a moment between real, specific man and woman, in a specific time and space. And it's not "in general, overall" and "theoretically." Paintings are the same. I look at the maximum possible price in this location, platform, website. In real, as they say now, offline life. For one person, $5000 is nothing, while another lives on it for half a year. The value of the work. When you sell, you need to first show the value of your work. And the buyer puts forth the maximum amount they can afford. Only in this case can we say that the painting is expensive and valuable.