As my next art show approaches, I’m confronted with that age-old question of pricing.
My mosaic art is steadily becoming less of a hobby and more of an artistic venture. I love to do it, and I would equally love for it to be a viable business. Right now, my books are embarrasing. OK, so there are a lot of investment costs, but after 8 months of being in business, I have a grand total of $16 in the green. Arrrgh! I guess I also have to consider how much I have made (I could be nearing the $600 range in the red if I hadn’t sold a single mosaic). Thankfully, I have maybe 40+ mosaics ready to sell to add to that $16 at no further costs.
Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of research on pricing artwork. I belong to a yahoo group of professional mosaic artists, and they have provided some very useful resources.
Basically, it’s come down to the pure fact that I am charging too little. And it’s a very common practise. And it needs to change if I want my artwork to be taken seriously. They advise charging 3x what you would consider charging originally - mainly because we often forget to take into account the little things that all add up. So true.
My first 30 or so pieces that I did, I would consider learning pieces. I don’t anticipate raising the prices too terribly high on those. However, my newer pieces need to go up in price if I want art collectors to not look at my work as a dollar-store commodity.
My dream is to be able to make enough income off of my mosaics to significantly contribute to the family. I’d love for Phil to be able to quit his part-time job as a contstruction worker, and only do part-time with the church. That way, he wouldn’t be so burnt out and tired most of the time.
So I guess I’ll price my new works significantly higher at this upcoming show. There’s nothing really to lose - if one person buys a piece at my new price, it would pay for 6 people buying six pieces at the old price. It’s all a learning process… and I’m loving every step of the way!
Be careful…overprice yourself and Trump will fire you! It’s happened before 
I want to see more examples of your mosaics. I have seen two and really liked them. And I’m jealous that you make mosaics. It is something I would love to do!
Hannah
Rhonda: I’ve got a few on my website http://www.birchsong.com, but these are all fairly old. I have a completely new batch of mosaics that I’m really excited about, but they aren’t grouted yet, so I haven’t got them up on the website. I’ll definitely have them up before the show. I’ll be grouting next week and then framing and sealing… so maybe in two - three weeks they’ll be up.
It is fun, but it is also definitely a lot harder than it looks. It involves work with color, lines, different tesserae (the materials you use), and grouting. Any one factor can completely make or break a mosaic.
Mom
Hannah, give me a call so we can talk more about it. I’ll just say for starters that you DEFINITELY need to take into account completed inventory, supplies, etc. in your tallies of how successful you are. I think it is amazing that considering how much you had to purchase up front to get started that you are not significantly in the hole. You’ve done well! Talk to you later!
I thought profit was “in the black”?
Hannah
don’t get all technical, Roger. It doesn’t suit you 
That’s because any time I argue something I’m always wrong.
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