Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Pricing Anomaly

Something has been bothering me a little.

I wove three similar scarves from one warp, in wool, possum and silk. One sold at an exhibit for a price I set. I have another one in a glass box at the airport, along with three cashmere scarves; that one is more expensive, because I set it the same as the cashmeres, which in turn is the same as the cashmeres at the gallery. I tried to make it easier for Arts Marketing people who have arranged for the display, so all four pieces are the same price. I have the third scarf at the gallery, with a price considerably cheaper than either.

To me, all three took about the same amount of work/time to create, I used the same material in different colors, and the prices should be the same. Too late for the differences in the first two, but I think I need to do something about the third.

This is one part I hate about my work: pricing.

4 comments:

  1. Pricing sure is hard. What will sell at a given price in a major city doesn't automatically transfer to a provincial town, I've found.
    I have a wrap in an artxpose (a silent auction) this weekend and I have to provide a start price, reserve price and sell now price for the one article!
    I was reading your earlier blog about Bonnie's workshop. Isn't her book wonderful. Just reading one sentence can send you off on a whole new weaving adventure.
    Dianne

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  2. And, Dianne, when it involves other organizations, like galleries or Arts Marketing, it's not only what I think appropriate, but involves what they think, too.

    Yikes...

    I mean, I'd swap a shawl for a few good cookbooks any day. Or travel books. That seems so much easier.

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  3. Hey Meg. I just wrote a similar thing on my Songs blog today. I can't really help you with a solution....it seems the more popular you get the higher you can price, yet it would be then when you wouldn't NEED such such a high price.....I don't know Meg....I'm hate it all as much as you....I think it's an artists problem.

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  4. Just a thought, Kath - is this how lawyers and accountants start to charge $100 and $200/hour?

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