To increase my prices?

[JulietMadeChutney]

I have recently started selling limited edition prints or my drawings on Etsy. So far going well - been doing it 8 weeks - average income £200 a week, sold about 9 a week.

I popped on here earlier this week (for some help with some retail advice as been approached by a local shop for them to sell them) and several people said I was undercharging. Several people IRL (not friends/family) have also said the same. So I need to try and gauge if I need to put my prices up. Often too low a price can be as off putting as too high a price.

I sell currently at
A5 - £15.00
A4 - £17.50
A3 - £25.00

Prints are Gilcee/Fine Art quality with certificate of authenticity.
Postage is included.

General consensus is I should raise prices to more like
A5 - £20
A4 - £25
A3 - £30

I have attached a couple of photos of the kind of stuff I do.

So, I know they won't be everyone's taste. But If you could pretend you did like them - or that they would be a perfect gift for your sister because she loves cows/hares/boxing- what would you be willing to pay?

First time at enabling voting.
YABU - keep your prices at £15.00 -£25.00 depending on size - I wouldn't pay more

YANBU increase to £20.00-£35.00 depending on size, I would pay this.

Any other pricing comments welcome.

Thank you

[quote ButterflyWitch]Your prices are definitely lower than others - although I think their quality is better. You should compare your giraffe pic to Sophie Green's, for example. They are almost mirror images of each other www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/sophiestrails/artwork/104879[/quote]
Sophie Green's photo realism style is great, btw way. You are correct. Mine is not necessarily the same style. Different media too.

And not quite sure why the face. Are you trying to imply something? All my drawings are based on reference photos that are either mine or I have permission to use (either licence free or I have paid for). Other artists have access to the same photos. There is likely to be some similarities in the art world. Oh, and they are clearly different ...

You're undercharging.

I've been on Etsy for five years, selling jewellery, and my prices increase like @Mango101 suggested - increase until your sales level out (sweet spot).

Make sure you use social media too. My sales went up by 200% last year when I began having regular social media posts. I use Hootsuite (it's a free scheduling application) to put my items on Twitter and Facebook (they work best for me). I spend a couple of hours a fortnight scheduling posts (including photos) and Hootsuite puts them on my accounts when the date and time comes round. That way I don't miss special dates, like Mother's day when I'm busy. You don't pay unless you go over 30 posts and each one 'drops back' into your pot as it's used. So if you put 5 on for this week (bringing your free total down to 25 posts left), that goes back up to 30 posts next week as the scheduled posts are used.

If you do use social media mix up your sales posts with personal ones (like a nice beach photo and something like 'lovely walk on x beach today, or a photo of a pet or garden) as people like to feel they know the person they buy from.

Good luck. I love Etsy. Best move I ever made.

You are SO undercharging. I'd expect to pay £50 or £60 for even the small ones of these.

@TiredMummyZZZ

These are great! I’d love to find you on Etsy, what’s your shop name on there?

Thank you - will pop a link through via a DM. x

I would increase, especially if postage is included.
Have heard it's hard to get noticed on etsy, so there's obviously a market out there for your stuff.

Lol this is blatant free advertising.

Congratulations on starting your business, I think that is brilliant.

You have to think, first your skills, which are amazing but also the value of your time. If you are drawing these how long does one take to complete.

I definitely think you are undercharging and there is also too small of a gap between the sizes. At the bare minimum, I would charge £50 for A3.

Good luck.

If I'm honest I think I'd keep them at the same price as you have them. They're not particularly low prices in terms of putting people off. But lower end to entice people.

I've recently bought prints for my house from Denesio, 4x 50x70cm prints, £75. I wouldn't want to pay much more than that.

I would take things slowly, keep prices affordable while you increase your presence and reputation. Then, if you find sales are consistent after a while, move them up.

They're fantastic! You should definitely charge more for them

Fuck me, they're good!

Yeah put your prices up a bit. They will still sell!

I think it comes down to profit op.

If you've created something that appeals to the masses it might be counterproductive to increase the price.

If you don't mind me asking what is the profit margin for a small print for example?

I meant to say I've googled printing costs and it seems a lot of outlay and I'd be too paranoid they wouldn't sell!!

@TheShudderingDentist

Lol this is blatant free advertising.

I suppose you could think that and I did think twice before posting. And I would possible have thought the same

But I geniunely need the opinions of people as I am so new to this.

And I am thinking of it more as in the "Why isn't my house selling" thread. No-one is going to suddenly buy a 3 bed semi in Upper-Stondon - cum-Thripthorpe just because you have put the Rightmove link on here. The estate agent wets their pants because the number of clicks/views goes through the roof. But the house isn't more likely to sell because of the thread - but the poster gets honest feedback.

I deliberately have not put the link. People do not need to see the Etsy page - just the pics of what I am selling so they can give their opinion of my prices vs what they would pay. They can find the link if they are interested enough.

Yes, including the link would have increased my Etsy visits of people having a look (see pant-wetting estate agent) but then hugely skewed my conversion rates - so not a great deal gained.

I’d like some, DM the name of your shop please, moving house and would love some prints

@EduardoStobarto

I meant to say I've googled printing costs and it seems a lot of outlay and I'd be too paranoid they wouldn't sell!!

I have them printed to order - it was the first thing my printer said to me when I started chatting with him. So I am not holding stock. It does add a layer to the admin (cannot package up in advance for example) but reduces the risk of holding stock that does not sell.

Follow basic market economics.

Increase prices until the overall value of your sales drops, then stop.

You only started drawing in July??!! That is absolutely amazing and you should be so proud.
Don’t undersell yourself. I frequently pay £30-40 for small illustrations of houses for gifts (A5 size). What a wonderful achievement.

@WhoStoleMyCheese

I’d like some, DM the name of your shop please, moving house and would love some prints

Have done - and thank you.

I would say keep the prices low to attract impulse buyers. Not trying to be mean, I think they are good but in an A level art kind of way.

Op you are so talented! I really want that giraffe one and yes I’d pay more x

I would also agree, keep them low enough to attract the people who would buy for themselves on a whim and not necessarily a present for someone.

Omgggggg, the difference between the before and after 👍🏻😱😱 please share the YouTube links! I'm at the 'drawing the popes knee' stage.

@LittleGwyneth

You are SO undercharging. I'd expect to pay £50 or £60 for even the small ones of these.

For originals maybe, surely not for prints?

I think I may consider an increase - maybe from 1st April. Not by much as I think, as many posters have said, I would like to keep them low enough to still fit into the "impulse" buy range.

Partly as I didn't take into account all the admin side of stuff when putting my costings together. And also, the market rule about pricing up until you hit the sweet spot is a total new one to me. And if I am to venture into the retail world I need to build more of a buffer in my pricing.

Thank you for all your comments too. I know they are not Royal Academy standard - but a bit of drawing love is helping me maybe think I am not totally faking this!

am still a bit stunned I can draw anything, let alone sell stuff

I'm a printmaker and charge £25 for an A4 screen print, £30 for A3 and £50 for A2. These are all hand pulled screen prints which is a long process. I'd say your prices are fine as they are for the quality of work and for giclee prints.