When I held the Alignment Retreat last week inside Artists & Profit Makers, not surprisingly, we ended up talking a lot about price. I say not surprisingly because in all my years of working with artists and makers, I’ve found that when creatives are feeling burnt out in their businesses, it is often because they are underpricing their work. (Not always, but often.)
Also unsurprisingly, for the artists and makers where it was becoming obvious that it was time to raise their prices, there was still resistance to actually doing it.
There are a few reasons for this. First, in a world awash with low prices, it’s easy to look at our own and feel like they are absurdly high. (They aren’t. It’s just that most prices we’re used to seeing are artificially low.)
Second, there is an overriding lack of confidence among artists as to the worth of their work. This comes from both internal and external factors – low self-esteem, unsupportive friends and family, and cultural pressure from others who are used to seeing artificially low prices and aren’t used to honoring the full value of art.
As artists and makers, we have a lot of baggage to carry into the act of pricing our work.
But below all of this baggage is one big underlying fear: that if you raise your prices, people won’t buy your work.
I get it. It’s a big fear, especially if your livelihood depends on you selling your work. But here’s what you have to understand. Price is rarely the reason that someone didn’t buy your work. (It’s also rarely the reason your work isn’t selling – that’s lack of marketing.) I’m not saying price is never a factor, but as artists and makers, we tend to over-inflate the role of price in the decision making process, because we’ve been taught to believe that people only make decisions based on price.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth. If people only made decisions based on price, there would be no luxury cars or prestige clothing brands or restaurants that weren’t fast food and everything in every category would be the same price. (But it’s not, because anything can be any price.)
Now I’m sure there are at least a few of you reading this who are thinking “but Megan, people tell me that they love my work, they just can’t afford it.” And it’s true, those people exist. (And honestly, they’re kind of dicks. As are people who tell you they are waiting for a sale to buy. Seriously people, keep those thoughts to yourself. You don’t need to say that to artists and makers, especially in a social media comment. Compliment the work and leave it at that!)
All ranting aside, it’s even more important to remember that those people are also not your ideal customer. Because if someone can’t afford (or won’t pay) the prices you need (or want) to charge in order to make a living, they are not your customer. Full stop. No matter how much they say they love your work.
But here’s the thing: we’ve been taught for so long that price is the number one factor that people use when deciding whether or not to make a purchase. And while it’s certainly true in some situations, it’s not true across the board. Especially when it comes to art and craft, where people aren’t making apples to apples purchasing decisions. (That’s because you and your work are unique. And a beautiful handmade mug is NOT the same as a mass-produced mug you would buy at Target.)
Beyond that, the price of your work can actually tell people that your work is valuable. Because when something costs more, it sends a signal that it is worth more.
Obviously, price isn’t the only thing that communicates value. The context in which you sell your work, your brand, and, when you’re selling online, the quality and aesthetics of your photography all play a role in telling people that your work is valuable. But price is an important piece of that puzzle.
Your price also tells your customers that YOU value your work. Which might be the most powerful signifier of all.
Pricing your work where it needs to be tells the customer that you value your time, your expertise, your experience, and your creative vision, and they should too. It sends a signal that just because you love what you do doesn’t mean you’re willing to undervalue yourself or exploit your own labor. It says that you value your work and that they should too.
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The Alignment Retreat may be over, but you can get access to all the recordings when you join Artists & Profit Makers! Plus, you can ask questions in the forums or in our monthly Q&A calls, so you can make sure you’re applying that training (plus all the other amazing trainings inside A&PM) to your business in a way that feels good to you. There’s no commitment and you can cancel your membership at anytime, so head over to artistsandprofitmakers.com to join today and get instant access to the Alignment Retreat recordings!
