I want you to buy my art.  If price is the issue, you are free to negotiate. It’s not uncommon in the art world to negotiate on price.  Think of any famous art sale, and it was probably an auction, not a set price.  I don’t advertise that I have flexible prices, I just blog about it.  Trust me, it’s fine.  I doesn’t hurt to ask. I price my paintings at generally the same levels.  The smaller paintings have a set price and the larger paintings all have similar prices.  Although they are priced about the same amount, I may consider selling one painting for less and feel strongly about another painting’s value.  It doesn’t hurt to ask.

Things to consider from the artist’s point of view:

• I want you to buy my art.  I want it on your walls.
• The painting you want my be older and I’m less excited about it.
• The painting you want my be my newest and favorite piece ever.
• I may have a huge inventory of work and could use some space.
• I may have overhead…especially in a gallery or an event that I may have paid to participate in.
• I have been asked to take less before, so I’m used to it.  It’s not weird.
• You can maybe hang it in your space and make sure you love it.
• I may just like you as a person and feel like giving you a deal.
• I buy art too.  I get that money is important.

My prices are where they are for a reason.  I owe it to my collectors to charge enough that their paintings increase in value.  My art has value so it makes sense my prices reflect it.  I price my work at “gallery” prices where a dealer may take half of the proceeds and I only keep the other half.  It’s not fair to a dealer that they just advertise my work, but everyone knows just to call me at home and get a deal directly from me.  What dealer would trust an artist that will undercut them?  Even after saying that, it doesn’t hurt to ask. I have to cover my materials as well, but I do my best to keep those down.  Generally, I make my own frames, stretch my own canvas, and find great deals on art supplies.  I get linseed oil in big cans from Menards and canvas from JoAnn’s Fabics.  I pick up returned paint from Home Depot for $5 a gallon to use as underpaintings sometimes.  The main reasons I don’t want to spend so much on material is for creative reasons.  I don’t want to cost of materials in the back of my mind making a painting to precious.  I want to be able to explore and play without thinking “Oh shit, that was $30 in titanium white that I just painted over!”  As a result, I don’t really have to factor my material into my pricing decisions and worry about losing money on a sale. I will probably not bring it up, but I am not usually offended if someone offers me less for my work.  I can always say no if I don’t want to part with a painting. It doesn’t hurt to ask.