Pricing Your Passion: A Guide to Selling Digital Art Online
11 min read.
Are you passionate about creating digital products and want to turn this creative hobby into a profitable business? You’re in the right place!
In this blog post, we’ll explore the ins and outs of how to price digital art, from understanding factors that influence your pricing to promoting and selling your artwork online.
This guide is especially pertinent for those looking to diversify their income streams and take control of their financial future, aligning perfectly with the mission of this personal finance website.
Get ready to unlock the full potential of your artistic talents and start making money from your passion!
Key Takeaways
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Gain control of your career and price digital art commissions fairly by understanding high demand, calculating hourly rates & factoring in material costs.
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Motivate customers to purchase digital prints with limited edition or open edition strategies!
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Monitor trends to stay competitive and reflect personal growth for a successful venture.
Table of Contents
- Key Takeaways
- Understanding the Factors that Influence Digital Art Pricing
- Setting the Right Price for Your Digital Art Commissions
- Pricing Strategies for Digital Art Prints
- Promoting and Selling Your Art Online
- Choosing the Right Platform for Selling Digital Art
- Spotlight on Fiverr
- Utilizing Social Media for Promotion
- Create Your Own Website
- Handling Sales and Delivery
- Continuously Evaluating and Adjusting Your Pricing
- Summary: How To Price Digital Art
- Frequently Asked Questions
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Understanding the Factors that Influence Digital Art Pricing
Setting the right price for your digital medium is a combination of art and science. A fair price for your piece requires a careful evaluation of factors such as your expertise and reputation, the intricacy of the artwork, and the demand for your creations.
It’s no secret that online artists have been making waves in the creative world. From powerful software like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter to a wide range of file formats, artists have more tools and flexibility than ever before.
But with great power comes great responsibility - and that includes pricing your creations correctly. We will now delve into a deeper understanding of the elements that influence art pricing.
THIS product pricing calculator will provide a quick and straightforward way to set a starting price. It’ll help you add up your cost of goods sold and set a profit margin.
Digital Artist Experience and Reputation
Your experience and reputation as an artist play a significant role in determining the price of your digital painting. As you gain experience and recognition in the industry, your commission prices can reflect your growing expertise.
By maintaining your commission prices, you uphold your worth as an artist and entrepreneur, which helps avoid potential resentment from clients. The more you practice pricing your work, the more comfortable and confident you’ll feel when it comes time to ask for what your work is worth.
Complexity of the Artwork
The complexity of the artwork can significantly impact the time and effort required to create it, which in turn affects the final price. Factors that contribute to the complexity of the artwork include:
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Level of detail
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Intricacy
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Distribution of compositions
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Colors
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Use of generative or algorithmic techniques
A careful assessment of each artwork’s complexity, including watercolor paintings, is vital for a fine artist to set a fair and accurate price for their digital art commissions.
Market Demand and Competition
Considering real-world demand and competition is a fundamental step when determining the prices for your work. Conducting market research by looking at competitor pricing can help you understand the target market and ensure your prices are competitive.
Use this FREE market analysis template to validate your product idea.
Beginners should be aware of the pitfalls of comparing their pricing to professional artists, as this can lead to undervaluing their work. Instead, focus on the following factors to ensure your pricing is fair and accurate:
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The amount of time and effort you put into creating your products
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The quality and uniqueness of your artwork
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The demand for your specific style or niche
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The cost of materials and resources used in creating your art
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Your level of experience and expertise
By considering these factors, you can set prices that reflect the value of a single piece and attract potential buyers.
Offering high-quality pieces at a more affordable price can provide you with more opportunities to practice making art and reach a larger audience, including traditional artists. Yet, finding a balance between affordability and the intrinsic value of your work is crucial for sustaining a profitable business.
Setting the Right Price for Your Digital Art Commissions
Having understood the factors influencing digital creation pricing, we will now proceed to the procedure of setting an appropriate price for your art commissions. To do this, we’ll explore calculating your hourly rate, factoring in the cost of materials, and considering project scope and difficulty.
Value your time and pay yourself as if you were an employee. A great starting point for setting the commission price is multiplying the minimum hourly wage of your area by the time you spent creating your sample.
Calculating Your Hourly Rate
Establishing a fair hourly rate is a critical step to accurately price your digital art commissions. To calculate your hourly rate, consider your experience, expertise, and desired income.
For example, a new freelance artist could start with a competitive $10 per hour. However, don’t let fear hold you back from charging what you’re worth. With courage and confidence, many artists could be earning $50 an hour or more.
Use THIS easy-to-use calculator to help you add up your cost of goods sold, so you can confidently launch your product on a budget while keeping profits high.
Stay informed of trends and use them as a reference to reflect your personal growth and expertise when adjusting your hourly rate. As you gain experience and improve your skills, don’t hesitate to increase your hourly rate to secure a salary that reflects your worth.
Factoring in Material Costs
Despite not requiring physical materials as in traditional craft, an online artist must consider other material costs when pricing their commissions. These costs can include software subscriptions and equipment used to create your digital artwork.
To ensure your artwork is priced accurately, multiply these costs by 4 and add the result to labor and overhead costs.
THIS product pricing calculator will help you figure out your markups and profit margin. So you can set a price that will encourage sales and grow revenue.
Considering Project Scope and Difficulty
Considering the project scope and difficulty is another step in ascertaining the final price for a digital art commission. To calculate the cost for a commission with multiple characters and a background, follow these steps:
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Estimate the time investment for each character and the background;
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Sum the time for all characters plus the background;
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Multiply the total time by your hourly rate.
When assessing the scope and difficulty of commissions, consider factors such as:
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Complexity of the artwork
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Size and dimensions
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Artistic style
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Timeframe
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Client expectations
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Your experience and expertise
This will help you make the best decision for each project and ensure a fair price.
Pricing Strategies for Digital Art Prints
Digital downloads offer a unique opportunity for selling art multiple times, with minimal overhead costs. To maximize the potential of your digital art prints, consider employing different pricing strategies, such as limited edition prints and open edition prints.
Each pricing strategy has its advantages and can cater to different audiences. We will now examine these strategies more closely.
Limited Edition Prints
Limited edition prints are unique pieces available only in a limited number of copies, making them truly special and valuable to collectors. Due to their exclusivity and limited availability, limited edition prints are often priced higher than regular prints.
When pricing limited edition prints, consider dividing the sum you were charged by the number of editions to determine the price per unit. Don’t forget to add in your overheads and extras for an accurate result.
Limited edition prints can enhance the perceived value of your artwork, making it even more special and attractive to collectors.
Open Edition Prints
Open-edition prints, on the other hand, offer a more accessible and budget-friendly option for art lovers. These prints are available without any limitation on the number of copies, which means they can cater to a wider audience, making it easy to find art prints online.
Open edition prints are typically priced lower than limited edition prints, making them more accessible to a broader range of art enthusiasts and potentially increasing sales.
Promoting and Selling Your Art Online
Having solidified your pricing strategy, the next step involves promoting and selling online. To do this effectively, you’ll need to choose the right platform and utilize social media for promotion.
There are plenty of exciting online platforms to sell to potential customers, such as online marketplaces like Etsy and independent websites.
Additionally, sites like Instagram and Pinterest can be incredibly valuable for showcasing your artwork and connecting with your target audience.
Choosing the Right Platform for Selling Digital Art
Choosing an appropriate platform for selling your original work plays a pivotal role in enhancing your sales and profitability. When choosing a platform, consider factors like:
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Ease of use
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Payment processing options
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Customer service
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Marketing capabilities
Etsy and Shopify, for example, are highly recommended for online sales due to their immense popularity and convenient features. Whichever platform you choose, be sure to invest time in learning how to use it effectively through tutorials, videos, or courses.
Spotlight on Fiverr
Fiverr is a vibrant online marketplace that brings together a global community of freelancers and clients, offering a wide range of services including digital arts.
It's a fantastic platform where you can not only sell your artwork but also acquire new digital skills. The platform hosts an array of experts who offer lessons in different fields such as graphic design, digital marketing, and even animation.
This feature makes Fiverr an all-inclusive website that promotes both business growth and personal development.
By using Fiverr, you get the unique opportunity to enhance your artistic knowledge while also showcasing and selling your skills to a global audience. Start Selling on Fiverr.
Utilizing Social Media for Promotion
Social media platforms can be a powerful tool for promoting your online store and reaching a wider audience. Like most artists, some of the most effective ones for showcasing your art and connecting with potential buyers are:
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Instagram
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Pinterest
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DeviantArt
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Behance
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Don’t be afraid to share your artistic journey, engage with your audience, and collaborate with other artists to expand your reach. Social media can be a game-changer in promoting to a large audience so make the most of these platforms to:
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Showcase your talent
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Connect with potential clients and customers
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Build a community of fellow artists
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Gain exposure and visibility
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Grow your passive income
Create Your Own Website
Creating a website gives credibility when selling digital products online. A personal website not only helps establish your brand but also provides a direct channel to sell your artwork, bypassing any third-party commissions.
For beginners, Shopify is an excellent platform to start with; it is user-friendly, versatile, and offers a plethora of features tailored for e-commerce.
It allows you to easily manage your digital inventory, process payments, and handle customer service.
Control All Finances is also hosted on Shopify, exemplifying its effectiveness and trustworthiness as an excellent way to get started. Sign up for a free trial and enjoy 3 months of Shopify for $1/month on select plans.
Handling Sales and Delivery
Handling digital art sales and delivery can be a complex process, but with the right strategies, you can ensure a smooth and seamless experience for your customers. In this section, we will delve into payment processing, currency conversion, and delivery methods.
Payment Processing and Currency Conversion
For international sales, smooth payment processing and accurate currency conversion are indispensable. You have a range of payment processing options, such as:
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Using an online payment gateway like Shopify Payments or Stripe
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Using a third-party marketplace
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Email invoicing
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Mobile payment apps
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eChecks with ACH processing
For currency conversion, Stripe charges a 1% fee for this service. Alternatively, you can opt to charge in your native currency to avoid the fee.
Be sure to choose the most suitable payment processing and currency conversion options for your website to maximize your profit margin and efficiency.
Delivery Methods
After a successful sale, delivering your product to your customers is the final step in the process. There are several methods you can use to ensure a seamless delivery, such as emailing the digital art file, using a file-sharing service like Dropbox, or leveraging a marketplace to handle the delivery for you.
Regardless of the method you choose, make sure to provide clear instructions to your customers and use secure payment methods to protect both you and your clients.
Promptly delivering your piece of art will help build a positive reputation and lead to more sales and satisfied customers.
Use THIS Shipping Policy Template to make sure the essential shipping details are clear and easy to find for your customers.
Continuously Evaluating and Adjusting Your Pricing
With your gradually increasing career, regular evaluation and adjustment of your pricing are key to staying competitive and accurately reflecting your worth.
In this section, we will discuss monitoring trends and considering your personal growth and expertise in your pricing.
Monitoring Market Trends
Keeping abreast of trends is vital for maintaining competitiveness and tailoring your pricing accordingly. Researching what other artists are charging for similar commissions and staying up-to-date with popular styles and themes can help you make informed decisions when setting your prices.
Use this FREE market analysis template to find your product-market fit, and what you can offer to customers that’s different and better. Find a strategic angle that’ll help you sell successfully right away.
By monitoring similar items, you can ensure that your prices remain attractive and accurately echo the dollar values of successful artists.
Staying ahead of the competition and adjusting your prices based on others will help you maximize your sales and profitability.
Reflecting Personal Growth and Expertise
With the accumulation of experience and improved skills, it becomes important to incorporate your personal growth and expertise into your pricing.
Showcasing your development and mastery of the craft can boost the perceived quality and uniqueness of your artwork, making it even more special and attractive to potential buyers.
Leveraging your personal growth and expertise can also help justify higher prices, as clients will recognize the added value of your experience and skills.
Continuously evaluating and adjusting your pricing based on your experience and similar artists will ensure your business model remains sustainable, profitable, and successful.
Summary: How To Price Digital Art
In conclusion, how much money to ask for any type of art is the first step of turning your passion into a profitable business - the good news is that you are in complete control.
Understanding the factors that influence digital art pricing, setting the right price for your commissions, employing effective pricing strategies, promoting and selling your art online, handling sales and delivery, and continuously evaluating and adjusting your pricing are all essential components of a successful side hustle.
As you embark on your journey as a digital artist, remember to value your time, expertise, and personal growth. Use market conditions and your ever-evolving skills to inform your pricing decisions, and don’t be afraid to showcase your unique talents to the world.
With dedication, hard work, and the right pricing strategies, you can turn your passion into a thriving venture.
We'd love to hear about your experiences with selling art online. Share your insights and tips in the comment box below to help others on their creative entrepreneurial journey!
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I calculate the price of my artwork?
To calculate the price of your artwork as a beginner, simply multiply the painting's width by its length to get the total size in square inches, then multiply that by $6 per square inch for oil paintings. Additionally, factor in the cost of canvas and framing, and double the amount.
How do I price my art on Etsy?
Price your artwork based on factors like materials, time, and experience. Calculate costs based on length, width, and price per inch, and consider starting at $1.00 or higher per linear inch. You can always adjust prices after making some sales on Etsy to take advantage of the variety of customers it can draw in.
What is the value of digital art?
Digital art offers a unique set of advantages, making it an invaluable asset for artists and graphic designers. From its portability and ease of sharing to the ability to correct errors, the online art market provides a creative outlet that can be easily enjoyed by audiences around the world.
What are the advantages of selling limited edition prints?
Limited edition prints are a great way to attract collectors, as they are exclusive and priced higher than regular prints. This exclusivity makes them highly desirable and valuable.
How can I promote my digital art online?
Promote your online business by utilizing social media and choosing the right online marketplace for selling it. Connect with potential buyers to reach a wider audience.
Turning your passion into a side hustle can be a rewarding journey. If you're looking for more ways to boost your income, check out our collection of side hustle-related articles - they're a great starting point for exploring additional income opportunities!