As a local artist that enjoys travel and painting in both Studio and En Plein Air, I found I need a new approach for 2023, to finding art collectors and I was pricing my work way too low to market to my customer.
As a female, who is used to entrepreneurship from the buy and resell area, I was pricing as if I was marketing to bargain hunting vintage art dealers who sell to other dealers in galleries.
I had gallerists tell me I was selling too low, yet they never guided me as to the way to get the correct retail price. I think they simply didn’t know how either.
I finally found out how, by keeping my mindset of finding wholesale by selling first at where the dealers go to buy. I sold at auctions both on board a ship for the cruise goer, and scoped out that market, and then I sold at auction on land, here in my home city area, DFW, to find out that wholesale market.
Auctions had been for those that had passed away, because “They can’t make any more art, so it must go up in value due to scarcity, right?”
People still buy that way, yet guess what? I am still creating and selling my work, and I know the collector and dealer way of thinking, so why shouldn’t I keep testing that level to see my rising wholesale price? Once I found my wholesale price, I know my reserve price on the next auction.
I can test that each year, and as long as I stay busy creating and learn how to network with collectors and galleries, I should improve in price each year, no funeral necessary.
I will be placing a new 12 pieces of art on my website each 7th of the month, with the slideshow coming down at the end of the day on the 6th of each month.
Since I create in multiple media and am a trained printmaker and sculptress, as well as a self-taught painter, I look forward to amazing even myself.
http://www.amycarterishmael.com
