There is one question I am often asked when selling my original drawings online. – How can a small drawing be so expensive? I have the answer for this. Frankly, there are several reasons for an artwork listed for sale online to be pricy.
Just to make it clear, I am talking about contemporary art created by living artists who sell their original artworks on online platforms, like Etsy or eBay.
Also, note that it's not the guide for artists how to price artworks. About artwork pricing I will write an other time. So, stay tuned and subscribe!
Online Platforms
I start with this more obvious factor that influences the cost of any artwork listed on any online platform. – The platform fees.
Etsy takes at least 6,5% from the selling price. With this platform you have to also keep in mind the 20 cent you pay every four months to place a listing. Not much. But to start actually selling something you have to have at least 100 listings and you have to publish listings every day for the system and the algorithm to recognize you.
eBay has a free of charge item publishing policy but... it takes up to 16% from the final price of your item.
Shipment
I live, work and create my art in Florence, Italy. Most of my customers are either in the USA, UK or France.
To ship packages with artworks I would prefer using services of FedEx and UPS (sorry, but Poste Italiane has not a very trustworthy reputation when it comes to artists' experience).
My experience is that no matter how small my package is, the shipment cost from Florence to anywhere in the USA is always around 35 Euro.
Recently I have shipped a small size print (A5) and I was really surprized to hear the cost of this small shipment. It cost me the same 35 Euro.
So, that's another factor of pricy artworks online – shipment costs that depend on size of the package, its weight and the distance it will travel.
Bank fees
When I get paid by a customer through Etsy or eBay I don't keep that money on those platforms. These funds have to go from the platform to my bank account or a PayPal account. And yes, there is a transfer fee for that, too.
Size of the Drawing
Now we are getting to two most exciting factors in the pricing of an artwork sold online. As they say, the size doesn't matter, but in our case – the details do.
It might seem that the smaller the drawing or the painting, the easier it is do make. Well, that's a myth. Ask any figurative artist, like myself, and they will tell you that the smaller the figure or the face in a painting or a drawing, the more effort it takes to draw or paint the smallest details of the form.
And it's not just about the forms and lines of details, it's also about shadows and transitions from light to dark.
Of course, there is a way to simplify everything – and way too many abstract artists do that. But we are not abstract. We are artists. I don't mean to insult anyone. I am just saying that in our style field we operate with more precision.
So, as you can understand from this, a smaller drawing or painting can sometimes cost even more than a bigger one.
Materials
What we use to create an artwork is another interesting factor. If we talk about drawings then it's not just graphite pencils. There can be charcoal, oil pastels, dry pastels, pastel pencils, sanguine...
Each material used requires skills that are related to the use of this particular material. And also the cost of all these materials is different. Most affordable for artists are graphite pencils.
Paper. The quality of it plays a huge role in a final result of an artwork. Of course, we can draw on something very... let's say simple and cheap. But let me tell you – the drawing might be beautiful but the overall impression and perception of that artwork will be... not good...
Artist's Skills
This is the most ignored factor. To create a small drawing an artist doesn't just start from having zero skills in arts. It means all his/her experience, artistic qualities and knowledge collected before he/she started creating this small drawing.
It's like cooking or repairing cars. Chefs and mechanics don't just wake up one day with zero experience and knowledge and go do their jobs. Also you probably would not go to a restaurant if you know that the chef in that restaurant had no training, no experience and it's his/her very first day cooking at all!
The same is with artists. All we have learned, all we know, all we have drawn and painted before – all that professional bagage will be put on paper while this small drawing is being created.
Time
It takes time to create even a small drawing of three abstract elements. A figurative artwork takes "a bit more" time. All I am saying is that to create a drawing of a nude figure in academic style takes more than 5 minutes as one might think.
Yes, drawing and painting is fun for us. We love doing it and that's why we do it. And I hope very much that you do like the work you are doing and when you get paid (!!) for that work I am sure you don't mind, do you?
If we forget about the skills and artwork details and talk only about the technicalities of online-sales, I am ready to give an example of how much I make from selling a mid-size charcoal drawing.
Let's say I am to list a framed drawing at a very low price of 53 Euro (to make it affordable and to attract more customers). After (and IF!!) it's purchased, shipped and the money will finally arrive in my bank account I will have less than 10 Euro. Well... all that hustle for what??
Male Figure Original Drawing – In my Etsy shop
The question is... was it forth it for an artist? And the next one – wouldn't the artist want to increase the price of his/her artworks by posting them on online platforms in the future? You tell me.