Should an artist put their prices online?
Yes!
In most cases, humans need to see the price of an item as part of their evaluation as to whether they should invest in an item. Think of it this way - You can look at tomatoes at a market, but without knowing if the tomatoes are $4 or $40, how will you know if they are the right tomatoes for you? After all, there is a wide range of tomatoes in the world.
Same goes for art. We can look and enjoy without knowing the prices, but without the prices there (or price ranges), how does someone decide if they are simply admiring a painting, or if they are evaluating whether they should purchase it? Adding the prices allows a client to self-select whether they are in your market, and start doing the sales job for you.
I was pleased to see this article on Artsper - I’ve been saying this for years! Now, instead of me saying it again, go read their reasons.
More evidence from the Hiscox Online Art Trade Report, 2024:
Hiscox reports that Price Transparency is one of the major factors guiding art buyer behaviour:
“The traditionally secretive art world has had to be much more transparent about its pricing since the pandemic. This year, 91% of online art buyers say this was the key attribute to whether they decided to buy from an online platform (up from 88% in 2022) and the response is consistently high among all age groups. Gone are the days when a customer had to email a gallery to ask an artwork’s price. Now, it risks losing a sale if it doesn’t clearly display a price tag.”
