No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

[Paulstw]

I've recently been asked for some of my images to go into canvas. Specifically A3 and A2. While these are not a great size for a wall, i'm a bit puzzled by the confusing look I get when I say how much that would be.

Example - My cousin asked for an A2 canvas of a city scene. I said it would be £35 and she said that was a bit much. She could get it for £22 blah blah from Tesco. I had a short argument with her stating that I simply refuse to give my images away for nothing and putting it on a canvas was only the start of the cost.

I can get the canvas made up for £15. So adding £20 to the final cost doesn't seem too bad. I don't even like the fact that it's going for that, as I do think it's worth more.

What does everyone else think? Is £35 too much for that size?

Paul

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

I think that is a very good price.
I have not bought any canvas prints but at A2 (approx 59cm x 42cm) I would of thought £45-£50 is acceptable.
Tell your cousin to go to Tesco and buy her canvas but not with your photos.

[jimsphotography]

No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

Hi Paul
£35 is too little for an A2 canvas. I would suggest £85
If you sell them as cheap then your work will be viewed as cheap. My advice is don't undersell yourself !
James

[Paulstw]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

I think that is a very good price.
I have not bought any canvas prints but at A2 (approx 59cm x 42cm) which is quite large I would of thought £45-£50 is acceptable.
Tell your cousin to go to Tesco and buy her canvas but not with your photos.

my good lady said th exact same thing last night, "tell her to take a picture with her iPhone and see how Tesco can work with that" lol

In all seriousness though, the cost of all this stuff is being driven down weekly by folk that just buy up equipment and are in for a fast buck. No anti fade inks, good printers or proper knowledge seems to be relevant to them.

Thanks for the input though.

Had a look on your site earlier, and Well done on the disablement of right click. I test that on every site I go to. Couldn't view any EXIF data either so I thought you'd appreciate that input :)

Paul

[Paulstw]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

Hi Paul
£35 is too little for an A2 canvas. I would suggest £85
If you sell them as cheap then your work will be viewed as cheap. My advice is don't undersell yourself !
James

Thanks James, I wasn't sure my work was of that standard yet, as i'm really just start out. If there is hot demand for something then yes. I know what you mean though, start cheap, then i'm no better than the guys running the prices down.

I'll maybe see this one as a discounted price for a family member. :)

Cheers for the confidence

[colin C]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

A friend of mine takes action shots of birds of prey at the Hawk Conservancy Trust and has them mounted on canvas for the Trust. He sells them to the trust at his cost and they charge them out at around £90 for A2 and they sell like hotcakes.

I should add that he does not take any profit in them and treats it as payback for all the pleasure the Trust has given him.

[colin C]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

I wasn't sure my work was of that standard yet,

Whilst we are all our greatest critics, believe me, if people want to buy your work it is certainly up to standard.

[celtex]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

Part of the problem is that large discount chains like - (well I should not maybe advertise them, but 2 letters and an & - and not the big orange one) are selling large generic prints for stupid money (just seen some really nice 'scenes') in 100 cm x 100 cm for £9.99.

Sure they use stock photos, or even commission a photographer to take them, and they can afford to pay the photographer for his/her work and it is usually very good and sell them cheap because of the mass market sales and they might get em made in China etc.

this unfortunately, as with so many markets and products, irrevocably alters the customer's perception of what is good value.

So the challenge is to make them aware that they are not buying a generic, mass market print, but a limited edition, and that they personally now the photographer, or are aware that it is a local photographer. In other words adding something to the intrinsic value of the print to help differentiate and justify the more realistic/fair price.

you use your time, creativity, your vision etc - and you are only selling one or two (10 or 20 if you get serious) copies so unlike the pro working for the chains, you hare not selling hundreds at a time

Good luck explaining that though, some folk will just not see it.

Ian

[Paulstw]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

I do see everyones point. Your work is exclusive to you, and if you want to sell it on cheap I guess its your choice, but you can't then go back on your rates later on. I think I'll leave it over christmas, give my cousin her print for the agreed price and tell her its a one off.

I'll stick to my guns after that, as I want to snap more Scottish landscapes on my travels, Going to buy the Tokina 11-16 to see how that goes.

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

Had a look on your site earlier, and Well done on the disablement of right click. I test that on every site I go to. Couldn't view any EXIF data either so I thought you'd appreciate that input :)

Paul

Thanks for that input Paul, another good member also checked the "disablement of right click" on my site.
Appreciated.

[Paulstw]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

Thanks for that input Paul, another good member also checked the "disablement of right click" on my site.
Appreciated.

No problem Stephen it's about the only thing I can contribute to the community at the moment :) It's what I do everyday amongst the servers and workstations of an IT dept :)

[Trevoreast]

Re: No idea what's too cheap or too expensive

I happily give my pics to friends and family Free.
I'm not really bothered if they take a file to a supermarket and get a budget print done, as long as they're happy I'm happy.

I'd never knowingly give an image to a business or "business like" org, unless there was something in it for me.99.9 % percent of the time there isn't anything in it for me.

Trev