the gallery that asked me to change my prices
ok so I had this gallery reach out, seemed legit, excited about my work. then came the call. "we love your pieces but we think you need to price them higher to be taken seriously." they wanted me to triple my prices. just like that.
I said no because it felt fake and I'd rather sell something for what it's worth to me than sit there with overpriced work nobody buys. but part of me wonders if they had a point???
what's the wildest price-related thing a gallery has ever told you? "you're too cheap" "you're too expensive" "we take 60%" whatever. I wanna hear the numbers. give me the story.
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ugh this is such a hard one. I've never had a gallery reach out so I can't speak to that part, but I've had people tell me I should charge more for my portraits and I just... can't bring myself to do it? Like I know what goes into them, I know the time, but when I try to set a higher price in my head it feels like I'm pretending to be someone I'm not.
But also, tripling is insane. That's not advice, that's a business model they want you to absorb all the risk for. If it doesn't sell at triple, you're the one sitting on it, not them.
I think there's probably a middle ground between what feels honest to you and what makes sense for the market, but it should come from you, not from someone telling you to inflate it overnight. If it feels fake, it probably is.
the "pretending to be someone I'm not" thing hit me hard because that's exactly what it felt like when they said triple. I'd look at my work with that number on it and it just wasn't mine anymore, you know?
but here's the thing I'm wrestling with, if I can't charge what it's worth, is that some honest truth or is that just the part of me that still thinks I don't deserve a seat at the table? I go back and forth.
what's stopping you from raising yours? is it the number feeling fake or something deeper?