What did you actually say when a gallery asked for a price on a piece you'd already sold?
So this is a small embarrassing thing that happened last month and I want to know I'm not the only one.
I dropped off two paintings at a coffee shop that has local art on the walls (that's my level of "gallery" so far, no shame). One sold. The owner then asked if I had more, "the bigger ones," because a customer wanted something similar. I stood there and completely blanked and said "I'll let you know" and then emailed her three days later with a number I basically made up on the spot. I still don't know if it was too high or too low.
So my real question: when a gallery or shop or whoever asks you for a price on a piece you've already sold, do you give them the old number, the next number up, or do you just panic like me? I gave her $180 for a 16x20 and honestly I'm still deciding if that was smart or dumb.
Tell me your number too. Curious if I'm wildly off.
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The made-up number is the part I'd worry about least. What matters is that it's consistent the next time someone asks, and that it covers the materials and the hours, or you'll resent the piece later.
I'd have said something like "let me confirm the size and come back to you tomorrow" and then actually done it. "I'll let you know" is fine, it's honest. Three days is fine too. Nobody in a coffee shop is holding a stopwatch.
The blank is normal. Saying a number out loud about your own work is a strange thing to do. It gets less strange with repetition, which is not much comfort the first few times.