Before You Price Your Art, Remember to Pay the Artist. That's You.

I've been thinking about pricing a lot lately, especially now that my illustrated calendar is available to buy.

You spend ages creating something, get it ready to sell, and then start worrying about what everybody else is charging. You find something similar on Etsy for less and wonder whether you should lower your price.

But where are you in that calculation?

You did the drawing

My Far North Queensland Adventures calendar didn't appear overnight. There were twelve illustrations, the cover, the layouts, the changes and the printed proof. There was also the time I spent figuring out how to sell it.

I'm not suggesting you charge the first customer for every hour you spent learning or experimenting. That's not really how print on demand works. You might sell one copy or a hundred. But the artist deserves to be considered when you decide on a price.

If your price barely covers production and fees, what is left for the person who actually made the artwork?

The printing price isn't your profit

Print on demand is wonderful because you don't need to buy and store piles of stock. But production isn't the only cost.

Depending on your setup, there can be postage, listing fees, transaction fees, payment processing fees, currency conversion and other charges. Some fees are calculated on the postage as well as the product price.

My first calendar customer paid A$53.63 including shipping to Canada. Gelato charged me A$31.16. My October Etsy activity showed A$48.78 after fees and a Share & Save refund, which left A$17.62 after Gelato. The Etsy activity figure included a few listing fees from my earlier experiments, so it's a conservative snapshot rather than a perfect per-order calculation.

That's before other business expenses or income tax. A A$40 calendar does not put A$40 in my pocket.

Different platforms have different costs

With Amazon KDP, I can see an estimated royalty based on my list price and the printing costs. It's a useful starting point, even though actual earnings depend on the marketplace and other details.

Selling through Etsy, Shopify or your own website can involve a supplier, a platform and a payment processor. Even if you're selling a digital product, like Canva templates or PNG papers, you still have to allow for checkout fees and the work of making and preparing the files.

There isn't one formula that fits everything. You need to understand what comes out before you decide what goes in.

Don't race to the bottom

I'm all for market research. Look at the cheapest similar products and the most expensive. Look at what people actually receive. My preference is to price somewhere towards the higher end, but not automatically at the very top.

That doesn't mean a cheap product is bad or that expensive always means better. But original, thoughtfully created artwork doesn't have to compete solely on price. In a crowded marketplace, the story and the person behind the work matter too.

I don't want to price something low simply because I'm frightened nobody will buy it.

Not every discount is worth doing

I'm not against sales, but I'm not discounting my A$40 calendar for Black Friday simply because other people are doing it.

If a discount eats up most of what I'd earn, I've still done the work and paid the supplier, but left very little for myself. Before offering a discount, I'd rather calculate what I'd actually keep and decide whether it makes sense.

Price for the business you want to build

Your costs and goals might be completely different from mine. You might prefer selling lots of lower-priced items or fewer products at a higher price. Either can work.

Look at your production and delivery costs. Check the selling and payment fees. Think about the time spent designing, preparing, listing and promoting the product, and what you want it to contribute to your business over time.

Then research the market and choose a price that makes sense for you.

Because when you're working out what to charge for your art, there's one person you shouldn't leave out.

You.

Want your own Far North Queensland adventure?

If you'd like a copy of my illustrated Far North Queensland Adventures 2027 calendar, head to https://jodraper.au/calendars and choose your adventure.