The way people discover art has changed completely and right now, social media is the only place where it’s happening at scale.
If you know any Gen Z’s, (or you are a Gen Z!), this generation is the first totally social-media-native one. Almost every discretionary purchase Gen Z’s make is through social media. If you don’t see this, you might be tempted to think that social media is a fad, but it isn’t. It’s simply how they discover what they want now – whether that’s food, a music event, a holiday, fashion, music, or art.
Search still has its place, but for search-type purchases rather than discovery purchases. And what are search-type purchases? They’re the things you need in the lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – your basics like light bulbs, washing powder, a charging cable for an iPhone etc.
Discovery products, on the other hand, are the ones that fulfil a higher level of Maslow’s hierarchy, i.e. the philosophical, the spiritual, the creative side of things. And of course, that’s where art sits.
Social media isn’t going anywhere. The platforms will change, but the core truth won’t: people discover things through other people, trust is everything, and a visual recommendation is incredibly powerful. The best moments in life are often finding something you didn’t even know you needed until you saw it , that’s discovery.
If you’re an artist trying to build a career, you must take social media seriously.
I’m an artist, marketing isn’t my job
One of the most common objections artists raise is, “I’m an artist, marketing isn’t my job.” However, historically, the most successful artists were generally the ones bringing attention to their own work. From Warhol to Frida Kahlo, those who managed to claim a slice of public consciousness are the ones whose work endured. If Warhol were alive today, he would almost certainly be active on social media. So, we believe that the idea that social media has suddenly made marketing an artist’s responsibility is a myth.
Marketing has always been part of the artist’s role and social media has made it easier. With more than five billion people on these platforms, and algorithms designed to connect creators with the people who are predisposed to like their work, artists now have more direct access to their audience than ever before. But of course, you do have to spend a lot of time understanding how to communicate on these platforms. We have written several articles on this, but you might want to check out this one and this one.
Show, Don’t Explain
Of course, if you’re an artist and you’re not concerned about your work being seen then avoiding social media is perfectly fine. However if you would like visibility for your work then learning what creates attention on social media is important, and a good way to think of the task of expressing yourself through this medium is not as a separate marketing task, but rather as an extension of the art practice itself.
Sharing the process doesn’t mean explaining the meaning of the work or turning into a lifestyle storyteller. It simply means posting in a way that reflects your natural expression. If the process is central to the work, then short clips of making, editing, sketching, or building the piece can be shared. If inspiration comes from everyday life, documenting those moments can be equally valuable. The point is not to explain the art or your life story, unless that autobiographical element is already intrinsic to the work.
Why your work should be priced properly
If you have developed your own creative language, your own way of expressing ideas, concepts, craft, or process, then by definition, nobody else is doing that. What you’re doing is unique because there is only one of you, and the sum total of your experiences has brought you to this point in your creative life. And what follows, therefore, is that you do have the ability to price your work at a good level because of its uniqueness.
We’ve worked with a lot of artists who were nervous about pricing themselves at the level their work deserved. We’d say to them, “Look, you’ve created this incredible, expressive body of work. It’s unique. It needs to be priced accordingly.” That doesn’t mean overpricing, and it doesn’t mean undervaluing it. If they price too low, they end up in the same space as Generic AI-produced work, or work that is mass produced by companies and sold on large consumer platforms. Everything’s underpriced on these platforms, everything looks similar, and if you go down this route suddenly your work is competing with AI rather than standing in its own lane. So we would advise that everything you do has to speak authentically: the design of the site, the content, the pricing, the products.
Then comes the product quality. At theprintspace, we run print drops and fulfilment for a lot of artists. Prior to working with us, some of them were making amazing work but selling their entry-level prints at $50. So we told them, “you’ve got to go higher” and initially they were nervous about this, but we insisted they had to price their work according to its quality. And when we helped them move to the right price point, something interesting happened: they sold more, not less. People valued it more. Some collectors even contacted them to say, “I always thought your work was too cheap.” These were the same people buying it.
So the first point here is simply to acknowledge that this advice comes from real experience. And the takeaway is clear: don’t be afraid to price yourself as an authentic creative artist. Do it and don’t look back.
Think commercially
As an artist, you should feel completely comfortable with the idea of making a living from what you do. There is nothing unusual or inappropriate about wanting that. You should give yourself permission to think commercially, but you should do it after the work is created, not before. The creative process should always begin with pure expression, and once the work exists, there’s nothing wrong with thinking commercially about it.
Life is expensive, and you need the headspace to focus on your art practice rather than spending time in jobs that divert your attention. That’s exactly where structured support and a clear pricing strategy become essential.
Before getting into the details, it’s important to understand how to price as a creative artist, because that mindset is very different from pricing posters or commodity prints. This distinction is the foundation for everything that follows.
Your levels of products and associated price points
So this is really the main event. The bit where you can start to understand the different levels of products and the price points that go with them. And honestly, once you see this, it just makes complete sense. Because the simple reality is that people who love your work all sit at totally different points in terms of disposable income. Some people will be able to $5,000 on an original and then there’s a far larger group who absolutely love your work but are looking for something at a more entry-level price-point, maybe a $70 T-shirt, or an A4 fine art print for $150.
Now, the big mistake artists make and this comes up again and again, is saying, “Well, I’m selling originals at $5,000, so I don’t want to undermine that by offering $150 prints.” This is just simply a misconception. The reality is actually completely the opposite. When done correctly, offering entry-level prices supports the sales of your higher priced originals. The data does not lie on this.
Understanding the Collector Journey
So, how is this the case? Firstly, it helps to think about the funnel and the reason we call it a funnel is because loads of people enter it, and only a small number get all the way through it. At the top is discovery, which, these days, basically means they found you on social media. Then comes engagement – they follow you, they join the newsletter, and I get to understand more about your work. And then most people buy something small first, because they don’t know you and/ or they don’t immediately have the disposable income to go for a higher priced item. Of course, there will always be some that go straight in for an original, which is great, but the majority start with an entry-level product.
And here’s the key thing: you’ll have 100 times more people buying entry-level products than buying originals. From those people will make you far more revenue overall, and they get your work out into the world, onto people’s walls and in their lives and homes. Their friends see it, ask who it’s by, the name spreads. And as time goes on a percentage of those buyers will eventually come back to buy originals. They’ve lived with the work for years. It’s made them feel something. When they’re finally ready to splash out on a big piece, they’re coming straight back to you. That’s why entry-level products matter – they’re both the revenue engine and the long-term collector pipeline.
What other industries already understand
If you look outside the art world, this structure is everywhere. Fashion brands have been doing it for decades through something called ‘diffusion lines’. These are when a brand has several levels of price points. So for example, think Armani Exchange → Emporio Armani → Giorgio Armani. Or when a fashion brand does a collab with Uniqlo or Adidas. They do this not only because these collaborations or diffusion lines increase their profits and actually make more profits often than the high-end couture lines, but also to get their brand names out there..
Social media and the internet have made this even more true. It’s a volume game now. The art market is only just waking up to this, but this is absolutely where everything is heading. You can already see many successful artists doing it. So in specifics, you’re looking at your $40-80 products – the calendars, the mugs, the postcard sets, small prints. Then you’ve got the $100 to $500 range for accessible prints. Above that, In approximately an $800-$5,000 range you have rare prints and statement piece limited editions. And then, of course, your originals above there.
These aren’t fixed numbers. Artists can adjust them to fit their audience but these are the general price levels that work today. And if you’re missing any level, you’re essentially shutting out part of your future collector base and not giving them a chance to progress to the next level. It’s like a ladder with a few rungs missing, i.e. people can still make that progression, but you’re just making it harder for them.
And, moreover, you’re also leaving a huge amount of potential revenue on the table, and avoiding revenue is a fast track to stunting your art career progression. You need to be able to live, to afford a studio, to have the headspace to make the work you want to make. There is nothing wrong with wanting to make money from your art. It’s how you keep going.
Lastly, the great thing about offering entry-level products is they’re egalitarian – they let everyone who is genuinely moved by your work own something real from you. This enriches their lives, and it doesn’t detract from the value of your originals at all, it supports it.
How to communicate clearly about pricing
Before artists even get into the mechanics of setting prices, there’s something far more important to understand: people need to know what the product actually is and why it’s worth what you charge.
Artists often forget this part. They know the work is beautiful, they know the paper and framing are exceptional, but none of that is obvious to someone looking at a screen. And when a print is priced at $100–$500, it has to feel like value. That price would be outrageous for a poster, but it’s absolutely fair for a high-end fine art Giclée print in a beautifully crafted frame.
The proof is in the reactions. Collectors regularly comment that the quality is far beyond what they expected – “better than my wildest dreams” is a phrase that appears again and again. They post unboxings, close-ups, videos, all bowled over by the weight of the frame, the depth of the ink, the feel of the paper. That kind of validation is priceless.
And the contrast is obvious when the product isn’t right. Too many artists have ordered prints online only to receive something that feels like a flimsy $2 frame and a lightweight poster. If someone pays Level 2 or Level 3 prices and receives something disappointing then this will damage the trust in your brand, so avoid doing this.
This is why communication matters so much. It’s the classic “selling a TV on TV” problem. How do you convince someone that a new Samsung TV has extraordinary colour and clarity when they’re looking at it on their old TV? That’s the same challenge artists face selling art online: people can’t see or feel the quality firsthand, so the store has to do that work for them. The way the product is described, the language used, the images chosen – all of it has to carry the weight of that quality.
So how does an artist actually do that?
First, they communicate the quality of the work, which usually happens on Instagram. People are drawn in by the idea, the craft, the process; they’ve already bought into the artistic side before they ever reach the store.
Then the store takes over and the store must communicate the quality of the product. That means no shortcuts. Ideally, the artist orders a print themselves, photographs it properly, films it, talks about it, shows the detail, shows the paper texture, shows the framing. Unboxing videos and behind-the-scenes close-ups do more for perceived value than paragraphs of text ever could.
And the language matters. They’re not “posters.” They are fine art Giclée prints on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, produced in a carbon-neutral workflow, packed using recycled and recyclable materials, shipped via fast, tracked delivery, and backed by a money-back guarantee if anything arrives damaged. If the print is a limited edition, the store should make that clear. An artist statement helps too, it reminds the collector what the work is about and why it matters. The store should also signal that these pieces aren’t available forever; there should be a sense of rarity, time-sensitivity, and intention behind every release.
Even the store design itself plays a role. It must feel like the work it’s selling, considered beautiful, high quality. That first impression sets the expectation for the physical product. Shopify is recommended, but with a custom store page rather than a generic theme. The entire page should articulate quality from the moment it loads.
Communicating value isn’t a small detail, it’s the difference between someone feeling confident paying $300 for a print or thinking it “looks like a poster.” When artists get this right, pricing becomes far easier, because the customer instantly understands what they’re paying for.
Pricing Approaches and Margin Considerations
We have four levels of pricing, and this is what they are:
Level one are your entry-level products, for example postcards, mugs, tote bags, T-shirts, and A5 unsigned prints. These will be priced between $40 and $80, usually. The target margin is 50–60%.
Level two are your larger edition and open edition fine art prints. These are typically A3 or A2 prints, larger open editions, or mid-tier framed fine art prints. They are usually priced between $90 and $500, depending on framing. Pricing here is margin-based, targeting 50–60%.
Level three are your rare prints, the very large works, the complex ones, the most in-demand. Prices tend to vary here, typically anywhere from $150 to $5,000, depending on your career stage, demand, framing, and the time and cost involved in making the work.
Level four are your originals and one-offs, the hand-made works for painters and illustrators. Prices vary widely at this level because they’re driven by demand, how much work you produce, and the uniqueness of each piece, rather than margins.
When it comes to actually setting prices, artists need a clear structure. Pricing level one and level two products is based on the margins you’ll make from selling them. With pricing Levels 3 and 4 you can still have an eye on margins, but ultimately this is more about demand than supply because these are your rarer, unique, and one-off items.
By the way, margin is the profit you make from selling a piece. For example, if a print sells for $100 (excluding sales tax if applicable) and it costs $50 to produce and ship, the remaining $50 is the profit. As this is 50% or half of the selling price, we say this has a 50% margin.
For Level 1 & 2 products we recommend a 40–60% margin, with around 55% being the ideal target for level 2. Level one products may be slightly lower around 50-45%.
Targeting these margins gives you healthy, sustainable profit while keeping prices at an affordable level so you maximize your sales volume & profits.
To set your prices, therefore, simply go to our website price list , Find the price of producing the print and the delivery, double it, round it up to the nearest $10, and your margins will be about 55%. Easy!
Delivering on Your Brand Promises
One of the most important lessons for any artist selling work online is understanding that every product released into the world becomes part of their legacy. A single bad decision can follow an artist for years and we (theprintspace) have seen this play out in real time.
There was an artist whose work was extraordinary: original, beautiful, evocative, and easily strong enough to stand alongside some of the biggest sellers. He had a huge social following and all the signs of long-term success. But he had syndicated his work across multiple online portals, losing all control over the pricing. Those platforms were selling his prints cheaply and in huge volume, making the work abundantly available everywhere.
The result? When we attempted a print drop with him, nothing worked. His images were already scattered across the internet at bargain-bin prices. He was trapped in contracts that prevented him from removing them, and the value of his brand had been eroded almost beyond repair.
The moment that really drove the point home was when one of his works turned up on the wall of a random Airbnb in the Costa Brava, a low-quality reproduction that looked nothing like the quality his work deserved. It was a stark reminder: ubiquity at the wrong price point, paired with poor product quality, can undermine a brand faster than anything else.
This is why charging the right price matters so much. A higher price creates higher expectations and artists must meet those expectations with consistent quality. After all the time spent developing a practice and building an audience on social media, the product itself must honour that investment. Artists are in this for the long term, and everything they release into the world needs to reflect that.
The future of selling art is only becoming more digital. Social commerce is forecast to grow from $1 trillion today to $10 trillion in the coming years. And even that number is probably an underestimate. Most purchasing decisions already start on social platforms, not just the click-through, but the discovery, the interest, the emotional connection that leads to the sale. Artists should be thinking long-term, not short-term. Cutting quality or rushing for a quicker margin might earn a little extra now, but it damages far more in the future.
Many artists have made the mistake of lowering their standards for the sake of an extra 10% margin. But in the long run, that erodes the trust they’ve built, and once a brand is damaged, it’s incredibly hard to rebuild. theprintspace has learned this firsthand over 18 years, growing steadily through two major global crises – the financial crash and the pandemic. Through all of it, the company stayed committed to the same principles: quality, consistency, great customer service, and replacing anything a customer isn’t happy with. That long-term mindset is exactly why the brand continues to thrive.
Artists should approach their work the same way. Reputation and quality must come first – always. When a collector receives a product that truly matches the price they paid, they tell other people. Word spreads. Sales grow. And the relationship between the artist and their audience deepens.
theprintspace sees itself as a custodian of the artists’ brands – protecting their reputation through exceptional production, careful fulfilment, and a commitment to long-term value. Artists deserve partners who care as much about their brand, their product, and their promises as they do.