Should I use a pricing formula like price per square inch?

Some artists adhere to fancy formulas—per square inch, material cost, and so on. The artists who do this successfully are the ones already selling really well, and when you’re selling really well, you can do whatever you want with pricing. The formula itself isn’t what makes them successful. What’s far more important is having a range of pricing, because it drives the fundamental business metric of new customers acquired per year. With print-on-demand, pricing becomes simple: take the wholesale cost and mark it up 250% for retail. This automatically builds your pricing ladder—each size up creates the next price point, and your originals naturally price higher than prints. You can change prices up or down at any time for any reason. The only thing that matters is whether the work is selling or not. A range of prices is a thousand times more important than any formula.

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Asked by an artist taking a pricing course · Answered by Patrick · Art Business Webinar · 2026-08-10