What's more important: following pricing formulas or having demand for my work?

Demand is the only thing that really matters. The traditional pricing formula—hours spent times materials times medium—only works if you already have demand. You can break all the rules about pricing when you have collectors who want your work. The focus should be on building demand through consistent creation and marketing, not on following formulas. When you have demand, you can price all your mediums the same if you want, charge what your market will bear, and structure your business however works best. Without demand, no formula will save you. With demand, the formulas become irrelevant guidelines rather than rigid rules.

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Asked by an artist questioning pricing methods · Answered by Patrick Shanahan · art-marketing-podcast · 2025-02-07