Can I negotiate with a fine art gallery? ?

Question: Can I negotiate with a fine art gallery!? !?

If so how low will they go in price!? Please be specific!. Thanks!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Are you asking about buying a from the gallery, or setting a percent they will take for hanging your work!?

I would not presume to haggle a price of fine art!. Not only is that insulting to the artist, but puts pressure on then gallery to either cut their profit or force them to give the artist less!. Pricing our art is not a simple matter, and we usually go lower than our gut tells us to!. While we want to sell, setting too low a price means your art will not be taken seriously!.

If my gallery called and asked if I would reduce a price, I would have to know why!. If a buyer were purchasing several of my works I might consider a price break, but if they just don't want to pay the asking price, I would likely not be inclined to lower the price!.

Asking a gallery with a 40% commission to go down to 30% or 25% is like asking your landlord to give you the same 750 square feet for less than his other tenants!. Art is not a car, or a couch, or even a new suit!. !. !. !. it is not mass produced with a built in discount factor!.

What they may do is a lay-away plan so you can buy the art on installment!. And art is usually "as is" meaning once you buy it there is usually a no returns policy!.

Another option is to ask if the artist you like (if that is the case) has any less expensive pieces!. We try to have works to offer in several price ranges, because we do understand that many buyers have budgets that won't allow them to buy at our higher price levels!

Others may well have different ideas and experiences!. I learned from my best patron that art will sell to the right person at the price an artist is comfortable putting on it!. I learned this when i tried to give him a discount on the first piece he purchased from me, and he declined, stating he wanted to pay my listed price, plus shipping, in advance!. His reasoning was that he liked the piece well enough to pay full, and that he did not want to feel he was buying discounted, unwanted art!. Nor did he want me to think he was trying to cheat me!. The next few pieces he actually made offers on unpriced works, offers which were at least 25% higher than I had imagined I would put on them! Each buyer is different!. He is one in a million, and I am lucky he owns and hangs several of my paintings and drawings where many people will see them!.

However, I have a lot of unsold paintings hanging all over my home/studio!. Some days I feel like having a "fire sale!." It is a struggle for most of us!. !. !. !. and yours is an interesting and good question to be asked!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

Probably not!. (They have no incentive to lower their price!. If you don't buy it, some one else will!.) But many famous paintings are offered as prints, and at a much more afforadable price!.Www@QuestionHome@Com