Discounts
This Discounts document in the Professional Guidelines discusses the impact of discounts on artists and galleries. It includes careful recommendations and concrete suggestions for alternatives to giving discounts.
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This document is a complement to the Professional Guidelines topics titled, Consignment Contract and Exhibition Contract where discounts may discussed as a contractual issue between the gallery or exhibition sponsor and the artist.
I Introduction
II Some Remarks about Pricing
III Advantages of Discounts
IV Disadvantages of Discounts
V Options for Dealing with Gallery Discounts
VI Recommendations from the Professional Guidelines Regarding Gallery Discounts
VII Artist Discounts to Their Own Customers
VIII Museum Discounts
IX Recommendations from the Professional Guidelines Regarding Museum Discounts
X Gifts to Museums
Below is an excerpt from the Discounts Introduction:
In our society, price establishes worth and value. For better or worse, the common denominator in the marketplace is the dollar, and worth is measured by what people will pay. It is the job of both the artist and the gallery to establish the value of the artist’s work (by virtue of its uniqueness, craftsmanship, reputation and quality), and remind people that this worth is reflected in its price.
The price confirms this value. If the selling price is negotiable, then the discounted price will be the true value, not the retail price. As a result, it’s in every artist’s interest to maintain close control over the selling prices of his or her work.
A Discuss discounts with your gallery and understand their policy.
B Understand what percentage of the retail price the discount may be.
C Know from whose side (from the artist’s, or the gallery's, or split between the two) the discount will be taken.
D Agree on a discount policy that the artist and the gallery consider fair and practical.
E Write this discount policy into the artist/gallery contract.
F Suggest alternatives to the use of discounts to reward clients and stimulate sales.
Download Discounts PDF to learn more about the impact of discounts on artists, galleries and the entire the arts community.