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What does it take to make a living as an artist? We have a couple of alternatives; we can create hundreds of works of art and sell our work just for the sake of selling. We often find we're exhausted and financially in the hole. “I Love Lucy” had an episode where she was making salad dressing. She said she was losing three cents a jar but she would make it up in volume. Do you want to always be behind the eight ball or are you willing to position yourself to get paid what your worth?
How do we attach value to our work? We can break it down in simple numerical terms; how much did our materials cost, factor in some rent if your working in a studio, some utilities wherever your working, and your time. If you decided what you'd like to make per hour you'll need to keep track of how long the work takes to create. When you crunch the numbers you'll come up with a value that might work for you but there are other ways.
It's important that we do some market research. What are other artists in the same medium/genre charging for their work? The internet has made it easy to search artist's personal galleries and often they will price their work online. This research will give you a starting point.
One of the advantages of belonging to artist professional organizations is that they will often conduct surveys of their members and there is usually a category connected to annual income and specifics about average price for work. Once you have a ballpark figure you can use other factors to come up with your pricing structure. Consider how long you've been creating art. Take into account the recognition you've received through shows, juried competitions and media coverage. One factor that you need to consider is how fast your pieces are selling, if they fly off the walls it's time to raise your prices. I know that sounds counterintuitive but there is a method to the madness.
Over the past few years I have become more particular about where I exhibit my work. I've become selective when exhibiting because I only want to exhibit in shows where the other artists are willing to price their work in a fashion that honors the blood, sweat and tears it took to create the piece. Exhibiting in that atmosphere immediately raises the bar for me professionally and raises my self-confidence. I'm always looking to play in a bigger pond. If we want to get better, then we need to play with people who are ahead of us on the journey.
Learn from those who have struggled with the issues of maintaining sustainable businesses. Ask questions when you go to shows. Enroll in workshops designed to assist artists in creating thriving businesses. Use the trial and error method, and evaluate the outcome after each show/performance. Be conscious of your desire to survive and thrive as an artist and price your work accordingly.