I dont know if this is the right forum for this type of question, but Ive been thinking about selling some of my images at art shows or maybe a small gallery print shop. I've got all of these images just sitting on my hard drive doing nothing; I would like for this stuff to generate some kind of pay back. So, what's the rule of thumb for determining the price of poster size prints?

I don't think you'll find any rule of thumb for this. If you're a big-name artist, you'll get a lot more for your prints than a lesser known artist will.

Unless you already have a following, don't expect to sell a lot of prints. Rosity had a print shop here for awhile, but few people bought anything.

You might check Cafepress or Zazzle. It's a low-risk way to sell prints. And it will give you an idea of what the base cost will be.

I have no clue, but places like art.com sell poster size prints for $15.99, and those are popular artists.

I agree with randym77. If there is a rule of thumb it would be it depends on the demand for your prints. I believe Rosity's print shop failed because they marketed to the wrong crowd. It doesn't take a marketing guru to tell you selling art prints to other [starving] artists is not the way to go. You need to find who's looking for art such as yours and market THERE. While Cafepress and Zazzle can get the prints done, you'll still need to work to find the customers. On an upbeat note (kind of), popular artists weren't always popular. Study those that do similar work and see what they did.

well said pablo :) Commercial prints also depend on the type and era. You can't get a retailer to carry pinups anymore, yet they remain popular.

Also, try thinking sideways at the problem. Here in the UK there are on-line services which do photographic printing of digital images, meant for digital photos. but there's no reason not to use them for CGI images. It may be a good answer for a set of sample images, or if you want a physical album to show people. This doesn't compete with the CafePress style of operation, but if somebody local wanted a physical copy of one of my images it looks a better deal. (The service I have an account can be found via my ISP's web page, www.tiscali.co.uk)

Attached Link: http://www.smugmug.com/

Try smugmug.com. It's cheap, easy and they'll sell your work for you. You can customize your pages and set your own prices. They offer a 7-day free trial. Oh, and use this discount code: pzf4xDt9odKFQ Then if you decide to join, you'll get five bucks off. I get some kind of credit, too, but I'm not sure what it is.

I'm not sure of what your asking. Would you like to know how much you should expect to have it printed, or much to charge once thats done? cafepress.com, and zazzle.com are two get, and sell, your prints. As far as how much to expect to get that is a really tuogh question. IN one light your could look at how the food service industry really only works for gratuities of about %10-%20. A little more shroudly I'd say half of the final sale price would cover the print cost nicely! = )

"How much to charge once the printing is done" (Angelouscuitry) Thats what I'm unsure about,I don't want to have the price so high that the pictures don't move, but... I don't want to give them away either. I thought about starting out small, maybe 5-10 prints. (just to see how things go) I know the more you buy the cheaper it is but, I don't want to be stuck with 200 posters that nobody wants.

The advanrage of Cafepress and the like is that they only make prints (or anything else) when the customer orders one. But that does push up their price. You're paying them to do more than just make the print, as well. If you get the prints pre-made, and keep your own stock, do your own selling and dispatch, you've got to figure in those costs. Crude example: Pay CoffeePass $20 per print and sell at $25, you get $5 per print, with no physical prints unsold, and simple tax accounting. Go to the local Canker's, pay $10 per print for 20 prints, and sell at $25. You've got to sell 8 prints just to cover the printing cost, and you're still $40 behind. And there's extra admin costs. You may end up with more money, but you're risking more to get it.

Here, hear! = )