A Plea to Artists: Make Art Buying More Affordable and Accessible (here’s how and why)

July 25, 2025 Benjamin Alley

As gallery owners, Theresa and I have had countless conversations with everyday people who want to bring art into their homes or like a particular piece but feel like they can’t. Oftentimes it’s about price. Sometimes it’s intimidation. Sometimes it’s simply not knowing where to begin with this whole art thing.

And as an artist, you might wonder: “How do I make my work more accessible without lowering the price? I’m barely getting by as it is!” That’s a fair — and important — question.

The truth is, accessibility doesn’t mean discounting the worth of your hard won skills, time, and materials. It means widening the doorway so more people can walk in. Ultimately this will lead to more people engaging with you and your art if you do it right.

If we want to grow not just as an art world, but as a creative culture, we need to meet more people where they are — not just financially, but emotionally and practically, too. Here’s how you, as an artist, can do just that — and why it matters more than ever.

Offer a Range of Price Points

You don’t have to lower the price of your original paintings to be accessible (in fact we would highly recommend against it). Instead, you really should think about creating a tiered pricing structure so that your audience has more ways to engage with you. That might look like:

Originals for those collectors who are absolutely ready to go all in.
Smaller works or studies that go for less than your originals. We recommend looking to sell these for less than $200, but your pricing can change based on where you are in your career as an artist.
Limited-edition prints. There’s a bit of an additional art to pricing and sizing prints but it’s generally a good idea to offer Limited-edition for less than $100.
Open edition prints. These are your print-on-demand style prints made in common frame sizes. We recommend generally looking to keep these between $25-$50 depending on your supplier and the size.
If you go to art markets or fairs you could also consider having Quick Pieces or Customizable/Personalized Options that you can do over the course of the event as a quick connection point and an easy buy.
Optional alternative for any of these price tiers: Branded items that match what your target audience might want to interact with regularly (no one said art had to be exclusively wall decoration.) This could be something classic like mugs, totes, or t-shirts with your work all over them (art books of various sorts can be a fun option too), or it could be something more specific to your audience. If you are an illustrator who creates cute loveable characters, maybe have plushies made of some of the most popular ones. If your audience plays table top games maybe, playmats or high quality mousepads are a better choice. If you do go this route, make sure it’s immediately obvious to your audience how to use whatever you have made.

Whatever structure that ends up working for you, the goal is to have a variety of price points that your audience can take advantage of. Not everyone starts with a $1,000 budget, and that’s okay. For those more classically trained and conditioned artists clutching your pearls right now, maybe consider a simpler plan to ease you into it.

Pro tip: Small pieces and prints can sell fast. They’re often impulse buys (especially at or below the $50 mark) for new collectors and are a great way to grow long-term relationships.

Make Your Work Feel Approachable

Accessibility isn’t just about price — it’s about perception. If your art feels too precious, too mysterious, or too exclusive, potential buyers may scroll right past it. Now, the way you accomplish this will vary based on the type of audience you’re aiming at, but in general there are a few ways you can make potential buyers feel more comfortable and close the buying gap.

We typically see the magic happen when artists:

Share the story behind a piece. It could be as simple as “I thought this was a fun idea” or as complex as exploring what grief looks like in underserved communities. Either way people connect to stories.
Explain the process in simple terms. Ever seen ‘How It’s Made’? There’s a reason people like knowing how things come together.
Show the work in real-life spaces, not just white walls. Show the real you. People connect to authenticity, and art at its heart is about connection.

People want to feel invited into the experience. You don’t have to simplify your work — just humanize the way you present it and then present it in an authentic way.

Provide Easy Payment Options Where Possible

I can’t tell you how many potential buyers I’ve seen walk away from a piece they love because they didn’t realize they could pay over time and it’s usually my fault for not communicating to them that that’s even an option. On top of that there are numerous ways now to offer someone the option to pay in installments and protect yourself a little further. Services like Afterpay or Shopify Payments are great services if you already have a website or service that you accept payments through.

Even if you don't have a service to work through, offering a few different ways to make a payment — even if it means collecting payment in two or three installments — can make a huge difference, especially for younger buyers or those new to collecting who may not have a huge art budget at their disposal. And here’s the key: you still get paid, they get the work, and the relationship builds trust. Just make sure you are doing your own due diligence to protect yourself here. At the bare minimum, find a basic contract and invoice template online if you have to.

PSA to my fellow neurodivergents: the work of selling isn’t done until ALL of the payment has been accepted. This is your reminder to follow up with that buyer, see how they’re enjoying the piece, and get the next payment when it’s time.

Take the Guesswork Out of Buying

Accessibility can also mean practicality. Not every potential collector knows the best way to hang a piece, or where to get it framed professionally. For those potential buyers, maybe consider offering works in standard sizes that fit ready-made frames. Give folks framing tips in your product descriptions or in your social media efforts. Better yet, sell it framed already if you can. Show how a piece can work in different settings too — not just luxury homes. Basically, you want to remove any potential issues someone might have if they want to buy your work.

The easier it is to imagine living with your work or putting it to use, the easier it is for someone to commit to buying it.

Sell Where Your Audience Actually Shops

Yes, galleries matter. But so do art markets, open studios, Instagram, Etsy, and email newsletters. We will always encourage artists to diversify the number of venues their art is sold in. Be visible in spaces where people already feel comfortable browsing and buying. Find ways to meet your audience where they are and be willing to try new things. If you create pixelized versions of classic paintings you might have some success at a ComiCon if you’ve tried more traditional art or craft fairs and didn’t quite see the amount of success you wanted. Think about the audience your work actually connects with and find where they shop.

You don’t need to be on every platform — but you do probably need a healthy mix of a few different ones if you want to make any money from your art. Heck we’ll even help you get something rolling if you’re totally confused about how to best set up and use a particular platform if you’d like.

Meet your buyers where they are. That’s not selling out — that’s selling smart.

Talk About Your Pricing Openly and Confidently

One of the biggest hurdles to buying art? Buyers don’t want to ask, “How much is it?” and feel embarrassed for showing interest in something they might not be in a position to purchase right now. You know that classic line thrown around in too snooty luxury stores and galleries? “If you have to ask…” implying you can’t afford it. Yeah that line does no one any favors and really erodes community and buyer trust in the process (not to mention you lose out on a sale too!)

Make your prices easy to find, and explain them when appropriate. Let people know what goes into your work: the time, materials, thought, and heart. Pricing transparency isn’t about justification — it’s about demystification. Everyone benefits from making the buying process clear and simple.

Curate Your Community

Ever wonder how Taylor Swift was able to take her success and run with it? If you just thought about a screaming mass of young women you’re absolutely right. A dedicated community of fans and people interested in your work is an extremely powerful thing. Just like Taylor, you too could have a heavily dedicated and interested group of people. You just need to do it a little differently. Things like email lists, discord servers, Patreon, and other options I probably haven’t even heard of can be a great source of connection and community with the people who love your work. Below are some ideas just to get you started to even sweeten the deal for following you and your work.

Early access to new drops
Bundled print sets at a discount
Framing or shipping upgrades for returning buyers
Have an exclusive stream on Youtube or Twitch where your top fans can provide recommendations as you work

Whatever you decide to do, find small gestures that help build your story with your community to make new buyers feel like part of something special — and keep them coming back. Which is all the more reason to get on with building that email list you’ve been putting off. Having even just a small community of people who you know will be way more open to your sales can be the difference between barely keeping afloat and thriving as an artist.

Why It Matters

When you make your art accessible, you:

Expand your audience to folks who may not otherwise have reliable access to art.
Diversify your collector base to make finding buyers easier.
Create income from multiple streams which creates stability for you and your business.
Build community — not just a customer list. People crave connection with others through story and community and it makes the act of creating even more fulfilling.

Creating connection and community is exactly why art is so important. Broadening access to that connection and community is one of the few ways we as artists and art dealers have to make an impact in the communities we live in.

Final Thoughts

As an artist, you have the power to shape not just what people see, but how they see it — and whether they feel like they’re allowed to participate.

So here’s my invitation: keep making the work that moves you, and consider how to best bring more people along for the ride. Your art can belong in more homes, hearts, and hands than you might imagine.

And as a gallery owner, I will always advocate for artists who believe that creativity is for everyone — and who back that belief with how they show, sell, and share their work.