For anything that may be of value to someone; that could in some way, shape or form help them make their lives a bit easier, their commute a bit more fun or their cooking a bit more delicious, the free market is the place to be.

The market decides the prices of oil, gas, water, food and everything in between, and does so with efficiency and clarity — it doesn’t matter what you or me think an original late Rothko painting should be worth, if people are prepared to buy it for €140 million, then such a work is worth exactly €140 million at that time.

The market does a great job with things, objects, tools, services and all the other doohickeys and whatchamacallits that serve a utilitarian purpose. 

It’s hard, but not impossible to figure out how much a shovel is worth; considering the demand for such a tool and how many shovels can be made at a certain time and costs of materials, transportation and so on … it all boils down to a more or less simple equation.

Value = supply + demand

Take gold and wood for example. While both materials are used extensively in many industries, gold is more expensive than wood because we have less gold than we have wood in the world — and because wood, unlike gold, really does grow on trees. 

But the market can be swayed. A lot.

You can fictitiously decrease supply — like with diamonds or even old master’s paintings — to pump up the prices and you can flood the market with thousands of pieces of somebody’s work that may not be hot at the moment, to increase supply and lower their price.

Even just talking about a particular piece of art differently can alter its value; consider if you described a meticulously carved wood sculpture in an enthusiastic and powerful way, created a professional presentation environment in your studio and really pointed out all the incredible traits of the materials you used — their history, origin and connection with nature. Now compare it to just telling an interested collector, that it was made out of a tree.

Story matters and this is where the market gets into trouble.

Value, like beauty, is also perceived subjectively and therefore, if one can alter the perception of their customers, one can alter the perceived value of their work. You can buy a Speedway jacket that Elvis Presley wore for about 10.000 euro, but try selling it as: “Sweaty old jacket a fat drug addict once wore.” and you won’t get a cent.

Even though we are experts at altering the perceptions of our viewers — making works to shine light on social and political issues for people to really grasp their importance or helping them connect with their inner selves — the irony of us artists is, we fail to do the same with our sales. Unable to see that they’re one and the same thing — a story.

The next time you talk to a collector, make the price part of your work, not a profane smudge on the immaculate robe of the art goddess. Maybe even make a concept out of it or just do some research on how others are pricing similar work. You could also calculate your living expenses and material costs and go from there, because prices change depending on where you live and other geographical and cultural factors. 

But the most important thing to remember is, that value in art is a story to be told. The better the story, the higher the value can be. 

So how much could your work be worth? A lot. Or very little. You get to decide.