The Origami Forum

Hey Forum.
Been a while since Ive posted but I needed to ask a question or 40.
Im trying to sell one of my origami works, tessellations mostly, so what would be a fair price for any of them?
If thats too confusing, or youre going to counter with " Oh but Red, you cant generalise the works, each one takes a certain amount of time blahblahblahblah..." then stop, link me to one of my designs then tell me what a fair price would be for it.

--Tommy

I find people rarely want something if there isn't an immediate place they can think of putting it.

So, for a tessellation especially, you need to answer that. How many would you be selling? Would you be willing to take the time to fix them into frames? Who are you selling to and through what medium (craft shows, bizarre, online, etc.).

Because in those questions lies your answer; different people will pay differently for art like origami.

The tessellation would be blutacked on a window probably (subject to debate).
I dont think Im in the proper place to fix it into a wooden frame.
I dont konw who my audience would be as I will put it up for listing on ebay.

If you're looking to sell origami, do make sure to properly present your work - having it well framed in a method that displays your work without distracting is very important. This is an area where the origami community often falls short, as we're so focused on the piece as origami and not on the work as art itself.

Also, make sure you price your work properly... consider the time and energy you put into folding it in the first place, and take that into account. What's a fair price per hour for your labor?

Lastly, if you're selling the work online, ensure that your photography is top notch and portrays the work as best as possible. This includes shooting the photos using a light tent or a light box, depending on the work, and so on. The internet has endless amounts of advice on how to do this properly. It makes a difference.

I agree with Eric, you might get an Idea by looking at Pictures of the Origami Gallery in Freising. I was lucky enough to be exhibit with other artists (not in Feising) and it is really important in what context you put the work, that is maybe the most valuable lesson I took from that experience.

clear folds,
Tavin

it's illigeal to sell other designers work but you can do a giveaway

If your selling origami, it depends on the quality and time spent.

florigami wrote:it's illigeal to sell other designers work but you can do a giveaway

it is not illegal to sell other designers work that you made, as it technically is your work if you made it, but you must give them credit.

what IS illegal is if you make another designer's work and claim it as your own, and then sell it.

now back on topic. a good price for a tesselation without being framed or anything would probably be USD $1-5 a piece if you aren't a well known designer or something. If you framed them and made 'em all nice, you could easily ask above 15 for each depending on the quality of the fold and paper.

Picking the way your work will be displayed and how you will be selling it is probably more important than the work itself, it will place it in the context that you think it deserves. Advice form a guy like Eric should not be taken lightly, your photography should be top notch and will be the difference between offering something for sale and actually selling something. If you are selling online consider etsy, and if you are serious about this consider Bigcartel. Other artists use both and in my opinion command more respect than ebay.

If you want your work to be taken seriously as a significant art endeavor you need to take it seriously from your selection of materials to the presentation and display. If you take it seriously then you can command a price accordingly. If you are selling a craft you can ask a craft price, if you are selling art then you can command a hefty premium.

As far as selling originals, one of the few i am aware of that works exclusively in tessellation is Joel cooper, you can check out his ETSY page here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/origamijoel?se ... d=11054204

and if you want to check out 2 guys that are doing big time paper art, check out Simon Schubert and Peter Callesen. Both of them have gallery representation and command significant prices for their work (well deserved in my opinion)

Thank you all for the helpful advice, this was planned to be a one off thing, not to be too 'packaged', and faming tends to obsucre the backlight patterns (which is what 3/4 my work is based upon).

if it is a one off consider something like this perhaps

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2010/09/tork ... frame.html

florigami wrote:it's illigeal to sell other designers work but you can do a giveaway

It is not at this moment illegal to sell anyone's work in the US, nor is there any legal stipulation of which I am aware that you have to credit anyone, though it is very good manners to do so.

I hope this doesn't open up some big argument, and if it does my apologies to the board. A lot of people will cite copyright provisions for music and other works of art, but there is not precedent for Origami. Robert Lang and associates will set the first one when their case against Sarah Morris actually goes to trial.

Yeah, that's really not the relevant conversation here... there's a big difference between what is "ethically" correct and what is "legally" proper - often a very *large* difference.

The same applies here, and is a entirely different conversation that we don't need to delve into. As much as I'd like to.

steingar wrote:nor is there any legal stipulation of which I am aware that you have to credit anyone, though it is very good manners to do so.

Claiming someones work as your own would be considered plagiarism, which is a crime, at least in the US.

phillipcurl wrote:

steingar wrote:nor is there any legal stipulation of which I am aware that you have to credit anyone, though it is very good manners to do so.

Claiming someones work as your own would be considered plagiarism, which is a crime, at least in the US.

Claiming your own work was done by someone else is fraud. It's also big business in the fine art world. However, you wouldn't be guilty of a fraud unless you passed off your own work as having been made by someone else.

Failing to credit the designer is a far cry from perpetrating a fraud. It is bad manners, though.