What Is UP ONLY Pricing and Why Do It?
See this context.
How Can I Sell My Work for Higher Prices?
Several ways to increase your prices over time:
Develop your craft and improve the quality of your work.
Promote your work and connect with more collectors — and fellow artists as they will increasingly collect too!
Deepen your relationship with existing collectors.
Get on higher scarcity platforms, like SuperRare and Suspended Soul
Collaborate with other creators e.g., with musicians if you are a visual artist or with fellow visual artists.
Burn pieces. If you have more than one or two unsold pieces on a given platform you can burn some of them to increase the perceived scarcity and value of the remaining ones.
Be patient. There are cool-off periods and bear markets, but the long-term trend is…up only. Play the long game.
What if My Piece Doesn’t Sell?
If the piece is listed above your average sale price, you can lower the price without violating UP ONLY. Otherwise, you may:
1) Wait…until the market heats up or your piece draws interest.
2) Promote your work and connect with more collectors.
3) Burn the piece and mint something in its place. Keep in mind, you can always remint a piece either on the same or different platform when conditions ripen
Priced in ETH or USD?
UP ONLY Pricing is denominated in ETH since it is the reserve asset of the Ethereum economy. It is also an asset that is accruing value and scarcity versus fiat currencies like USD that are losing value and inflating in supply.
What if I’m Selling Limited Instead of Single Edition Works?
A rule of thumb is that each Limited Edition series sum up in total to at least your price floor. For example, if you sell a limited edition of 5, than each copy should be for at least 1/5th of your average single edition price.
Limited editions risk reducing the perceived value and scarcity of your work, so use them sparingly.
What if I NEED to Sell ASAP to get Cash?
If need be, you can try to arrange a direct transfer or an undisclosed sale (depending on the platform) where the price isn’t listed. It’s low listed prices that do the most damage to the perceived value of your work. This should be a last resort though.
Wouldn’t Pricing Lower Drive More Bids/Sales?
Some artists set low reserve prices but still get generous end prices as a result of bidding wars. I’ve only seen this work reliably though for high-profile artists, and it’s possible they would get even higher prices by starting with higher reserves.
Note that it’s only necessary to set reserve prices on platforms like Foundation. On others like SuperRare with more flexible auction structures, it may work best to start with open bidding with no reserve or floor price and then to only accept bids above your average sale price.
Does UP ONLY Apply to Collectors Too?
Yes. Collectors respect UP ONLY pricing by only selling works on the secondary market at or above the artist’s average sale price.
Further Questions?
If you have further questions, feel free to DM me on Twitter. I can be slow to reply sometimes, but I’ll do my best.
Thanks for reading. You may check out my collection here.
Thanks so much Ben!! Great advices!! Thanks for take the time to do this!! I'll be dropping my first work on Foundation next week, and I'm a litlee nervous, don't want to make mistakes. Do you have a final advice?? Greetings from Havana!!