What are you charging for prints sold through Bergamot Station galleries?
I got approached by a gallery at Bergamot Station about carrying a small series of my night landscape prints. Joshua Tree Milky Way core shots, some Anza Borrego twilight work. Standard stuff for what I do. They want 60/40 consignment, which I've heard is normal for that area, but the conversation got strange when they started suggesting I lower my print prices "to move more volume."
I price large format prints based on what actually goes into them. Hours of drive time into dark sky locations, stacking exposures, processing. A single final image can represent three or four nights of failed attempts before the conditions line up. Dropping my price to make their commission math work better doesn't sit right.
For anyone selling prints through LA galleries, especially consignment, what split are you actually getting? And have you pushed back when a gallery tried to set your retail price for you? I want to know if 60/40 is genuinely the floor here or if that's just what gets offered first.
Hey! The fact that you're pushing back on the price pressure instead of just caving tells me you already know the answer here.
60/40 consignment at Bergamot is standard when the 60 goes to the gallery. If you're getting the 60 side, that's actually a strong split for that area. Either way, a gallery asking you to drop your prices "to move more volume" is a yellow flag worth paying attention to. A few things to keep in your back pocket:
- Your pricing should account for the gallery's cut, not shrink to accommodate it. If your large format print needs to be $800 to make sense for you after a 40% take-home, the sticker price is $800. The gallery's job is to sell it at that number, not to ask you to make their job easier by discounting.
- "Move more volume" is a retail strategy, not a fine art photography strategy. Dark sky Milky Way work from Joshua Tree and Anza Borrego has a specific collector audience. Those buyers are paying for the effort, the location access, and the craft of stacking exposures. Dropping the price doesn't reach more of them, it just leaves money on the table.
- If you want to test the relationship without risking your pricing integrity, propose a short initial contract (two to three months, four to six pieces) at your current prices. That gives you real data on whether they can actually sell at your numbers. If they can't move work in that window, the fit might just not be there, and that's fine.
- One practical move: set your gallery retail price 40 to 50 percent higher than your direct-to-collector price to cover the commission, so your take-home stays consistent whether someone buys from the gallery wall or finds you online. That way the gallery isn't eating into your margin, it's working on top of it.
The leverage here is yours. Bergamot galleries approach artists because the work draws foot traffic. Hold your price, offer a short trial, and let the sales data settle the conversation.
Want me to help you map out your gallery vs. direct pricing tiers so both channels stay profitable?
Other resources you might find helpful:
- Anyone actually get a fair deal showing night work in Culver City? — Real LA gallery commission data and negotiation benchmarks for night photography prints—directly applicable pricing reference for the asker's Bergamot Station deal.
- Has anyone actually gotten a fair consignment deal in Culver City? — Real consignment pricing data and negotiation examples from LA galleries, including Bergamot Station area, to inform your deal-making.
- "Can you do better (on the price)? — Strategies for holding firm on print prices and converting price-haggle inquiries into multi-piece sales without discounting single works.
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