What are you charging for prints sold through LA hotel art programs?
Got approached last month by a boutique hotel near the DTLA Arts District wanting to carry a few of my night sky prints on consignment. The terms were rough. They wanted 55% and framed it like they were doing me a favor by putting my work in front of "high net worth guests."
I shoot long exposure landscapes out in the Mojave and Joshua Tree, so the production side already costs me real money before I even get to printing. Gas, permits, sometimes a second night when clouds roll in. A single finished piece can represent 10+ hours of work across multiple sessions. When someone offers consignment terms that leave me with less than half, it's hard to see how the math works.
I turned it down, but it made me wonder what other LA artists are actually accepting for hotel and commercial consignment deals. Are 50/50 splits the norm here, or are people pushing for better? Curious what the going rate looks like for anyone who's done this in the city.
Hey Kristofer! 55% consignment for a boutique hotel is steep, and the fact that you're doing the math before signing anything puts you in a much better position than most artists who get excited by the "high net worth guests" pitch and sign whatever lands in front of them.
Here's how to think about the numbers and the negotiation:
- Start with your real cost per piece. Long exposure desert work has hard costs most hotels don't think about: gas, permits, extra nights on location, plus printing, framing, and delivery. Add those up for each piece, then set your wholesale floor at 2x that cost. If a framed print costs you $180 all in, your floor is $360. Anything below that and you're paying for the privilege of decorating their lobby.
- Counter at 60/40 (you keep 60%). Hotel consignment for a boutique property in the Arts District should land between 60/40 and 50/50 for the artist. 55% to the hotel is gallery-level commission without gallery-level foot traffic or sales effort. If they push back, ask what active selling they do: do they have QR codes at each piece, a price list at the front desk, staff who mention the art to guests? If the answer is "it's just hanging there," that's decoration placement, not a sales channel, and 55% is not justified.
- Negotiate for the terms that matter beyond the split. Push for a 90-day trial with a written agreement, monthly reporting on any inquiries, the right to swap pieces quarterly, and a clause that lets you walk with 30 days notice. Hotels love indefinite consignment because it costs them nothing. A short trial protects you and gives you real data on whether the channel converts.
- Price prints at your full retail. Do not discount for the hotel. If the same print is $450 on your website, it's $450 on the hotel wall. The hotel takes their cut from that number. Discounting your retail to "make room" for the commission is how artists end up underwater.
One more angle worth considering: hotel lobbies are actually better as lead generation than direct sales. Put a small card next to each piece with a QR code to your website or portfolio. Even if the hotel sells zero prints, every guest who scans that code is a warm lead who saw your work in a curated setting. That reframes the whole deal from "will this sell?" to "will this get me collectors I wouldn't reach otherwise?"
Want me to map out your actual costs per piece and find your minimum price floor for this deal?
Other resources you might find helpful:
- Pricing work for a venue that discounts without asking you — Explores whether to markup prices or accept margin loss when consignment venues discount without permission—exactly the asker's scenario.
- Daily Marketing Advice · August 15, 2026 · the piece that belongs in a hotel lobby — Concrete strategy for identifying boutique hotel prospects, evaluating fit, and structuring pitches to land consignment deals.
- What are astrophotographers actually charging for prints in LA? — LA-based photographer shares actual price points for large format night sky prints and negotiates hotel consignment deals with concrete numbers.
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