Sell a print
Original prints (screenprints, lithographs, etchings, woodcuts) by well-known artists sell regularly at auction, often in dedicated print sales. The first question is whether your print is an original edition or a later reproduction.
How it works
- Send photos for a free estimate. A photo of the front, plus the signature, the back and any labels if you can. Add the size and anything you know about where the work came from.
- Get an auction estimate. A specialist compares the work with recorded auction results and replies with an estimate range: what the work could reasonably bring at auction, not a guarantee or a formal appraisal.
- Agree terms and a reserve. If you decide to sell, you sign a consignment agreement that sets the commission, any fees and the reserve (the confidential minimum price below which the work will not sell).
- Ship or hand over the work. The work goes to the house for inspection, cataloguing and photography. Condition and authorship are checked before it is offered.
- The sale. The work is offered in a scheduled sale, online or in the room. Buyers pay a buyer’s premium on top of the hammer price; that is the buyer’s cost, not yours.
- Get paid. After the buyer pays, the house settles with you: the hammer price minus the seller’s commission and any agreed fees.
Typical timeline
- Estimate: usually a few days after you send photos.
- Consignment to sale: commonly 6–12 weeks, because houses build sales around themes and seasons and need time to catalogue and market each lot.
- Payment: usually about 30–35 days after the sale, once the buyer has paid.
What selling costs
- Seller’s commission: a percentage of the hammer price. At many houses it falls roughly between 10% and 25%, often lower for higher-value works, and it is frequently negotiable.
- Possible fees: some houses charge for photography, insurance, shipping or an unsold-lot fee. Ask which apply before you sign.
- Buyer’s premium: paid by the buyer on top of the hammer price. Prices in our results include it where the house publishes it.
Original print or reproduction?
- Original prints are made by or under the artist’s direction, usually in a numbered edition (e.g. 23/100) and often signed in pencil
- Look for a plate mark (etchings), a printer’s blindstamp, or the texture of ink sitting on the paper
- Offset posters and giclée reproductions have a regular dot or spray pattern under a magnifier and usually sell for much less
- A signature printed in the image is not the same as a pencil signature
What affects the price
- The artist, image and edition size
- Signed and numbered vs. unsigned
- Paper condition: fading, foxing, staining, trimmed margins, mat burn
- Whether it is recorded in the artist’s print catalogue
Photos to send
- The whole sheet out of the frame if you can, or through clean glass without glare
- The signature and edition number
- Any blindstamp or printer’s mark
- The back of the sheet and any labels on the frame
What to have ready
- A straight-on photo of the whole front, in daylight, without glare (frame on is fine)
- A close-up of the signature, monogram or any stamp
- The back: canvas or board, stretcher, labels, gallery or exhibition stickers, inscriptions
- Height and width (and depth for sculpture), without the frame if you can
- Medium if you know it: oil, acrylic, watercolor, print, bronze…
- How you acquired it: purchase receipts, gallery invoices, letters, family history, past appraisals
- Condition notes: tears, flaking, stains, restoration, foxing on paper
- For prints: the edition number (e.g. 23/100) and any blindstamp
Free auction estimate
Popular artists: print prices and selling
- Sell Andy Warhol · price guide
- Sell Pablo Picasso · price guide
- Sell Salvador Dalí · price guide
- Sell Joan Miró · price guide
- Sell Marc Chagall · price guide
- Sell David Hockney · price guide
- Sell Roy Lichtenstein · price guide
- Sell Takashi Murakami · price guide
- Sell Damien Hirst · price guide
- Sell Edvard Munch · price guide
- Sell Gerhard Richter · price guide
- Sell Robert Rauschenberg · price guide
- Sell Sam Francis · price guide
- Sell Ed Ruscha · price guide
- Sell Alexander Calder · price guide
- Sell Louis le Brocquy · price guide
- Sell Keith Haring · price guide
- Sell Victor Vasarely · price guide
- Sell Joseph Beuys · price guide
- Sell Josef Albers · price guide
- Sell Jim Dine · price guide
- Sell Max Beckmann · price guide
- Sell Friedensreich Hundertwasser · price guide
- Sell Robert Motherwell · price guide
Questions
Is my signed print worth anything?
It depends on the artist, the image, the edition and the condition. Look up the artist’s print results on ArtSell, then send photos of the image, signature and edition number for a free auction estimate.
Should I take my print out of the frame?
Only if you can do it safely; many frames are sealed. If not, photograph it through the glass without glare and mention that it is framed.
Past auction results on ArtSell are not valuations or guarantees; an estimate is an opinion of the likely auction range, and authorship is confirmed by the house before any work is offered.
More seller guides
How to sell art at auctionSell a paintingSell a sculptureSelling inherited art and estatesHow to photograph art for an estimateAppraisal vs. auction estimateWhere to sell artArt appraisal for insurance