Commission prices... discussion thread

**doghateburger** · 03-24-2013, 06:26 AM

Not sure if this should be here or not but if not, mod pls move to the appropriate forum, thanks! 8D

So, Lets discuss a bit about commission prices, I know not many of us are taking commissions but I think itll be nice to hear from people how much they are willing to pay as well. Now the only reason im bringing this up os because of 2 things,

1- I'm constantly told Im under charging, and
2- Ive seen some people put ridiculously high price for works that shouldn't be receiving that much...or in my opinion at least

Now, Im not saying those guys dont deserve it but, the quality that they produce are not even close to professional grade, but some of them are charging professional rate (poor lighting/ blending skills. sloppiness, Low res finish works, etc). Which makes me question myself.

So some of you know that my rates are USD30 for full body coloured commission. The reason I charge this rate is because I feel like my skills are not good enough to charge any higher and people shouldn't have to pay me anymore then that. So I think is reasonable, but lately Ive been observing a lot of prices artist are charging on DA for private commissions, and its making me wonder how they price it... Most of them I find to be ok, but there are some that are just way too high.

So I guess the question at hand is how would you determine how much your art is worth?

**Sutari** · 03-24-2013, 09:34 AM

Depends on how much labor and time went into making the commission IMO
Its kind of a self-worth question though. If you don't think you're worth more than $30, you won't get more than $30, even though you should be getting more. You are ripping yourself off in a sense

How many hours do you usually spend on one? How much effort and concentration per hour? maybe you ate a few things while doing it. How much did the food cost?

If the commission earns enough money to buy back the things you used to make the commission (electricity, food, internet, etc), then thats good, but you could charge more and profit from it (I think thats where people liking your style/you being famous comes in) because then your pictures have added special value

again this is just how I look at it: if you don't think you are worth anything, why should others think you are? *shrug*

I agree with whoever said you are undercharging. A full color from you is at least $45, you make amazing armor and accessories

**Sylux** · 03-24-2013, 12:35 PM

Listen to your heart bro. Deviantart is no substitute for the whole-hearted judgment of a man's fiery soul.

**GunZet** · 03-24-2013, 01:05 PM

Coming up with a good price can be an iffy thing when you're not a well-known name already, because not only do you have to take self worth into account, but you have to find a reasonable sweet spot for each potential client. Setting a base price is a good idea, but you'll probably end up negotiating the price rather than going with the base flat out.

If I was doing a full-body colored piece, I'd call for at least $50, and that's because it would be a full body, full color, and I also do lots of detail in my characters that can take hours.
If you've won any awards or anything, you can definitely use that to your advantage to boost your price in a legit way.

**Demonfyre** · 03-24-2013, 02:02 PM

I think you should also factor demand into the price of the service you are marketing. If you are getting tons of commissions like the one I had ordered, then you'd be considering inflating the price to keep things sustainable. Purely my opinion though.

**doghateburger** · 03-24-2013, 10:47 PM

@ Sylux, Not a really good idea bro :B

@ Gunz, How do you usually determine your base fare? Under what circumstances would you consider to charge more for details( to which level I guess is the best way to put it) ?

@ Rei, Labor and time yes, but the self-worth part is a little tricky for me personally. I feel like Im kinda stuck in between good, and beginner at times :/

@ Demon, Only thing is I dont get a lot xD, most people that note me for prices never get back to me xD

Which comes to the next question, I had an artist suggest to me that I should charge by the hour, and I remember when I was taking a course with Phillip D. over at CGMA he said that he charge by hour as well sometimes. How would we determine what should the price be per hour?

Example for me I could take up to 5-12hrs for a piece, IE The piece I did for sai moe

SPOILER! :

This took about 8hrs(?) So lets say if I were to charge $10/hr, that would be $80 but if I charge by my flat it would be $60

If we calculate expenses wise both seems to cover them just less profit for one. But which price would be more logical? I guess charging by the hour is logical in my opinion but how would the client trust our judgement or how would they know we took that long to complete the piece? Especially from people who have no knowledge of how long it will take to complete something like this.

**GunZet** · 03-25-2013, 12:13 AM

Well, I come up with a base price by looking at what tier I think my art is. From there I add on the little extras as per piece. So if I'm to do a really detailed piece, it'll be extra, like adding pepperoni on a sub, lol. Everything that takes a little more effort than I would usually put in moves the price further away from the end negotiated price because it will take more time. Time = money.

@"... how would they know we took that long to complete the piece?"

I suppose you could provide proof by logging a capture of the progress of the piece by the hour. There are a lot of different methods and it really depends on which one you'd be most comfortable with. Personally I'd rather have half paid up-front, and the rest paid once the piece is finished. That method hooks both you and the client into a set agreement and definite delivery of the final piece, unless you do refunds of course. It also keeps from potential shady situations where the client won't believe how long you took, and try to nibble at the end price.

**doghateburger** · 03-25-2013, 04:50 AM

I like your sub simile, lol xD

Pay half upfront is like a must to prevent scams. Well, all this discussion have gave me a relative idea on how i should approach this, thanks mate!

Feel free to discuss this if there are more xD

**Celestial-Fox** · 03-26-2013, 02:00 AM

For "basic" paintings and drawings (traditional, not digital), I generally change for the materials it takes to make it, then I charge per square inch. This, like I said, applies to general stuff though, and if there's more detail, I charge extra.

Also, read this!

http://www.jessicahische.is/obsessed...art-of-pricing