Hi~! Its LenaMoongrove here. Inspired by a question send to us at Rising-Artists for our advice column I wrote this , hopefully, helpful guide to Pricing Your Art.
I want to apologize up front for any and all spelling/ grammatical mistakes. English is not my first language and I normally get it checked but there wasn't any time now. Sorry.
(Don't worry Kath, ya Warchief's got ya back~)
So with that said. Lets jump into it~! Whether you have been doing commissions for years, work as a professional artist or are just starting out, it might be good to give this journal a read.
We all know that pricing art is tricky and often difficult because we do not only price work rationally, but also emotionally. Many artists cope with self-esteem issues when it comes to their art, and start selling it for way less than its worth. This is actually a bad thing, when many artists undersell their work, it will hurt the general art economy. Artists who dare ask for more will be confronted with remaks as "but X artist charges less" or "no way dude, I've seen it cheaper, that's WAY too expensive." Let's be fair. No one wants to hear that~!
So what can we do about it? The answer is simple: Price. Your art. Right!
Now, I can hear you saying things like "But Kath, that's the point, what IS the right price??"
I'm here to help you find that out!
Being an Artist is a job!
The first step is to really accept that being an artist is as much of a job as any other one. Artists deserve their money just as much as Carpenters, Doctors, Dentists, etc.
You know why? Because artists also trade goods/services for money, just like every other person. Art is of great value to people. Art can call forth strong emotions, and is just as necessary as magazines, video games, perfumes, etc.
This means that you need to keep in mind that you have to be able to pay for a living. So you want as much money as you can get. Who doesn't?
So we have you, wanting money for your work, and as much as possible. But on the other hand we have your client, who wants your art, but wants to pay as LEAST as possible. Makes sense right?
It's up to you (or you both if you discuss prices per client) to find a balance that you both are happy with. Keep in mind that if one is unhappy it should be a no go. You don't want to make yourself unhappy just to get that one sale. With that being said, we've come to the main rule of art pricing: Always be comfortable with the price you set
Be it low, be it high. YOU should be comfortable with it.
dA point system
"When are we actually going to price our art??" I can hear you. Soon, very soon, we will start talking about actual pricing. For now, I just want to talk about dA points.
Many artists who do prices on dA are also charging dA points. Sadly, they often do not know how much points to charge, so I feel kind of obligated to talk this through. dA points are hurting many artists because people have a wrong view of their value. I've seen enough people who think that 100
is a whole lot. This makes charging dA points for a piece of art really difficult, because I can tell you that it will end up somewhere around 3,700 and there is no one who willing to pay that. I personally recommend just to use Paypal for commission work.dA points:
80
equals $1 , that's the exchange rate. Keep that in mind when people whine that 5 is too much. 80 is still an ridiculously low price.Many artists want to exchange their points back into money because let's face it: dA points do not pay bills.
So dA has an option where you can exchange points for money, but they will collect a 20% profit.
This means that if an artist wants to get $1 on their Paypal account they need to give dA 100
. This way of measuring is often used when talking about prices in points.So a piece of art that costs $5 will be 500
, a piece that costs $37 = 3,700 and $400 becomes 40,000 . That sounds like a lot right? 500 points sounds like I want you to sell a kidney, but it isn't all that expensive.
Stay firm! Let no one tell you that 500 points is too much, in my opinion, it will most likely even be way too low (except for a sketch).
Pricing Digital Art
So now you know how to turn a real amount of money into a price in points. Great. But then you actually NEED an amount of money.
This is the part you've all been waiting for. I'm going to teach you how to price your art. Before I start, it needs to be said that:
1. Pricing Digital and Traditional art has its differences, so I'm going to cover both as well as I can
2. Every person is different, you may want to charge other prices than your neighbor. That's fine~! I'm just here to help you think in the right direction~!
3. Think about the main rule: Always be comfortable with the price you set
Okay so here we go. What I'm going to explain to you is the easiest way to price your art. It is based upon a few things, but one above all is: The minimum wage.
There you have it, the minimum wage. In my opinion, NO ONE should work below that line! So go ahead and check what the minimum wage is in your state/country. As an example, we will take $2.50 as minimum wage an hour because that is easy to calculate with.
Okay, so you have your minimum wage. The next step is to figure out how much time you spend on a piece. It's logical that you take longer when you draw a full body than when you draw a bust, and that lineart is easier than something fully shaded. So, you need to figure out/estimate how many hours you'll take to finish any of the commission types you offer.
Then you multiply that amount of hours with your minimum wage:
For example: You do linearts in 4 hours, that will be 4 times $2,50, which is $10
Or you take 6 hours to do a bust, that is 6 times $2,50, and that is $15
Keep in mind that the amount you have now is the bare minimum you work for. Do not go below this~! It might be hard at first, but this price is the lowest you can go in the economy!
If you still go below, you are hurting that economy! I know I said that you had to be comfortable with your prices, but this is already almost crawling in the gutter, so don't you dare haha
Pricing digital art is actually based on more than just this, it also depends on:
- Your experience (If you had to work years upon years to reach this level, don't be afraid to add a bunch of dollars to that price. You worked your hours to get here already. if you're good you can be very quick but that doesn't mean you should sell your work dirt cheap. Go raise that price)
- Your skill level (Be honest with yourself. Don't go below that minimum price! Add according to your skill level!)
- The fact that you are worth more than the gutter~! Come on! Do it! Take that minimum price and add at least $5. Go even higher~!
I can hear all kinds of unhappy thoughts as to why no one would buy art for such a price or that your art is not worth it, but I will get to that later~!
Pricing Traditional Art
The basis is the same as pricing digital art (minimum wage, hours, YOU ARE WORTH MORE). But Traditional Art comes with more things that can raise the price you set for a piece.
1. Your material costs. These costs should be calculated into the amount you are charging. If you use pens or anything that you can use multiple times (not like canvases etc.) you can add a little 'fee' on top of your price, so you can pay for your materials over the course of multiple commissions you do with them. Things like canvases should be added to your set price (the total price of the canvas)
2. Do you ship your art? Traditional Art can be shipped. If you ship it: add that to the price as well. No way you're going to pay for that yourself. Maybe add just a little extra because your client is getting an original
3. Fine art is subjective to everyone. A painting inflicts other emotions and feelings in person A compared to person B. You can charge the first one more than the other. Think about that when discussing a price with your client. (This is why some red paint splattered on a canvas can be sold for millions. This is also why your art can be sold for a lot of money!)
Now onto the rest of it
There are still a few loose ends to tie up and things I want to talk about.
- If you are overwhelmed, raise your prices
If you get a bunch of commissions and stress your butt off, raise your prices~! This will get you less commissions (and will reduce stress) but the raise in price will balance those "lost commissions" out
- Others using your art
This is really tricky. If you sell the copyright of your art, ask an enourmous fee for it. Basically you are resigning the rights of your piece and your client may even make profit from it! Be aware of this and ask a lot extra as compensation. I usually do not let people buy my art. They may use it in non profitable ways, with credit (because they paid for it), but the drawing will still be mine.
- Not too expensive, not too cheap
More tricky stuff~! Its easy to see why you shouldn't make your art a thousand bucks. Because let's face it, no one will buy that. BUT you also shouldn't underprice. Yes, I listened to your low self-esteem and I know that you feel as if people will not buy your art unless it's dirt cheap, but that's not the truth! This has to do with some psychological stuff, it boils down to the fact that people DO NOT trust CHEAP stuff. Why should anything good be cheap? You wouldn't buy a $10 car? So why buy a $10 piece of art? If it's cheap, it is not good. So don't be afraid to raise those prices! People will be turned away just as quickly by really cheap stuff as by overly expensive work. Don't forget to experiment. Try starting at a somewhat low price (minimum wage + a bunch of bucks) and slowly work your way up to see what people are still willing to pay. Or you can aim high in the first place and just sell your art with confidence and flair (or you know, bullshit
) and convince people that it's worth such a price because it's just that good.- Better no commissions than underpricing yourself
This has a lot to do with your mindset. I know that it FEELS better to have at least some commissions to work on but it really isn't. You are only hurting yourself and others by selling under. You are worth more, and if commissions do not come in right away you may have to wait a while, improve your art, or build a bigger watcher base/clientele
Building a clientele
As a bonus here are a few tips to drag some commissions in!
It's obvious that you NEED a clientele to sell your art to, and often a clientele comes with your watcher base.
You can expand your watcher base by being active on this site. In forums, submitting your art to groups, faving things, watching people, commenting etc. Get out there!!
But there are more things related to a healthy clientelle. For example:
-Your skill need to be up to par. And if it isn't yet: go practice, it will come, honestly. Don't go groveling for cheap commissions. Focus on improving your art first and then ask a reasonable price~!
-"But I need a portfolio for my commissions." That's still not a reason to underprice. You will indeed need a portfolio, and showcasing your art will drag in some commissions. But make this Porto BEFORE you start offering commissions. People do not tend to trust a written discription, they want to see what they buy. Put some effort in it.
- Your terms of agreement. This is an important part of your commission process and a way of communicating with your clientele. Your ToA should be clear and good for both artist and client. It's there to protect you from being scammed, rushed, underpaid and all that sort of stuff. But, if your ToA is unreasonable and your client dislikes it, he/she/they will go away and find someone else. Create a balance (again).
Now, I'd like you all to think about your prices. Are they good enough? Do they need changing?
I really hope this helped at least some of you get onto the right track. Remember that a price is subjective to everyone. Your prices don't have to be the same as your peers.
And DON'T UNDERPRICE~! That's the easy way out! You are worth WAY MORE!!
As always, if you think of this article as helpful: Share~! It means the world to me (:
xx Kath
Skin by SimplySilent
