The Price Check
Added 2020-10-26 22:31:36 +0000 UTCI've been thinking of taking on commissions for a couple years now, which always tended to get thwarted due to life situations that come up, and a sudden drop in free time. This year wasn't an exception, but after some rather fun pet-expenses suddenly cropped up, its looking more likely that I have to start bringing in a bit more income.
I'm faced with a few problems though. The first is time. I seem to never have any time to do anything anymore. I have a Steam library of games that dates back years which I haven't touched because I tend to only get about an hour or two each night where I'm not working. I've even given up having weekends (Which I've specifically been told not to do) because stuff needs to get done.
The second is a little more simple to solve. Price. I have no idea what I should be charging to do commission work. I've been told a vast array of prices. from $80, to $400. With hove fluid the art commission market is, and with, understandably, people having less money to throw around, its hard to get a read on what happy medium I should be aiming for.
It also doesn't help that I don't see my work as professional quality. Most pro's charge a fair bit and I just don't think I'm anywhere near _that_ kind of range. I'm more a high-end hobbyist at the best. or some silly wank that makes colour scribbles at worst.
The gap between pro artist and hobbyist is huge as well. Some folks in the hobbyist range will gladly do $10 sketches while others aim a bit too high for where they are skill wise. Its a wild west of price ranges and its hard to pick through.
This is something I'll likely have to do though. If I re-work my schedule, I can burn the weekends and late night blocks to do this. I've been averaging about 5 hours of sleep anyway so I think I've become used to the time-weirdness. ;)
The last hiccup is that I don't know _how_ to offer commissions anymore. While people on Patreon should be first considered, and would get the discounts at their tiers, I don't care for the first-come first-serve model sometimes. I only want to put together a list of perhaps a handful at a time. I refuse to make people wait months and months for work on a long list. (I'd end up refunding anyone waiting 6 months).
If anyone has any ideas, I'm happy to hear them. Any artists I should be looking at as a gauge of where my prices should be? What systems do they use to offer them?
The last note is that I'm also considering letting folks have a larger reduction if its colouring a sketch I've already done for them. Though how much will depend on what exactly I'm looking at for pricing, but hell, a big portion of the work is done already on those. Its just a matter of doing lighting/palettes and painting.
I'll have to try and put something together over the next week. Its going to be an expensive ride, but a healthy kitty is worth it.
-T.J.
Comments
YCH is an interesting prospect. I'd have to try and come up with something creative or an interesting pose/background that might garner some interest. I note that much of the YCH seems to be porn, which I don't tend to draw, but I've seen some that feature interesting landscapes. I'll pursue this and see if it might work out :)
Tim J.
2020-11-11 00:28:51 +0000 UTCFA is hard to judge by, I find. The prices vary so insanely that I find my brain seizes on 'too many options'. Just yesterday I had seen someone firing off full coloured commissions for around $80. I might try to check Twitter but I don't really follow anyone there anymore who take open commissions, and it's been nigh impossible to cut through the politics and gloating and outright molten anger going on there :/
Tim J.
2020-11-11 00:27:33 +0000 UTCI admit, I have a pretty healthy dose of 'Impostor Syndrome'. A brain that likes to 'remind me that I'm not terribly good at what I do'. Sometimes it manifests in subtle ways, other times it likes to go full brass-band and fireworks on me :P' I'm so far thinking of doing sketched commission (much like the ones I do for patrons here), a 'colour with lines' which is basically like animated cells with shading, and then the painting tier which are usually the ones that take about 30 hours or so. I tend to try and get jobs done when I take them. Its a weird OCD work ethic I have, so usually it would mean I try to focus on one thing until its done. It served me pretty well when I did some illustrations for RPG products and a book-cover before, since I had both done within about 3 weeks. I'd try to aim for having commissions done within a couple months at the very most. Outside of emergencies I don't like taking too long when people pay me. I'll try to find a comfortable balance though. And indeed, patrons would get first shot before I open to the public. I figure its another perk, letting folks here ask for one/bid for one before I take it to FA. If I don't get any bites, its easy enough to see if anyone on FA would be looking for something. But I get that money is tight for a lot of folks, so I can't be disappointed if there's no interest for a month or two. Thanks muchly for the ideas! Lots of food for thought. :)
Tim J.
2020-11-11 00:24:49 +0000 UTCWhatever you're charging, it's not enough. 😏
David J.
2020-10-28 05:54:38 +0000 UTCYou are an excellent, skilled and experienced artist. And I think you should be charging what you feel is worth charging. I'd asked you last year or the year before about commissions, and I was more than willing to pay $200 for something similar to what you do for your monthly patreon list. For coloured, I would recommend at /least/ $300, and painted at /least/ $500. Please don't charge any less than $200 for something less refined. Your art is worth more than that.
Sylvian
2020-10-27 22:06:37 +0000 UTCThere are some good thoughts here. While no expert if I was in your shoes I would do a ych of some kind, that will give you an idea what people would pay for you to do something and allow you to control the subject a lot more witch should make things easier for a first time comission. Once you know what the market would bear you can get a feel for if it would be a worth your time which sounds pretty limited. As for the quality of your work the difference between hobbyist and professional is if people are paying for your work. Your quality is good and the fact you have people here paying for your work makes you a professional already. Don’t over think this, you may see every ‘flaw’ but I have never meet an artist who doesn’t, your followers should be indication enough that your skills are appreciated. Hope that helps.
Ghostpony
2020-10-27 12:44:27 +0000 UTCHi :) Okay so ... my housemate is Sara "Caribou" Miles and I've heard a lot of talk about how to price and sell art over the years. Here's some thoughts that come not just from me as an art buyer, but from my experience living with an artist who takes commissions. Your price is minimum $200 and probably upwards of $400. Don't do less than $200. You rarely take commissions, you put a lot of work into them, it's a treat to get one. Always consider your "hourly rate" when doing work. Your time has a lot of value to you, as you have so little of it, so make it worth your while. There are plenty of people that would pay a crazy amount for your art, myself among them :) You can, instead of doing first come first serve, have people pitch ideas at you and take the first one that you really enjoy. You can use a signup form for this -- Google Forms is a great way to do it. Alternatively, on Fur Affinity, you could do an auction as some folks have suggested. If you don't know how to do this, I can point you to some examples. It's really easy, people bid in comments. Just make sure the auction runs long enough to give it a chance to "fully mature". There's no real system for taking commissions. Usually people just paypal you the money. If you were to take a lot of commissions, you could use a Trello board to keep track of status (I can show you examples of this as well if you want), but I'm guessing you're probably just going to take a couple so that likely won't be a problem. Finally, if you'd like me to put you in touch with Caribou and her other art friends, I can do so ... they do telegram if you prefer text and have regular calls if you prefer voice. I can't promise on her behalf of course, but I think chances are they would welcome you and pass on all kinds of wisdom about how to deal with commissions.
MountainGoat
2020-10-27 02:57:03 +0000 UTCIt's surprising to me that you think you're a hobbyist or a silly wank. Do you know how much I have to like your work to be pledging on Patreon in the first place? Hint: It's a lot. I think it's very rare to see this much love and detail poured into settings and characters. Very few know how to bring an alternate world to life like you do. I've been considering having artwork of one of my characters done and it would be wonderful if the artist turned out to be you.
Kubulai
2020-10-26 23:40:40 +0000 UTCI'd gladly pay a hundred to get some of my sketches colored.
TacomaWerewolf
2020-10-26 22:48:10 +0000 UTCArt is supply and demand and is what the market will bear, auctions tell you exactly what the market is willing to pay.
TacomaWerewolf
2020-10-26 22:47:53 +0000 UTCStart with a YCH in an auction format on furaffinity and see where it goes. Guarantee it'll land somewhere between $300 to $500.
TacomaWerewolf
2020-10-26 22:47:22 +0000 UTCJust look at what people on Twitter and furaffinity are doing.
TacomaWerewolf
2020-10-26 22:46:31 +0000 UTCHonestly, 1. You don’t give yourself enough credit, so stop that! :P 2. You could do “tier” commissions where you kinda give examples at different price-points, as to let the “market” kinda dictate its ability to pay at different rates, and to not pressure you as much concerning that. 3. Time is something we all want more of for sure, but yeah. Truth be told, I’d wait a very long time for one of your works. I have art friends have done that is 6+ months out and I’m fine with it, because I know and trust them. 4. Seriously, give yourself more credit. 5. The first-come, first-served model is tough for sure. Maybe open a Comission notification like a week or two to patrons before a broader announcement on other platforms? That’s gives patrons time to decide yay or nay, then lets others have a chance of spots are available :) Just some ideas
BadgerB0y
2020-10-26 22:37:54 +0000 UTC
