Hello!
I have a sister who's been getting a lot of Art Requests recently and she's been thinking about offering commissions,but we are having a hard time deciding how much she should charge.
I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to go about setting prices.
Jul '15Jul '15
I think a good benchmark is to charge what your area's minimum wage is per hour that you work on it. I can usually estimate how long a project will take so I made a little commission page with pricing info (ex. waist up - $15, full body - $20, etc.) If you're an artist just starting out, you might want to charge a little less to bring in more business and to get your work out there.
I suggest finding a price that is worth your time and resources. Let's say you take on a complicated piece and charge 15$ for it. Then it takes you four hours for all the inking and coloring. That means you made $3.75 an hour. If it's real media, that 15$ would also be covering the cost of paper, paints, pens etc which brings you down to enough for a snickers and soda at the gas station.
I would price your time at an honest value and open a few slots. Then really get the information out there that they're open. Also keep in mind that people will often ask when commissions are going to be open, but won't actually invest.
Hello!
It is best to wage your work based off of minimum wage of your area and build yourself up from there.
As well,
I recently typed up a massive post in regards to commissions on a different website so I'll share it here as well.
Alright., this is going to be a very long post as a heads up.
I do freelance commission work to earn a small income to support myself while comic-ing. I mostly do them through FA and am mildly? successful. I don't do them on DA so my advice is mostly rooted in my experience with FA and the furry community. Things that are important in the commission experience: Ad Design [you'd be surprised at how much of an impact this actually creates when starting out], Communication, Turn around rate, Terms of Service use [basically don't backtrack yourself. Make it very clear what you will or will not do], Price stability, Art Improvement and Style, Personality, and Examples of work.
To break things up:
Ad Design - I cannot stress how incredibly import this is. If you are posting an ad in your gallery make it readable, easy to understand, and very clear in what you are offering. Follow a design and treat it as if it was a work of art. If you are unfamiliar with graphic design then ask friends for tips and advice. Think of it as if you were the customer looking for a personal art piece. Does the art apeal to you? Is it easy to read? Taking that extra step for presentation can do a lot more then people give it credit for.
Communication - You are providing a service, COMMUNICATE. If there are delays, let them know. Send reminders when commissions are open [please don't spam though].
Turn Around - Turn around can fluctuate between artists. Some customers are very strict in regards to turn around and it is often best to stick with what you say unless problems arise. If you say you'll finish in a week then finish in a week. Be honest with yourself and your customers. People are patient but don't test it!
ToS - Dear god PLEASE have a Terms of Service and be STRICT with it. Don't sell yourself out and look wishy washy and keep yourself safe. I've had people try to scam me out of paying, just as many others have. A ToS is your net underneath the tightrope. Here is my ToS as an example: http://teacupcoms.weebly.com/tos.html12
Price Stability - It actually HURTS you to have constant sales. It makes you look desperate and cheap. [Even if we are D: ] Buying art can often be very personal to the customer [at least it is for me!]. Often a person will decide by choosing whose style they like or suits their character / persona / etc. Prices just tend to be the final decision. Be stable. Don't go up and down so much. People WILL question why you are cheap. [Trust me on that] I had more people approach me when I stabilized my prices then when I had constant sales. That saying, the occasional sale is not a bad thing. Just don't overuse it.
Art Improvement and Style - Work constantly and update constantly. Show that you are stagnant. The more you post, the more views you draw in and the more possible customers. I get less sales the less I work on off breaks. If you aren't getting commissions currently then use it as an opportunity to improve yourself and up your portfolio. It is more impressive to see someone devoted to the craft then never seeming to post much. As well, styles vary and so does taste. I don't care for buying 'kawaii' artstyles of my characters since I feel it conflicts with their personalities. Find your niche and they'll show up. smile emoticon
Personality - THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. BE KIND. BE NICE. BE RESPECTFUL. Network and make friends with other artists and commissioners. Don't be a loner, it gets you nowhere fast. Take it from someone with social anxiety; it isn't impossible to make a few friends and promote each other and help each other out. People are more drawn to those that appear kind and willing to work things out.
Examples of work - ALWAYS have examples provided. Keep them up to date and have a website easily available. I suggest making a weebly to house prices, tos, and examples.
now be brave my fellow artists and do what you can.
You have a very professional-looking website. Well done!
Thanks for all the info. I can see you definitely know what you're doing.
I'm considering commission in the future but need to work on my own stuff for now!
I have trouble attracting commissioners, and none of my followers usually reblog my commission info which hurts me tbh. Any tips for getting noticed? I feel like you can only open commissions when you have a large amount of followers on somewhere.
There really is no one-way ticket to instant popularity, unfortunately (if there was I would have been on that immediately) but!
I've seen a lot of advice go as such:
Though from what I've seen, fanart is definitely the one way to get 'popular' bc if its of an established series, people are already familiar with the characters and as such arent going "who is this?" they just immediately reblog it (in the case of tumblr). If its of another artists's character, and theyre fine with fanart (some artists arent okay with it for some reason?), they'll reblog (again tumblr) it because someone drew art of their character!! and they'll expose it to their followers.
Being social and talking to other artists also helps too (as long as you're not being overbearing). It's a super slow process but eventually you'll see the fruits of your labor. I've heard things like doing requests also helps but im not too sure.
This for sure! It's a good way to get noticed as well as get in some practice. My follower count on tumblr was nonexistent until I started doing Dragon Age fanart. And many of those people who followed because of that are getting into my other art as well.
