Hi, thank you for taking the time to read this! I started doing commissions and posted on RPR about it, but I haven’t really gotten any results from it. It had me wondering, am I charging too much for my art? So that’s why I’m creating this, to see what people think of my prices and if I should change them! 
For digital art I have this:
Full Body ($16)
Bust ($8 )
Just background ($6)
For traditional art I have this: (And I do offer to ship it to the person, it’s a 5x7 piece in a mat board)
Full Body ($18)
Bust ($14)
Background ($10)
Multiple People ($20-$35 depending on how many people)
Do you guys and girls think this is too much for my art? Please let me know what I should do about my prices!
Digital Art stuff I’ve done:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/183503447@N07/
Traditional art stuff I’ve done that I’m selling on Etsy in different sizes but I’m also using as a reference for my art
https://www.etsy.com/listing/714427725/custom-drawings-made-to-order?ref=shop_home_active_18&frs=1
For digital art I have this:
Full Body ($16)
Bust ($8 )
Just background ($6)
For traditional art I have this: (And I do offer to ship it to the person, it’s a 5x7 piece in a mat board)
Full Body ($18)
Bust ($14)
Background ($10)
Multiple People ($20-$35 depending on how many people)
Do you guys and girls think this is too much for my art? Please let me know what I should do about my prices!
Digital Art stuff I’ve done:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/183503447@N07/
Traditional art stuff I’ve done that I’m selling on Etsy in different sizes but I’m also using as a reference for my art
https://www.etsy.com/listing/714427725/custom-drawings-made-to-order?ref=shop_home_active_18&frs=1
I think those are actually reasonable prices. Artists have to live off of what they manage to sell, and commisions and stuff helps. I can't pay, sadly, and I'd much rather do my own as I draw myself, but if I could, I might commision you. I don't think you are overpricing your stuff. You are just working with what you have and how difficult some characters might be. On top of the fact that some artists underprice their stuff, so I think your good.
One thing that came to mind though. What if it's just a pair of people? Like, two characters? I think then that it might depend, right?
and what if the person wants it by a certain time? Just wondering since my sister brought it up as I was talking to her.
One thing that came to mind though. What if it's just a pair of people? Like, two characters? I think then that it might depend, right?
and what if the person wants it by a certain time? Just wondering since my sister brought it up as I was talking to her.
Thank you for bringing those up! It’s $20 for 2 people and goes up $5 for each character you add. And as for timing I normally have it done within 3 days to a week, and if they need it by a specific time then I will get it to the person within that time frame.
If I am unable to, I will take responsibility and take %50 off their order, or I will send a free $5-$7 traditional mini drawing of their choice as compensation which is 2.5x 5 if I remember correctly
I will make sure to add these to my commission page to make sure more information is there and answered!
It’s $20 for 2 people and goes up $5 for each character you add. And as for timing I normally have it done within 3 days to a week, and if they need it by a specific time then I will get it to the person within that time frame.If I am unable to, I will take responsibility and take %50 off their order, or I will send a free $5-$7 traditional mini drawing of their choice as compensation which is 2.5x 5 if I remember correctly
I will make sure to add these to my commission page to make sure more information is there and answered!
Hi!
TL;DR : Charge minimum wage at the very least.
As for not getting many bites on getting commissions:
Getting commissions takes time. No one offers commission and gets a ton, or even a few, bites right off the bat... Patience is key here! It's not necessarily the easiest market to get into, but that doesn't mean you should quit! The more time you spend on art, the better you'll get, the more people will want your product. Also, market yourself. Make people want to commission you!
The following is copy/pasted from my answer on another RPR forum asking about charging for art:
TL;DR : Charge minimum wage at the very least.
As for not getting many bites on getting commissions:
Getting commissions takes time. No one offers commission and gets a ton, or even a few, bites right off the bat... Patience is key here! It's not necessarily the easiest market to get into, but that doesn't mean you should quit! The more time you spend on art, the better you'll get, the more people will want your product. Also, market yourself. Make people want to commission you!
The following is copy/pasted from my answer on another RPR forum asking about charging for art:
See more
You should charge minimum wage at the very least. Above all. I know, with how much time art takes, that sounds ridiculous, but minimum wage at the very least is the least you should charge yourself. Even if you're only comfortable charging bare bones, then do that, but charging less than minimum wage isn't only a personal thing, it deals with the entire art community as well!*
If your minimum wage bare bones is $25, and you're not comfortable charging that, I'd suggest not charging less than, say, $20... less than minimum wage, which is unfortunate, but it's not awful, arguably. Don't sell yourself short - you're spending time making these pieces, and you're spending time on personal pieces too! Charging minimum wage isn't just based on "Hey, I spent four hours drawing this", it's "Hey, I spent four hours drawing this, and however many hundreds or thousands of hours I've spent on every single piece that got me to this level of skill"
The idea of minimum wage, especially where artists are concerned, isn't just based on single piece time, but also on the time it took you to get to the skill level you're at, the cost of the items you've purchased to get to this point (IE: Your tablet, your paint program, your computer), and the time it takes to talk with clients back and forth, yes, that counts in your time too. Even charging basic minimum wage accounts for all of these things, and probably even some things I forgot about tbh
Also, I'd time your work. Art is weird and makes time pass both way faster and way slower than you think it does, so timing your pieces can help you more accurately charge your clients. Even just starting a timer on your phone or using google's default timer, and pausing it when you're away from the keyboard, and then starting back up when you draw again, will help ridiculously in timing your work.
On this point, go with the average, not the minimum. If out of three pieces, you spent 2 hours, 4 hours, and 5.5 hours, don't charge for the minimum 2 hours. Either charge the average, or go with your most common, or your middle option.
You should charge minimum wage at the very least. Above all. I know, with how much time art takes, that sounds ridiculous, but minimum wage at the very least is the least you should charge yourself. Even if you're only comfortable charging bare bones, then do that, but charging less than minimum wage isn't only a personal thing, it deals with the entire art community as well!*
If your minimum wage bare bones is $25, and you're not comfortable charging that, I'd suggest not charging less than, say, $20... less than minimum wage, which is unfortunate, but it's not awful, arguably. Don't sell yourself short - you're spending time making these pieces, and you're spending time on personal pieces too! Charging minimum wage isn't just based on "Hey, I spent four hours drawing this", it's "Hey, I spent four hours drawing this, and however many hundreds or thousands of hours I've spent on every single piece that got me to this level of skill"
The idea of minimum wage, especially where artists are concerned, isn't just based on single piece time, but also on the time it took you to get to the skill level you're at, the cost of the items you've purchased to get to this point (IE: Your tablet, your paint program, your computer), and the time it takes to talk with clients back and forth, yes, that counts in your time too. Even charging basic minimum wage accounts for all of these things, and probably even some things I forgot about tbh
More in depth on that* point
What I mean when I say "charging minimum wage deals with the entire art community" is that charging minimum wage helps every artist, collectively, be able to charge what they deserve to charge. As an artist, charging less than minimum wage makes clients / other artists expect artists to charge less than minimum wage... Ends up with everyone charging less than they should.
I know it sounds slippery slope, but this is a real thing, I swear.
What I mean when I say "charging minimum wage deals with the entire art community" is that charging minimum wage helps every artist, collectively, be able to charge what they deserve to charge. As an artist, charging less than minimum wage makes clients / other artists expect artists to charge less than minimum wage... Ends up with everyone charging less than they should.
I know it sounds slippery slope, but this is a real thing, I swear.
Also, I'd time your work. Art is weird and makes time pass both way faster and way slower than you think it does, so timing your pieces can help you more accurately charge your clients. Even just starting a timer on your phone or using google's default timer, and pausing it when you're away from the keyboard, and then starting back up when you draw again, will help ridiculously in timing your work.
On this point, go with the average, not the minimum. If out of three pieces, you spent 2 hours, 4 hours, and 5.5 hours, don't charge for the minimum 2 hours. Either charge the average, or go with your most common, or your middle option.
Crystaldragon126 wrote:
Thank you for bringing those up! It’s $20 for 2 people and goes up $5 for each character you add. And as for timing I normally have it done within 3 days to a week, and if they need it by a specific time then I will get it to the person within that time frame.
It’s $20 for 2 people and goes up $5 for each character you add. And as for timing I normally have it done within 3 days to a week, and if they need it by a specific time then I will get it to the person within that time frame.
Crystaldragon126 wrote:
If I am unable to, I will take responsibility and take %50 off their order, or I will send a free $5-$7 traditional mini drawing of their choice as compensation which is 2.5x 5 if I remember correctly
I will make sure to add these to my commission page to make sure more information is there and answered!
I will make sure to add these to my commission page to make sure more information is there and answered!
DarkCrow wrote:
Crystaldragon126 wrote:
Thank you for bringing those up! It’s $20 for 2 people and goes up $5 for each character you add. And as for timing I normally have it done within 3 days to a week, and if they need it by a specific time then I will get it to the person within that time frame.
It’s $20 for 2 people and goes up $5 for each character you add. And as for timing I normally have it done within 3 days to a week, and if they need it by a specific time then I will get it to the person within that time frame.Crystaldragon126 wrote:
If I am unable to, I will take responsibility and take %50 off their order, or I will send a free $5-$7 traditional mini drawing of their choice as compensation which is 2.5x 5 if I remember correctly
I will make sure to add these to my commission page to make sure more information is there and answered!
I will make sure to add these to my commission page to make sure more information is there and answered!
Thank you for answering! You defenitely make good points in both posts, I had done minimum wage for the normal pictures, (Full body), but it's never been truly clear to me on how to charge it since there's so many different pricing ways that I've seen.
I'm a Jewelry maker in real life and full time student, so you also bring up a great point about not being able to complete a piece and not taking it. I will defenitely be following this, and if I do mess up and say yes to something I end up not completing in the time frame I can still offer the compensation as a way of saying sorry. Would this be a good idea to do, or is it too much?
Working on drawings or jewelry a lot during my free time, I'd say it varies often, but it can take me anywhere between 2 hours and 4 hours if it requires coloring, full body, etc. I will try timing a couple of pieces though like you said and see if this is correct!
Crystaldragon126 wrote:
I'm a Jewelry maker in real life and full time student, so you also bring up a great point about not being able to complete a piece and not taking it. I will defenitely be following this, and if I do mess up and say yes to something I end up not completing in the time frame I can still offer the compensation as a way of saying sorry. Would this be a good idea to do, or is it too much?
Well, again, it's definitely up to you how you go about charging your clients when something like that happens!
However, there's nothing wrong with removing some of the charge as compensation - I personally have never had this issue, so someone else might have a better idea on what to do / refund in that situation where I currently do not
Use best judgement c:
DarkCrow wrote:
Crystaldragon126 wrote:
I'm a Jewelry maker in real life and full time student, so you also bring up a great point about not being able to complete a piece and not taking it. I will defenitely be following this, and if I do mess up and say yes to something I end up not completing in the time frame I can still offer the compensation as a way of saying sorry. Would this be a good idea to do, or is it too much?
Well, again, it's definitely up to you how you go about charging your clients when something like that happens!
However, there's nothing wrong with removing some of the charge as compensation - I personally have never had this issue, so someone else might have a better idea on what to do / refund in that situation where I currently do not
Use best judgement c:
Thank you again for the advice!
I have only experienced this once because I tried to take on too much at the same time, so I want to make sure I look at every possibility just in case something happens irl.
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