I see a lot of threads on here for help pricing things and I thought this could maybe serve as both a springboard for people to post their stuff and get feedback from others and a mini guide!
pricing your own art can feel difficult. you're either afraid you're charging too much and scaring people away-- or not charging enough and you feel like you're overworking yourself. i have had lots and lots of trouble with this in the past, and i see a lot of people on these forums drastically undercharging.
there are lots of reasons why having an accurate price can help both you and your fellow artists:
obviously, everyone will have a different idea of what is "fair" for art pricing but these are some of the guidelines i go by:
HOURLY
generally speaking, you don't want to charge less than minimum wage for your work. where i live, minimum wage is about 8-9 USD per hour. so if you take say three hours on a commission, you want to charge about 24$. (that's somewhere around/above 1,000,000 treasure with the current conversion rates)
"obviously this can't always be the case though, right? what about people who spend 20+ hours on a painting!"
that rule applies to them as well! often times in the professional world, salaries and commissions cost much much more than that. as "amateur" artists we have to at least make something!
"but what about if someone spends a long time on something, but the result is not as good/skilled/interesting as someone else?"
QUALITY
it seems hard to judge something like quality objectively, especially with people having different taste and incredibly different skill levels. what i mean when i say quality is not "how good" something is, but more of an effort to output ratio.
a talented artist who has been drawing dragons for their whole life may get a higher 'tip' rate than you at first. this is the nature of the beast, and it's not quite fair, but their hard work and talent have to be recognized! not everyone starts out charging massive clams for their sketches. a very big part of pricing is figuring out where you fit in the market, and knowing realistically when your fishes will bite.
TRIAL AND ERROR
this is where trial and error come in! if you honestly have no idea how much to charge for your art, the best thing to do is try selling it! contrary to what may seem obvious, you should start a little higher than you think your work is worth!
if nobody is giving you any $$$ for a couple of days, try lowering a bit! undercharging will hurt you more than help you, and you'd be surprised what the powers of persuasion can do. if you think your art is worth it, your dragon site buds might too!
and as a last note...
POPULARITY
"popularity affects prices. if you find yourself getting swamped with people that want slots or want to be pinged that may be a good time to raise your prices. it'll cut some of the demand and pressure if you find yourself unable to complete as many commissions as people want." - thanks @jetblacksteel !
EDIT:
PLEASE! feel free to message me with art pricing questions as many people already have!!!! i am totally willing to help out with whatever i can!
pricing your own art can feel difficult. you're either afraid you're charging too much and scaring people away-- or not charging enough and you feel like you're overworking yourself. i have had lots and lots of trouble with this in the past, and i see a lot of people on these forums drastically undercharging.
there are lots of reasons why having an accurate price can help both you and your fellow artists:
- your art will be more appealing to others if you don't underestimate it's worth
- undercharging lowers the bracket for other artists like you!
- you will get more commissions if you know how to price your stuff accordingly
- more commissions = more dough = cool & fun for everybody
obviously, everyone will have a different idea of what is "fair" for art pricing but these are some of the guidelines i go by:
HOURLY
generally speaking, you don't want to charge less than minimum wage for your work. where i live, minimum wage is about 8-9 USD per hour. so if you take say three hours on a commission, you want to charge about 24$. (that's somewhere around/above 1,000,000 treasure with the current conversion rates)
"obviously this can't always be the case though, right? what about people who spend 20+ hours on a painting!"
that rule applies to them as well! often times in the professional world, salaries and commissions cost much much more than that. as "amateur" artists we have to at least make something!
"but what about if someone spends a long time on something, but the result is not as good/skilled/interesting as someone else?"
QUALITY
it seems hard to judge something like quality objectively, especially with people having different taste and incredibly different skill levels. what i mean when i say quality is not "how good" something is, but more of an effort to output ratio.
a talented artist who has been drawing dragons for their whole life may get a higher 'tip' rate than you at first. this is the nature of the beast, and it's not quite fair, but their hard work and talent have to be recognized! not everyone starts out charging massive clams for their sketches. a very big part of pricing is figuring out where you fit in the market, and knowing realistically when your fishes will bite.
TRIAL AND ERROR
this is where trial and error come in! if you honestly have no idea how much to charge for your art, the best thing to do is try selling it! contrary to what may seem obvious, you should start a little higher than you think your work is worth!
if nobody is giving you any $$$ for a couple of days, try lowering a bit! undercharging will hurt you more than help you, and you'd be surprised what the powers of persuasion can do. if you think your art is worth it, your dragon site buds might too!
and as a last note...
POPULARITY
"popularity affects prices. if you find yourself getting swamped with people that want slots or want to be pinged that may be a good time to raise your prices. it'll cut some of the demand and pressure if you find yourself unable to complete as many commissions as people want." - thanks @jetblacksteel !
EDIT:
PLEASE! feel free to message me with art pricing questions as many people already have!!!! i am totally willing to help out with whatever i can!
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