Flight Rising Discussion

I mean, I think we're all a little crazy for asking for less than minimum wage, not only to compete with other artists, but to draw in buyers because some of them think they can pay in "exposure" on another site, or "I can get it cheaper somewhere else" etc. etc.

I'm currently trying to price adjust my art from basically 5kt per headshot to something more reasonable

but...


I am too scared to go too high due to people not buying due to how expensive it is and me thinking my art is not that good.


(And I'm working on it people, sorry the reopening of my shop is taking too long!)

Usually I recommend artists on here charge 100g/100kt minimum, whether for adoptables or commissions. Someone can make that much in an hour with fairgrounds and a few exalts/sales/familiar chests. (And maybe that's all they make in a day, spending an hour on the site, but it's not difficult to make that first 100kt a day, so I rec it as a minimum.)

I think there's a lot of reasons people undercharge and it's not just one thing or another. Confidence can play into it, and I think people do best by developing confidence and a positive outlook, but if a lot of people are underconfident and charging less than they could, that's always going to be a thing.

We've got different perceptions of dragon cash here on FR. Sure, I look at 3kg and say "that's $30." But do I have 3kg sitting around after weeks of casually playing FR? No. I make around 500kt a week and that's about it, so if I'm looking to spend dragon money, that's what I'll keep in mind when budgeting.

I look at it the same from the flip side: I make 500kt a week. If I want to supplement that and make another 500kt in a given week so I can buy something I want, I'm happy to sell one commission for 500kt. I get the dragon cash to buy a thing I want, someone gets art, we're all good.

A lot of artists being hobbyists probably affects this. Every commission I take is practice I'd have otherwise spent drawing something different for free. But I think my pricing/commission styles reflect this, the way I personally do it; I've previously opened sketches/mystery comms for 500g, while I'd charge closer to my USD prices for something more finished/specific.

@ClockworkEclipse

The inherent problem with saying "charge minimum wage" is that it overvalues unskilled art and undervalues high skilled art. Just because I spend hours and hours and hours on something doesn't mean someone else is going to be willing to pay more for it.

Visual art isn't typically judged on effort. We don't say that movies that were in development hell for 10+ years are better than movies that stayed on schedule.

Using minimum wage is only a good benchmark if the artist is able to produce in a timeframe proportional to the value that the buyer places on the piece. As a personal example, I've definitely spent hours on drawings that I would rather die than honestly try to sell for 50+ USD. They are drawings that a more skilled artist could probably whip out in a matter of minutes and then charge $5-10 for.

I accept art so is common most likely you're going to end up undercharging.

I just wish more people were willing to buy for USD. A lot of the users on FR are too young to get paypal and such, but it would be nice.

I used to do 3D art and this is why i never sold anything. The prices I was willing to sell were too high for any buyers. It wasn’t the people who asked about buying it’s fault, I didn’t expect it to sell. Now that I’m in a more steadily paying field I’ve considered getting back into it and undercharging just to share something I like, but I also don’t have any time for my art right now (and I’ve lost a lot of my skill)

yeah i. mega undercharge, because feeeeew people see it when you're paying 50kt and oyu can easily get better art for the same deal