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Foyaland — Protips1# How to price your art ?
Published: 2015-02-06 20:19:42 +0000 UTC; Views: 6340; Favourites: 81; Downloads: 0
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As we are on an artist platform, maybe it's time for me to share some of my experience as an artist with my fellows around here. Well, I'm sure there are a lot of articles of that kind on the internet, but I still receive the same questions over and over so maybe it could be a good idea to write regularly here about one of them... And if the concept pleases you, I will maybe write some more.
The first subject is not the easiest, because money and art is still kind of taboo for lot of people, but I choosed it because I think it's one of the most essential point for beginners ( young artists as students or hobbyists who would like to sell some original works or comissions, or young freelancers ). Well, it will be a very general approach, so if you want to talk about a point more precisely, or if you need more examples, feel free to comment below. I'll be glad to answer!
At first, don't think "How much a client would like to pay for my art?"
If you decide to sell your art, your mainly goal is not to survive, but to grow up your business to keep up your art. It can be to invest in better tools, new softwares, licences, projects or ressources, hosting for a professional website or services that will help you to gain productivity, visibility, and more professional opportunities...
Formula
The answer is simple and basic maths, to calculate your wholesale price, you have to add:
-The basic expenses ( the price of the material you used, fees you have to pay to paypal or any platform you used to make easy the payment, eventual shipping costs...)
- The time for the labor(your daily/hourly rates will be based on the fees you have to pay depending on your very specific legal status and your location)
- The profit margin ( as I previously said, it's important to think about to grow up your business)
(- Only for commercial purposes : the price for copyright and cessions)
If you want to sell your work in galleries or shops you can calculate your retail price adding a markup ( at least 2) to your wholesale price.
Of course, this is a indicative and minimum formula. Lot of factors can increase your prices: your abilities ( level and pedigree as an artist), the value you add to your product ( packaging, special story behind or special extra services). If you have to work by night or weekend on an urgent work, you get obviously paid more.
Comparison
It's tempting to compare with the prices established by other artists. I agree that's a good first start to know the rank of price of similar stuff on the market, particulary if you have to participate in special events with other artists (it's always better to provide a piece at the same rank of price).
But keep in mind that some artists still don't know how to price, and...at the end, people don't work the same way with the same fees. Remember, everybody is afraid to price too low or too high, but with the formula you already have a strong base.
Psychological factors
You have to be consistent in your prices and don't price emotionaly or arbitrarly, you just have to think about the formula. You should be able to explain how you price to your client, it's the assurance of your reliability.
Some freelancers think you can price 'depending on the client'. In my opinion, it could be a bad idea and you could stupidly loose a deal: first, it would mean you will overcharge a client who 'seems' have a big budget. It's not very fair (... and definitly not professional ). Usually a biggest client would ask for a biggest project, with more details and a more polished render, and will probably negociate for more important commercial uses. So the budget will be naturally more consequent.
Lot of beginners have the "I'm not good enough" syndrom, so they will tend to decrease their prices. If you sell your work, you have to act like a professional (then eventually you'll be considered as a professional) : Lowering prices can result in a downward spiral which is detrimental to everyone. Moreover your client will not perceive the value of your work and will not consider you seriously (too cheap = no value, disposable, expendables...). It will be very difficult for you to work as a professional artist if you make comissions for 15$...
I think it's better to price higher than lower. It will be much easier and professional for you to adjust your prices that way. Corollary, you will be able to make discounts without loosing all your profit margin (...or more).
If you can't sell your art at a decent price (for now), you should probably work more on personal project to improve your skills. It will be more creative and you will have more freedom to experiment that way, than work with the limitations of a request. Enjoy this time of artistic exploration and believe me, it will be very difficult to find the time to work on personal projects once you'll began to work actively as professional...
* * *
Did you find this article helpful? Feel free to comment below with your own experience about pricing, and help me to complete it sharing your tips or suggestions !
You can also argue or ask any question you want here, the debate is open!
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Comments: 20
Thank you so much for this article, usually artist don't like to talk about this. You are helping many beginners like me to make what it's fair. I hope I can price right and get better at what I do cause I could really use the extra cash.
I look forward to read your journal 
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Hi ! ( and sorry for my late reply, I took a few days off )
Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad these tips can help !
I know it's a very difficult question, and a lot of artists just prefer to avoid it... Because money is kinf of taboo and artists just need love and passion for a living (...or just because they just don't know exactly how to price 
So it was time to contribute! I hope this will encourage artists to think a bit more like a small business...
Feel free to send me some ideas for a next topic. For now, I'm still very busy but I'll work on it soon.
Keep up the beautiful art !
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So what do you think about requests? I was asked again to do some art for free. I could, I have a job in real life and only draw for fun (and rarely anymore because of laziness). But maybe it kinda ruins the market for the ones who want to sell their stuff...
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I also have a full time work. I sell sometimes illustrations I did, and I do sometime requests or special offer to make small pieces of art more easily purchasable.... But I can't work for free or underprice the requests, because I have no time! I could work on a paid project, I could enjoy my spare time with family or friends, I could work on a personal project that will be more creative and will bring more opportunities...
It's a request, it's normal to be paid, even if it's "just for fun". But you are also free to accept to do it totally for free if you are particulary altruistic...just be consicous the consequences: it will not help you to improve your skill, it will not ''just convert your time into money", and it will be very difficult to be considered as a professional then ( if you want to do your art just as a hobby, fine)
In a way, yes, it ruins the market for those who actually sell their art for living ( and who pay contributions and fees ) because artistic works are mostly considered as "recreative works".
But I think as a professional you have to bring an expert vision to a project, with solutions and control of the visual identity. So it's not exactly the same kind of project. And the smart client will understand his interest to hire a professional at a correct price. As I said, ''you get what you paid''!
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This is so helpful!!! Thanks a lot for sharing all these tips, Foya!!!
In my case, I've always been comparing prices in the market. I always used
to compare my art level with other people's art. I think I'm always pricing
my art according to what the client may be willing to pay for it. And so far,
that has been giving me some trouble. I usually end up underpricing my
stuff. And when I'm working on commissions, I tend to regret my low prices,
since I put so much time and effort into my art. But at the same time, I'm
always realizing I still have so much to learn. Every time I practice, I can see
I'm improving a lot. But I do keep wondering how much my art is worth.
After all, I truly agree with you: I don't wanna underprice nor overprice my art.
So, I've been struggling with this for a long time now.
And now that you mention the hourly rate, I think it makes more sense than
other things I've heard so far. But I still don't understand it completely. I've
been trying to calculate my hourly rate myself, but I still don't know how to do
so. Fortunately, I'm still some kind of hobby artist. I mean, I don't have to live
from my art. But still, I do wanna be a professional artist when I make art for
other people. I've decided to close commissions for now and work some more
on my personal art. But if someone happens to ask for a commission I may
wanna take, I want to know a fair price for my art
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As you seem to be a student I presume you have no legal status to sell your work for now, so it maybe sounds kind of abstract for you. But it's good for you to try to understand the basics the soonest possible if you want to live from your art !
I'll try to make it easy: Depending on the countries laws and taxes could be different but usually if you earn money (selling your work, or working as employee ), you have to pay a % of contributions to the administration ( you will find the precise % on professional forums or government website in Argentina)
The rest of the sum is the benefit, and with this benefit you will also have to pay your rent, your food, (and all the other bills), and the price of the tools for your art. You will have to consider that to calculate a minimum hourly rate.
note: For now this will be only the benefit part, but I encourage you once you'll decide to live from your art as a professional, to have a legal status,you will have more protections for selling your works !
Then, you will have to calculate how many days/hours you will have to work on a commission, to know it minimum price. If you are a beginner and need looooot of time to do a small thing, I don't recommend you to make your client pay all these hours. As I said, I recommend you to practice more and to improve your productivity , because it's clearly non profitable for you to work in these conditions.
At the end , if you are productive enough but this minimum price sounds too high for the client... well, the other solution is to adapt your prestation: making the commission smaller, quicker, easier to do for you. So the price will be cheaper for the client but you will not have the feeling to waste your time and your money. (Ok, don't forget "you have what you paid" so if you decide to do it cheap, do it well, but don't make a master piece, of course.)
note: Try to propose different range of prestation and prices ( ex: just a doodle, a half character, or a complete compositions with full colored character and background). Some people don't have a budget, but some people would like to spend more !
Hope this can help !
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Oh, I get it better now!!! n_n
That makes much more sense!
And now that you mention it, I never knew you could be more
protected by having a legal status. By legal status you don't mean
copyrights and such, do you? However, it does sound very
important. I should totally learn some more about that
Yeah, I totally understand your point of view. Maybe I should
practice some more so my workflow is faster. When do you think
I should take commissions again? I mean, is there any sign I may
be ready for taking commissions again? And do you have any tip
on what I should be paying more attention to to improve my art?
I've read your tips on carrying a sketchbook with you wherever
you go. I do have one, but I'm not drawing as much as I'd love to.
Maybe I should find some motivation first!
Woow, your tips are very helpful! I totally appreciate the fact you
are sharing them so openly! And also, thanks a lot for taking the
time to reply my comment. I truly appreciate it!
I'm gonna write all this down so I can keep your tips!
Again, thanks a lot!!!
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When I talk about legal status, I talk about a registration as small sized business. That should allow you to edit invoices legally.
it protects you if a client doesn't pay you because you are considered as a contractor, so you can assert your rights. And, (again depending on your countrie) as a salary, your payroll contribute to your retirement or in case of sickness etc... If you are not protected, you can't do anything if you have a problem.
You will feel when it will be time for you to sell your art.Maybe you will receive first some serious request. When you will be confident and productive enough, you will not have regrets of wasting money or time on a project. The sketchbook exercise is a good idea because it allows to improve speed and understand better perspective and anatomy, that are good basics for a good sketch ( even if you decide to don't do realistic illustrations then).
You can also try to work on the shapes , posing of the characters, composition, dynamic lines, to improve your skills step by step. The internet is full of tutorials
If you look motivation, try to do sketch-sessions with friends, look if there is a sketchcrawl organized near you (www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/ ), or go to a sketch class. But don't wait too much for people because it is lot of personal work
Glad that could help, I feel I learned a lot during these years, and it's time for me to share !
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Well, first off, I wanna apologize for the late reply! I was taking
some break from dA. Also, I wanna thank you for your time for
replying my previous comment
So, regarding your reply, I now understand what you meant
about the legal status and its protection
Thanks a lot for the explanation on that! Anyway, for having
that protection, you'll need to have some kind of contract with
your client, right? ^^
Haha, I see... I'm starting to give my sketchbook some more
love. It's a pretty good idea, so I'm definitely trying that!
And yes, I'm learning a lot from tutorials lately. So, I gotta
practice a lot too! Thanks a lot!!!
And I didn't know anything about SketchCrawl! It seems very
interesting! I think it's great to share your experience with
other artists. And since I don't have many friends who love
drawing and painting, it's quite hard to do sketch-sessions with
my friends, hehe. But yes, I should check that out! Again,
thanks a lot for your tips!!! Thanks a lot for sharing this
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You are welcome !
If you want to make you an idea about ' contracts '. The most basic one consist in a description of what you are selling and what your client will receive.
Take a glance at the policies of online shops. This is another form of contract between seller/ client, more completed ( return or refund informations, delivery, copyrights, legal mentions...)
Finally when you work on a professional/commercial request for a client ( illustration, logo, website, whatever...) , you ll create something specifically for him so it's better to establish first an estimate with your policies. That will become a contract once he will sign ( and maybe pay a part of the total amount).
Remember, contracts not only protect you but also the client. This is more secured and professional for both! 
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I see... Contracts are very important! So, I'll keep this in mind
Yes, contracts make your commissions more professional. After all,
commissions are a product you're selling. So, you gotta be very
professional with those. I'll take down some notes on this so I don't
forget these tips! Again, thanks a lot Foya!!!
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awwwww,,, thank you so much for the information senpai~<333 this is so useful,,,
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Thank you for the kind words !
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aaawwww~~~ you are very welcomeee~~~~
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Thanks so much, this will be very helpful for me! Even if it's not too long this is one of the most comprehensive set of tips about how to price your art that I've seen. I was just thinking a lot about this when I decided to check DA and found "The white ghost under the rain " (which is a beautiful work by the way). And I guess I was lucky to have checked your profile and your journals, since I just usually fav art and go to check more... Thanks so much again for writing this journal and suggestions! (/^▽^)/
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Thank you, I'm glad that could help!
I think lot of people just look for art and don't think about reading journal entries ( including me 
And if you have some suggestions for the next article, feel free to ask ! :')
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I rarely check the journals too >.> Precisely long journals are what kind of drive me off from reading them, but you summarized this very well! For now I'm in the step of improving my skills, since as I'm now it takes me a long time to finish my works... (The last two took me about 8 days each, 6-8 hours non-stop, and they aren't too complex...). But I'm sure that anything you can share would will be very useful and interesting, and I'd be very grateful if you continue with these Protips journals. For me personally, some suggestions about ways to improve art and managing time well while doing so... For me it's hard to fasten the pace of my practice, and even if I draw a lot I tend to do so too slowly. I don't know if other people have this small issue, but some tips about that would be awesome, since that's my weak point right now... ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ Thanks again!
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The more you will practice, the more you will work fast and precisely !
You can take a small sketchbook and draw everywhere ( in the bus, at the cafe, or during your break...), Don't pressurize you on the quality of these doodles. First try to observe and draw quickly people, animals and backgrounds around you. At the beginning you can choose people who don't move so much, then you can choose more 'alive' scenes .
This will improve your skills in observation, anatomy, perspective.... and force you to go faster! You will become more confident with your lines
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Well, it's as you say. The problem I have is precisely that I'm often not confident enough with the lines or even the sketches, and put unecessary pressure on myself. So I'll just relax and totally follow your advices!
Thanks so much for taking the time to write them. I had also thought about this, but somehow it feels reassuring reading it from such a good artist (∩_∩)
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