✦ Pricing is Hard, but not Impossible ✦

When considering a price, some have a base price they won’t dip below. Maybe that is $5, $10, or even $25 – it depends on your art and how you value your skill-set and time – this isn’t necessary BUT some people like it and then add on top of this base price. Then there is the complexity of the design and background to consider, the amount of work you intend to put into coloring (flats, shading, highlighting, overall color complexity, background details, any extras you might add, etc).

✦ CONSIDER ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:

  • YOUR SKILL!
  • Character / Scene Details and Complexity
  • General Length of time to Complete
  • Complexity of Colors / Coloring
  • Background / Elements to pull the Work Together
  • Anything Extra you Add

Try to not low-ball your prices. If it takes you 2 hours to complete a particular work, give yourself at least minimum wage. If min wage is $5 (it’s not but 5 is an easy # to work with lol), charge at minimum $10 for that artwork. You may also want to stack an extra $3-$5 (or more) dollars for supplies, skills, level of detail, any extras going into the work, etc. And is your customer asking a LOT out of you – maybe a ton of edits after aspects have been approved? Charge them for it – or state outright no edits after approval OR $5 per edit OR advertise free edits as a bonus service!

Also to make a special point, low-balling your prices only produces customers who value you and your work less. Yes they will pay for it – sometimes a lot of it – but you aren’t getting paid for what you are actually producing in the long run and just giving away free work and products.

Is the customer getting more than just an artwork? For example, I do traditional art: ACEOs. I MAIL THEM OUT. I do this free of charge, BUT I could adjust my price to include the fee to mail them out, so I don’t pay out of pocket for that expense. In addition, some other extras artists offer are limited commercial licensing, commercial licensing, watermark/signature removal, transparent (bg-less) options, etc. Don’t forget your supplies: pencils, pens, markers, paper, covers, etc for traditional artists, and some digital artists have to pay for subscriptions to digital programs, need special pens/tablets, etc.

✦ DON’T…

  • low-ball all your prices (you and your art have worth!!!)
  • give yourself less than $3-$5 an hour… at least try to make minimum wage!
  • put out there what you aren’t willing to create for someone else or repeatedly!
  • be shitty or nasty to your customers – they should be coming to you because they value you! Value them back (or respectfully send them packing)!

Finally, ADJUST your prices as your skills and abilities grow in strength and number! As you get better at your craft, your prices WILL go up. At least they should go up. With practice comes something some people call perfection – you get closer to perfection with every piece of art you put out there. If you charged $5 for an ACEO last year, you should be charging more this year! It is an important note that is you are worried about what potential return customers will think of price increase, make it a regular thing and don’t make huge jumps in your prices. Post a warning a month or so in advance so customers can get in on your current prices before you increase them as well – it is a great courtesy for your regular customers!

Remember, your customer is paying for a packaged product, not just a piece of art. They are paying for your professionalism, time, experience, skill / ability, vision, blood / sweat / tears worth of time in practice, marketing, supplies, education, research into their subject matter to get it right, and MORE! And nothing is stopping you from having sales, special packages, doing occasional freebies, etc! The goal is to have fun, be prized for who you are and what you create, and make a living doing what you love!

And if your customer is just wanting a piece of art for less than your worth and value, give them what they ask for – a piece of shit. It’s not worth your time and talents to give away your hard work for nothing.