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MagnaStorm — Pricing 101
Published: 2013-10-11 14:23:05 +0000 UTC; Views: 27944; Favourites: 233; Downloads: 0
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Pricing 101
How to determine what you should charge for your work
In light of the absolutely horrendous commission page DA started up which encourages artists to sell their work for literally pennies , let me talk about pricing artwork. Or more specifically, how I price my work.
Note:
This...guide? Advice? Thing? Highlights what I've learned about pricing throughout the last few years. I do not touch on the subject of beginner pricing, simply because there are no set guidelines for that and beginner pricing usually ends up being extremely subjective. This guide assumes that the reader is somewhat experienced in their craft and is looking for pointers on pricing. However I still highly encourage beginners to read! This is what pricing should be like, not mere pennies for hours upon hours of work. This also focuses on crafts and sewing but a lot of it is still applicable to other art forms.
-Material costs
Keep everything in mind. Fabric, stuffing, thread, paint, wire, poly pellets, safety eyes, stabilizer, everything.
Ex: Wolpertingers - 3 colors, 1/2m base color, 1/4m both secondary colors= 1m at $16/m(fabric shipping cost factored in) +thread at $2/spool+1/4 poly pellet bottle at $2/bottle= $.50+1/4 stuffing bag at $20/bag=$5+felt at $.25/piece+fur(varies, but for the sake of this let's say $4 for the piece of fur)+plastic nose at $.13 for a total of $27.88 for materials alone, not including things that I'd only need extremely minimal amounts of, like paint for the shine in the eyes.
-time cost
What is your time worth? Do you have education and/or training that you use in your craft? It's up to you to decide the value of your time, but remember that this is a trade that requires experience and (probably) training. It's a specialized job, odds are you want to be payed more than a no-experience required job at a fast food chain.
Ex: Minimum wage in my province is $10 an hour. I try to pay myself around $20 an hour. I have seamstress education/training and 4 years of experience behind me.
-Demand
This is probably the trickiest one, and it's super subjective. High demand means you can probably raise your prices until your supply meets your demand but it's also a risky game. Go too far and you'll lose your clientele.
Don't really have examples of this, not sure what they could be really. I don't play this game very much.
-Fees
Paypal fees, custom fees, currency conversion, taxes, all those little things really do add up. Paypal fees are 'only' 4% but that adds up like crazy after a while. If you're using DA's commission system they take (an unacceptable, in my humble opinion) 20%. Keep these in mind as well. If you're declaring your income from your craft you'll have to pay income taxes as well.
Ex: I end up shelling out between $20-$60 in Paypal fees only every month.
-Shipping
Don't forget that there are a couple more things that go into shipping than just the cost of sending the package. What's your plush packed in? What materials did you use to pack it? Here I also have to pay taxes on shipping. These are, just like fees, small things that end up adding up at the end of the month.
Ex: I usually give myself a $5-10 margin to work with depending on the size of the package.
-Overhead
Probably what gets forgotten the most. The machines you use weren't free, neither is maintenance for them(mine are $80-$100 in maintenance each every year). Said machines are also not likely to be powered by pixie dust so they also use power. Where are you working? Do you pay rent for your work area? What about getting supplies? Do you have a car that you drive to go to the store and the post office? Or maybe you take the bus and pay transit fare. These are all things that should also be kept in mind to a certain extent. Overhead cost are usually a tiny fraction of the total cost, but should still be thought about
Ex: I pay rent, power, and internet. I use my car to do errands. I've calculated the daily costs of everything which comes up to about $5.95 for rent(my craft room only), $3/day for power, $1.90 for internet, and $2 for gas. So if a plush takes me all day to make I should add $12.85 to make up for my overhead. However I'll be the first to admit I often forget about overhead costs because they're so easy to take for granted.
So here you have it, this is how I work out my prices for my commissions. Maybe it'll help someone or maybe it won't, but at least now if anyone's curious about how I come up with my prices it's all up there.
Honestly bottom line is everyone is free to price their work as they see fit, but I'm hoping that people will make informed decisions and not fall for DA's points trap. 1000 of something isn't necessarily a good thing so please do your research first!
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Comments: 77
Yeah it's always freaks me out when people ask for quality art for 100
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Would you say these are quality art? They're my first set of adopts and they're 100
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ooh these are pretty!! I say 150 to 300 per adopt? I'd charge a bit higher, but it depends if people will buy them!
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I haven't sold any yet at all, but I've done plenty of requests for free... I've had interest, but they said they were too expensive.
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Quality is subjective, is it not?
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That's all well and good for physical but what about those who can't do that? I'm thinking of doing Story commissions, (all original of course. don't want to get in trouble for copyright.) How should i go about charging for writing?
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My experience is limited to crafts and artwork, so I don't think I'm the best person to ask about how to price writing. The best general advice I can give is to decide how much you'd like to make per hour, then time yourself while you work to figure out about how much you need to charge per project
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This is very helpful! One thing that frustrates me though, is no matter how much effort, time and love you put into your stuff, they still think little of it because of the outcome :/
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uh....okay, fine, i guess it does make sense. I'm sorry. But, it still seems a little much. I understand all of this, but...still. Um, whatever. Sorry for raging at you earlier.
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*flails* Thanks so much for this! I'm still trying to figure out what to charge for my work, and seeing how others figure out their prices is so helpful.
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Thanks for posting this! very helpful and informative, and above all, realistic.
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Very basic, and very useful information.
I've given pointers to some of my favorite DA posters about selling and bring up all of these points, especially the point about valuing your time at SOMETHING, and keeping in mind the cost of mailing, going to the post office, etc.
I would add that, especially on custom commissions, remember that you could be corresponding several times with someone and, in the end, they don't buy. You have to factor that into your time as well. Additionally, keep in mind that occasionally something might get lost or damaged in transit, and that has to be taken into account.
It's good to have a hobby and create arts and/or crafts, but you have to keep in mind that there is a cost to things, and you need to be fair to yourself in pricing.
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I do like your point about correspondence, I think one thing that frustrates me a little is when someone makes an enquiry, I give them a quote, and I sit waiting for ages to hear back from them. They never reply and I have to draw the conclusion on my own that it was too pricey/not what they wanted and they couldn't take two seconds to say "I'm sorry, that's out of my price range." so I can cross them off my list of potential commissions.
I don't want to put a time limit on replies; some people don't get to go online 24/7, but it can be awkward when you have a limited amount of spaces, and several people that have enthusiastically asked for a spot and then disappear.
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Simple answer is...until people PAY, consider them interested in a commission, but not yet a customer. If you have a waiting list, only consider those who paid when coming up with a list of priorities.
Many industries do this, and almost every professional artist and designer asks for at least a deposit on commissioned works.
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I've had that listed as a rule for years, deposits are a must and the commission isn't finalised until the deposit is in my account, but the initial waiting for responses still gets confusing when I have several at once, then some stop replying, or a few will turn up in two months because they wanted to save up, and expect me to still be waiting for them.
I've never found a way to get more than 10-20% of people to read up before messaging me, it could nearly always be avoided if they read my FAQ and Price Guide first, they'd know then whether or not they had the budget.
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Thank you for posting this. It's really informative, and helpful.
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Wow thank you so much for posting this. Though we don't do commissions for the same thing, this is super awesome. It really aggravates me that dA is able to make the pricing so low in order to get more people to use commissions, when such good artwork is going up for sale for less than a dollar.
Thank you so much!
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Nobody has commissioned me for a good while now. My prices are very reasonable, though I don't take DA points, but nobody wants that anymore when you can just go get something for as low as 10 DA points :-/
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Thanks for taking your time writting this journal!
I failed too much on my estimate quote of my first plushies. When I was working on them realized that I underpriced my work at the point I only charged less than 1$ per hour!! When I explained to my client triying to justify the increment of the total charge was so embarrassed :S
Sometimes (mainly if it's a new project with new pattern...) you can't expect the troubles you will find while making it, and those things waste a lot of time and more material costs. Thats why on my sale policy I always remark that prices may vary and be raised at the end.
Setting a price for a handcrafted item for the first time is difficult and imprecise... I really recommend start making some plushes by your own and make a "cost list" taking in mind all that you point on this journal. This way the price you charge for your work will be more fair.
All crafters and customers should read this before making comissions ^u^)/)
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Very helpful article! And many thoughtful comments as well.
It's very easy to forget about those extra little costs, the overhead and the fees and packaging. It's something that I think customers need to realize... the artist does not get all of that money.
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I've been asked a few times about doing commissions but feel uncomfortable giving a quote because I'm still trying to figure out 'what is my art worth?'. I see EVERYWHERE artists underpricing to a couple hundred points and I refuse to do that yet people are coming to EXPECT that. I would rather not do commissions than be paid a few dollars for hours of work.
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This is very insightful and I enjoyed this. I may very likely use this formula in the future. ^_^
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People not charging their worth annoys me tons, almost more as a customer than a prospective seller. Every time people speak up in favour of respecting yourself wrt. pricing like this, my day gets a little better. Thank you for this.
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I really need help on this topic because I have a huge problem. I live in Sweden an our currency is way stronger than... well pretty much all other currencys. And I wanna sell my things, and I wanna get a fair price counting everything above into it. But if I do that and charge what is fair for me in my currency that mean it will get SUPER expensive in $.
For example - I work on a sculpture for 4 hours, I want $40 for it (I dont even dare add material cost into this) - or rather I would like the sum equal to $40 in my own currency, then I really have to charge $61,8.
How would you do about this? Would you charge more to be fair to yourself and your work or would short-charge yourself to please the customer?
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You do not have to adjust your prices in other currencies, that's not how currency conversion works. Here's an example: at the current currency conversion rate, 1USD=0.74 Euros. While the numbers are different, they are both worth the exact same. So it just happens that your currency is equivalent to a larger number in USD, but they are not actually paying more.
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Oh okay, I see. So in this case should I go after my own countries (and mine) standards then? Should I take 100SEK per hour (thats much lower than a normal salary per hour but Im fine with it), and then add that to the hours I work, lets say 4, = 400SEK, (and then add up the materials and such) lets say it end up to be 500SEK and THEN just change that into $ = $77.
Problem though is still that people from other countries might not be so keen to buy something Ive worked on for 4 hours and pay $77, because its not worth it for them...
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You decide what your time and work is worth, no one else. If you think it's worth $77 for 4 hours, then that's what it's worth. Plus your sculptures are crazy good quality, so I could definitely see people paying that!
The thing to remember is that there are always going to be people every now and then that don't understand the work that goes into custom work like plush and sculptures and that's okay, they're just not your clientele and you shouldn't get hung up on what they say. On the other hand, there are a lot more people who do appreciate the effort that goes into artist's work and that will gladly pay accordingly.
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Wow, thank you SO much for your compliment and for telling me this. It helped me a tremendous lot and gave me confidence! <333
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Everyone needs to read this before they even ask about commissions. Like a little pop up window "Please read and understand what and why artist's charge what they do. Any complaints there after will result in you being banned from the internet forever"
I HATE that people don't realize sewing as a skilled trade. When I worked as a seamstress, we would literally tell people "You pay a mechanic $XX/hour to fix your car, why is this any different" If they said "Well it's just sewing anyone can do it" we would then ask them "So why are you here?" It sounds harsh but when people think you should make minimum wage for a skilled trade like it's retail they needs a harsh reminder. /rant
Thank you for this though. I always struggle with charging people for sewing, then have to remind myself that this is a skill I have been working on and improving for over 10 years and I am worth it.
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Ahh thank you!!! It helps to read this...
I have fallen to bullying from people who just continue to haggle... I just don't want to annoy people as disputes and stuff like that seems to stretch on and on here on DA...
And the DA points trap is a big one, I hate it... So many people complain when I charge 500 base price in points for a sketch bust and say that that its far too much... Its five dollars... not even really worth my time!! But i still do it because I like to draw new things and people characters..
I do think that DA should put something in place that lets people know that paying 5 points for something is not okay, maybe a dollar system where every 100 points turns into a DA dollar or something that would show people that those 5 points were actually only 5 cents..
Part of the problem is that DA is starting to become directed at 11 year old who have no sense of what money is actually worth and have very warped standards of 'art'...
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Some things related to this that I've found helpful c:
skinnyveestamp.deviantart.com/…
charfade.deviantart.com/art/De…
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Thank you very much for the article.
I have been asked to do some commission work but I have no idea where to put the price tag (not to mention these people who have commissioned me are real-life co-workers and boss. And I work in a completely different industry.) Pricing is always a difficult and touchy subject, but you've laid down some pretty reasonable and fundamental rules-of-thumb that are immensely useful.
Once again, thank you.
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I feel this same way ever time I sell at a convention and people look at you if you charge more than $10 for ANYTHING like it's some sort of sin. By Sunday I feel pressured into drastically lowering my prices just to break even when I already severely undercharge for what I offer. It's very upsetting. It's not even that the demand for my product isn't there, it's that the individuals are so conditioned to cheap nonsense and hobby artists that everyone else is getting the short end of the stick. It's super depressing some days.
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oooh I feel this. My next convention in November is actually going to be my last for a while. I usually get enough sales to break even and buy a couple things from other artists, but if I don't sell everything I just keep it and list it online, where I know it'll sell better ahah
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Thanks for giving a guideline on Pricing 
I'm going to tell Mum about what you have written so she can feel better about her pricing.
Again, thanks a bunch
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THANK YOU. SO. MUCH. its so frustrating and hard explaining this to some people....for some reason we live in a society where people still think art is free and cost nothing to make apparently, or people dont think art should be a paying job at all.
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I have to say, this was a true eye opener. Although, for the longest time I have told myself I have been pricing my work way too low, now I can see it clearly. Thanks for this, I will keep this in mind the next time I create something for commission.
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Thank you so much! This was the one thing that was bugging me and preventing me from trying to actually sell stuff
<3
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This is amazing and such an eye opener. I just did a reverse calculation of a doll I just sold and taking out things I never think to/account for that you've pointed out like paypal/ebay, packing supplies (which I don't charge for in postage), materials I didn't factor in and a very modest amount for 'overhead', I ended up getting less than $4/hr for making the doll. O_O
Thank you so much for this, I'm surely going to keep this in mind in the future. 
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20$!?
Wow... just... wow... I would never thought about pricing my works like this. I'm not telling, that this is too much, because it's really not, not for the quality of your art. And you're doing plushies.
Well, I realised that making commisions is not buisness for me - I spend a lot of time at every piece and, when I'm quick, it turns out that I work for 0,5$ per hour (when the average pricing in our country is 2,5$ per hour for work in shop or something).
Even if your journal is more about plushies, and I'm doing flat traditional works, I feel inspired. Thank you!
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$10/ hour is the average minimum wage in Canada but it is no where close to a living wage. Just to get by somewhat comfy and not live in debt, you need to earn almost $20/hour
MagnaStorm , I am honestly surprised you don't charge more, your skill level is more than worth it
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Those wages per hour are just... crazy for me. I understand, that there are different prices in every country, but, to be honest, 2,5$ per hour in our country is tottaly minimum living wage, and a lot of people earn even less. That's why the youngsters decides to move out :/ I wanted to rent a small flat once, but I can't. I simply can't afford this. Let's say that I will earn 320$ per month and rent costs something around 200$. Then I have 120$ for live. I know, that some poor people doesn't even have this amount of money, but it would be really hard for me to afford this, so I still live with my parents. I hope to find any job soon, but I'm still learning and have no experience. Happily, education in my country is free - I'm on University now and I don't have to pay anything like in other countries people do.
Aaand... Im curious - how much petrol cost in Canada? Just out of curiosity XD
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Depends on the province and where you live. I live in Ontario and gas is $1.32/litre and that's on the low end right now. It's gone as high as $1.50/litre.
My rent is almost $800/ month and I have to pay roughly $5000 year for college. University is at least double. It's all relative to the price of thing around you. Australia minimum wage is $16/hour but every thing there is also more expensive.
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I live in the USA near a large city, and I’ve seen gas go up to $2.50 per gallon!
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Pretty close than in my province -gas is $1,76 per litre and it's much lower than before. In february it was for $1,92 per litre and I told my parents that keeping a donkey would be much cheapier than keeping a car XD We decided to install LPG system in our cars (Im really not sure how to describe that... Hope LPG is universal word XD) to make things cheapier.
We were learning about education system in other countries and I heard that in some of them studies aren't cheap thing. I'm not sure if it's fair or not. I'm happy that in my country you don't have to pay for higher education.
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Keep in mind that wages and what they mean varies depending on your location. In my province the minimum wage is currently $10/hour, and $20/hour allows me to live decently but not excessively
I'm glad to hear this was still inspiring even though your work is different from mine!
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