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| Advice on Commissions; I need help. I don't know where to start | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Apr 23 2011, 08:52 PM (251 Views) | |
| Xue | Apr 23 2011, 08:52 PM Post #1 |
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.que sera sera.
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I keep getting offers for commission work but I have no prices, or a way of receiving pay or any idea of how the whole process works. Any help would be appreciated, I would love to start getting paid for my work. This is what I understand so far: I could use a paypal account to receive money. Here are the questions I have as far as that goes: -Do I ask for all of the payment up front? -Is there a system I should use where I am paid by the progress of the commission? -Can I set it up with my bank account? -What if they are not in possession of a credit card? How to I receive cash money? I have a couple of price ideas. I really want to receive the amount I feel I deserve for the piece, but I also want to be fair and give them their money's worth. Here's what I've come up with: Traditional Sketches: Bust; $5.00 Fully Body; $2.00 Traditional Work (Coloured and Inked): Bust; $10.00 [Example] VERY old example. Quality of art has since improved. Full Body; $6.00 [Don't have an example.] I was thinking I would charge 50cents for every additional character. Digital Work (Sketch): Bust; $7.00 [Example] or Example] Fully Body; $5.00 [Example] Digital Work (Colour and Ink): Bust; $15.00 [Example] or [Example] Full Body; $10.00 [Don't have an example.] I was thinking I would charge $1.00 for every additional character. All traditional work will be mailed to the buyer free of charge. But for digital work, I can have the commission printed on photo paper/ cardstock and sent for an additional fee. Maybe a dollar or two more? I think that's all the questions I have for now...again I would love some help. |
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| Jeffk38uk | Apr 23 2011, 09:05 PM Post #2 |
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Everything's great at your Junes.
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I wish I got commissions, for the moment I stick to requests.....which I'm getting tons weirdly. I have a good friend who advised me on setting up prices and what you should do. Generally you would do an initial sketch of the commission and have that to show what you drawn, if they approve on that, then you ask for payment. It's a balance so people can see a progression and time for them to pay when they like it. However asking for money upfront is perfectly fine. Paypal is the method most suggest, and you can tie your credit card and bank to your paypal account so they have options. Cash payments I am not sure sadly. Nor have I heard of payment based on progress system really. Some art sites set themselves up for commissions specifically like Mangabullet. Not sure DeviantArt have ever set anything like that aside from selling prints. I believe your prices are reasonable from what I've read, but you can easily change your prices lower or higher depending on volume if you choose to. |
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| Pixellated | Apr 23 2011, 09:07 PM Post #3 |
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Being responsible
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I think Jeff and AstroFenn (and maybe Raye?) are the people who you'll get most info from on this. I'll answer questions with what I'd expect, though.
No. Payment should be on completion, or using a half-and-half system.
Nope; again, I'd go half-and-half or all at the end. Work-in-Progress files can be sent when heavily watermarked to avoid free work to just make sure they know you're getting through it.
I wouldn't use direct bank transfers, or give your bank details out to any random person online. Use PayPal.
I wouldn't give your physical address out either. If someone's ordering stuff online in this day and age, they will definitely have a PayPal/Google Checkout account or a credit/debit card with which to pay. |
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| Xue | Apr 23 2011, 09:24 PM Post #4 |
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.que sera sera.
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I like this method. I think I'll use it. Thanks so, so much!
Awesome, that would be easiest for me.
Again, thanks. I was worried about over charging.
Good point, Pix. I am thankful for the help. One more thing: Do you think I should offer different prices based on the types of coloring (flats, shaded, watercolor, painted, etc.)? Or only offer a certain style just to keep it simple? |
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| Pixellated | Apr 23 2011, 09:34 PM Post #5 |
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Being responsible
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I'd say that depends on how long it takes you to do each, and any cost that comes with it (guessing watercolour and painted are traditional media rather than a digital emulated style). Shaded work takes longer than flat colour or a sketch, so should be slightly more expensive, and naturally any physical work that comes at a small cost to you should be more expensive, if you use up actual paints. Just take into consideration time, finesse, and cost to you. |
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| Jeffk38uk | Apr 23 2011, 09:44 PM Post #6 |
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Everything's great at your Junes.
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If you have different colouring styles then yeh you can do different prices. The more longer and more effort it takes for you to do, the more you charge. A painted portrait costs more than a digitally shaded portrait as an example. |
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| Xue | Apr 23 2011, 09:53 PM Post #7 |
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.que sera sera.
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M'kay. I doubt I'll do anything outside of prismas for coloured traditional stuff right now. But yeah, I'm understanding it now. I guess it really is all about trial and error, and judging stuff based off of time and effort. I'm just nervous. I'll try to set up a PayPal account a.s.a.p and just let it roll from there. |
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| AstroFenn | Jul 17 2011, 07:56 PM Post #8 |
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The Local Crazy
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The prices you have there seem very reasonable for the quality of art you have , the way I do it is I go by how long it takes me to draw something, i.e. standard price for characters but varied levels of background detail get differing prices (cause they can take forever.) I guage it between what i think it's worth and the Minimum Wage for how many hours it takes me to draw. As an Idea. On WHEN people pay, I leave it up to them, most people pay me upfront before I start, because they find it easier, With paypal it's easy to refund too if needs be (never had to so far) but Usually I at least show them sketches before asking for payment. Once you have your starting prices, see what people say, you can always ask people what they think you should charge and what they think your art is worth too. (many people are pretty honest, though you will get the odd "do it for (insert stupidly low price here)") Service is another thing to think about, if you give good service, and people come to expect this service, then they allow you to charge a little more (or tip you, I get a fair number of tips..sometimes ridiculous amounts, but usually it' customers who are unsure exactly what they want, so I do a LOT of back and forth with them, and conversations about ideas and showing them lots of sketch ideas to find something they really like.) If you have any more questions feel free to ask. |
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6:56 PM Jul 11