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High Art Prices - A change of views.
10 years ago
The footer is the truth.
Alright, I've decided to change my views on this a bit. Charge whatever the fuck you feel like for your art, it's up to you to determine what you think is fair for your art. However. You fully agree and understand that if you choose high prices, or even ridiculously high prices, that people will complain, people will think you're greedy, and people will ridicule you over it every so often, or often.
Some reasons why?
Jealousy,
Poorness,
Thinking you're greedy,
Probably more. If you are one that dislikes high priced art, just post a reason why and I shall add it. Keep it small, and simple.
You should also be aware that there are risks involved in this, there are some exploits people can use to get you to draw their pic, then get their money back or pay less than what they agreed. People who charge a lot tend to be more at risk, however this goes for all artists as it does happen to those who charge little as well.
Paypal Scam; They send you the money through paypal. You do the art. They click some button somewhere that lets them pull their money back, claiming that you never held up your end of the bargin, and since you draw porn, you can't exactly prove to paypal you did or paypal will ban you and keep all money in your account.
Solution: Not sure yet.
If someone has more info on this, link/post it please.
Patreon Exploit: If you have a gallery of stuff only viewable to a user who pledges a specific amount to you, lets say you have pledge levels $1, $5, $15 per month. If you have stuff only viewable to those who pledge $15/m, someone can join the $15/m pledge, download everything, then switch back down to the $1 before they get charged anything. Getting your high pledge level rewards without paying you the high pledge level price.
Solution: Talk to Patreon about this exploit, they are the only ones who can fix it. EVERY PATREON ARTIST MUST REPORT IT. The more people who report this issue, the more likely it is that they will start working on a fix.
If someone has more info on this, link/post it please. A user by the name of Porin had given me a link to a post about this but I forgot the link when I cleaned up that journal's posts so. I'll need the link again to list it.
If anyone knows of any other scams users use against artists, particularly those who charge high, let me know and I will add them.
I particularly do not like that artists can charge $400+ (Some even up to $5000) per picture, and somehow get away with it just fine (people still commission them anyway) when other artists struggle to do what those guys do and barely charge $30-$50 and still can't get any commissions (cause everyone thinks they have to pay the $200 artists to get really good stuff, eg, expensive stuff is better! Somehow. But anyway). So it is highly unlikely that I will ever pay $400 for a picture, unless I seriously deem it worth it, and win the lottery or something. If you can make a living off your extraordinary high art prices and have very amazing quality, good for you, one can only hope it lasts. But you do know, that people will criticize your prices now and forever, and there is nothing you can do about it. Except maybe lower your prices, but that's something I doubt anyone would do. So.
One thing I dislike is that, many artists I've liked, and always wanted to commission some day, seen that other artists manage to still get commissions at these high prices, so they raise their prices and see that "Wow, people are still commissioning me. I'm gonna keep these prices for a while!" and eventually may raise it even further. So every artist tends to go up in price over time, and their fans just keep following, no one really helps out the artists who don't charge a house payment for drawing something. :/
But, this is all my personal experience and views, I guess if it works for you, charge high prices. Just don't question why people criticize you for it. You already know why. (reasons stated above first HR)
Some reasons why?
Jealousy,
Poorness,
Thinking you're greedy,
Probably more. If you are one that dislikes high priced art, just post a reason why and I shall add it. Keep it small, and simple.
You should also be aware that there are risks involved in this, there are some exploits people can use to get you to draw their pic, then get their money back or pay less than what they agreed. People who charge a lot tend to be more at risk, however this goes for all artists as it does happen to those who charge little as well.
Paypal Scam; They send you the money through paypal. You do the art. They click some button somewhere that lets them pull their money back, claiming that you never held up your end of the bargin, and since you draw porn, you can't exactly prove to paypal you did or paypal will ban you and keep all money in your account.
Solution: Not sure yet.
If someone has more info on this, link/post it please.
Patreon Exploit: If you have a gallery of stuff only viewable to a user who pledges a specific amount to you, lets say you have pledge levels $1, $5, $15 per month. If you have stuff only viewable to those who pledge $15/m, someone can join the $15/m pledge, download everything, then switch back down to the $1 before they get charged anything. Getting your high pledge level rewards without paying you the high pledge level price.
Solution: Talk to Patreon about this exploit, they are the only ones who can fix it. EVERY PATREON ARTIST MUST REPORT IT. The more people who report this issue, the more likely it is that they will start working on a fix.
If someone has more info on this, link/post it please. A user by the name of Porin had given me a link to a post about this but I forgot the link when I cleaned up that journal's posts so. I'll need the link again to list it.
If anyone knows of any other scams users use against artists, particularly those who charge high, let me know and I will add them.
I particularly do not like that artists can charge $400+ (Some even up to $5000) per picture, and somehow get away with it just fine (people still commission them anyway) when other artists struggle to do what those guys do and barely charge $30-$50 and still can't get any commissions (cause everyone thinks they have to pay the $200 artists to get really good stuff, eg, expensive stuff is better! Somehow. But anyway). So it is highly unlikely that I will ever pay $400 for a picture, unless I seriously deem it worth it, and win the lottery or something. If you can make a living off your extraordinary high art prices and have very amazing quality, good for you, one can only hope it lasts. But you do know, that people will criticize your prices now and forever, and there is nothing you can do about it. Except maybe lower your prices, but that's something I doubt anyone would do. So.
One thing I dislike is that, many artists I've liked, and always wanted to commission some day, seen that other artists manage to still get commissions at these high prices, so they raise their prices and see that "Wow, people are still commissioning me. I'm gonna keep these prices for a while!" and eventually may raise it even further. So every artist tends to go up in price over time, and their fans just keep following, no one really helps out the artists who don't charge a house payment for drawing something. :/
But, this is all my personal experience and views, I guess if it works for you, charge high prices. Just don't question why people criticize you for it. You already know why. (reasons stated above first HR)
I hope people understand this concept at some point.
I dislike highly priced art because I find it so unfair that artists who have worked hard for their entire lives sketching daily, drawing from life for years until it started coming out half-decent, checking tutorials non-stop, working hard to master many medias, investing thousands of dollars in material and trying to do their best to be good at it... want to earn what they think it's worth AND have people who are willing to pay for it!! Isn't that absolutely terrible and incredibly selfish? I mean, they have to accept that people will ridicule them already. Because having the common decency to just not do it would be just so hard and so terrible.
I mean, what kind of incredibly greedy person exchanges something with someone who also agrees to the exchange?
And like, they actually expect some respect for their years of daily hardwork? Of invested money? Yeah, don't make me laugh. The girl next door will make me a stick figurine for like, $3. Suck it, artists.
Just leaving this here.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/.....uxcfo1_500.jpg
If you are an artist, you choose to develop your skills in whatever way you choose, and if that costs you money for the start up, well, you had to learn/start somehow right? A company doesn't charge it's first user the full cost of the equipment that it took to buy it all, does it? "Hmm, well it cost me $3000 to get everything set up and done properly. So I think we'll charge each customer $3000." No, they charge something like $40-$60 with 2 year contracts. I know this isn't art but it's the only example I could think of. In short, you don't charge the full cost of your education, devices, and whatever else to each and every customer. The materials used during that person's commission (paper, ink/paint, whatever) sure.
As an artist, you decide what you want to price, but you should also realize the community you are targeting. Are you wanting everyone to be able to afford to commission you? Are you wanting to charge high so that only a few can? Are you going to do all this in a community full of poor people, knowing full well that some to many may end up complaining about the high prices?
I changed my position and decided, artists can charge whatever the hell they want. I myself won't pay over a certain amount, unless I see the art and think that it is so epic it deserves more. However, I suppose if it works for artists who charge $400, woo for them, they got a system that works. I just wanted to mention that they shouldn't act all surprised and such when someone complains about their high prices.
Your prices, are rather good and fair, so I'm not sure why you're here sarcasming up my journal. :P
Also, photobucket? Really? Aren't there better sites for image hosting? Like. Everything else that exists? :P