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Pricing from an artists perspective
10 years ago
Hey guys, I just wanna put this out there so that you guys can get a bit of perspective on why some of us price the things we do. Now this is my opinion, I know it doesn't count for everyone so bare that in mind.
I've had people ask me about a commission and when I tell them the price some are like "You charge too low" And a small group say to me "Wow thats expensive"
That second quote can really punch a hole in your mood. A lot of the time, you aren't just paying for the model or artwork, you are paying for the time involved on the said work and you also pay for the knowledge of the person doing it as well. We spend a lot of time learning, money going to school and buying our equipment and tutorials.
In my day job, I get paid roughly $20 an hour. On a job on here like a character model I am pretty much working for $1 to $2 an hour. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to make a model. So saying $40 is too expensive to get a model made, that isn't very fair xD
Im not angry at anyone or pointing fingers, its just an observation I wanted to point out and hope it helps people see a little more clearly about the situation.
Thanks for reading
Laters!
I've had people ask me about a commission and when I tell them the price some are like "You charge too low" And a small group say to me "Wow thats expensive"
That second quote can really punch a hole in your mood. A lot of the time, you aren't just paying for the model or artwork, you are paying for the time involved on the said work and you also pay for the knowledge of the person doing it as well. We spend a lot of time learning, money going to school and buying our equipment and tutorials.
In my day job, I get paid roughly $20 an hour. On a job on here like a character model I am pretty much working for $1 to $2 an hour. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to make a model. So saying $40 is too expensive to get a model made, that isn't very fair xD
Im not angry at anyone or pointing fingers, its just an observation I wanted to point out and hope it helps people see a little more clearly about the situation.
Thanks for reading
Laters!
This
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7308077/
I hope this helps you out a little. No, $40 is definitely not too expensive, if they think it's expensive then they're probably a kid who still has no real bills to pay, or unfortunately is stuck with a minimum wage job and lashes out because they don't like the idea of people making much more money than them -and- having a lot of fun doing it.
You're absolutely right, though. It takes time... All of it takes a lot of time. Rigging, texturing, posing (or animating), and then setting up lights (sometimes sound) it can take a week or more. I generally put things on speed dial and try to have them done in 2-3 days. Mostly, because I like being fast, and the other reason is... Being in college (and no friends) I generally have a lot of free time on my hands so I can do this from sun up till sun down (and long in to the night). But others like you with jobs and everything don't have the time to devote to it so it can take time. (And sometimes you get the impatient commissioners... Who keep asking when it will be done.)
But your prices are dramatically low. For models alone I usually charge $60. For Poser rigged models I charge $100 base rate. Mostly, because in poser we have to make a lot of morphs and those take time and patience to make them look right, and rigging eyes... Oh, god... Don't get me started...
Anyhow, yes, your prices are low and your art is fantastic. Charge more.
And I wouldn't take that small bit of "it's expensive" feedback to heart if it was from one or two people. I've had my experience with that too and I just shrugged. Wanna know how to solve that personal situation, Mr. Buyer? D..don't get the art. Or save dat money up m8. Look for alternative options to divide that money or something. It's not the artist's problem if you can't afford 'em, so don't make it their problem.
Similarly, there was a Kickstarter for a book project once, and some dweebs kept nagging "What do you need money for? Just write it!" In reality, to get a good series off the ground, you need money for an editor, money for publishing, money for advertising, and probably a few other things I'm not thinking of right now...
These lines of work...they're neither easy nor cheap...