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Question to watchers/people who buy art?
9 years ago
Not art from me specifically, just art in general.
Currently, on my submissions, I follow the formula of putting the BASE price for the "commissions like this cost X" part (with some exceptions). So for example, on ref sheets, even if the ref I posted only has 2 poses, or if it is more complex and has 4 poses, I still put the price for what a typical ref sheet (3 poses, 1 headshot) costs.
Would it be better to put the exact price of the thing that was posted, and hope the defaults aren't misinterpreted? Should I put both the exact AND the default?
Actually now that I think about it, does the "commissions like this cost X" help you guys in the first place? I don't do it to sound commissioner-whorey. Sometimes, when I was a commissioner, I would really want something like what the artist posted, but wouldn't have a clue what kind of commission it was, so that's why I started doing the "$X" thing. It also gives an idea of whether you could afford something or not.
The $X links to a spreadsheet that contains the up to date pricing information, in case the cost changed between when I uploaded the picture and when the person sees it. Which is part of why I'm worried about posting the exact price of a thing, since the spreadsheet would say something different and that might confuse people. x_x
Currently, on my submissions, I follow the formula of putting the BASE price for the "commissions like this cost X" part (with some exceptions). So for example, on ref sheets, even if the ref I posted only has 2 poses, or if it is more complex and has 4 poses, I still put the price for what a typical ref sheet (3 poses, 1 headshot) costs.
Would it be better to put the exact price of the thing that was posted, and hope the defaults aren't misinterpreted? Should I put both the exact AND the default?
Actually now that I think about it, does the "commissions like this cost X" help you guys in the first place? I don't do it to sound commissioner-whorey. Sometimes, when I was a commissioner, I would really want something like what the artist posted, but wouldn't have a clue what kind of commission it was, so that's why I started doing the "$X" thing. It also gives an idea of whether you could afford something or not.
The $X links to a spreadsheet that contains the up to date pricing information, in case the cost changed between when I uploaded the picture and when the person sees it. Which is part of why I'm worried about posting the exact price of a thing, since the spreadsheet would say something different and that might confuse people. x_x
If someone commissions me and it's got "extras", I always break down what the extras are and how much each extra is, but I never thought about doing that on individual submissions. Do you think a layout like this would work?
"Flats ref sheets have a base price of $120 as of this posting.
This ref is simpler and would cost $80 as of this posting."
and then what about not-ref-sheet things?
"Painted sketches have a base price of $50 as of this posting.
A piece just like this one starts at $100 as of this posting."
Should I include extra characters in the "piece just like this one" pricing, or should I ignore that cost? If I ignore them, I'm not sure how to phrase it.
The fact that you say "starts at" hints that there could also be other options that interest you.
And good, I'm glad it's an appreciated formatting choice, eheh.
Does the layout I mentioned on the comment above work better for you?
I wouldn't make the description too crowded. Simple, easy to read ones are more likely to be read in the first place.
Maybe I will just put down the lowest of the two values, so that the "starts at" is valid. Thinking about it, I could probably put any added details onto the linked price sheet! That way the info is there, but the description isn't cluttered.
Generally, I'd prefer an artist marked all/most of their gallery pieces in time taken, quoted in cost per hour on their front page, and occasionally did special rates for things it suited them to discount.
Interesting! I have thought about going the per-hour route before, actually. I'm just really bad at judging how long things take me, and I don't really want to be unfair to anyone or to myself. I did acquire a timer recently, so I have a general idea of how much per hour I am making, though.
The other thing is that it's easier to think in terms of per-hour rates when you're doing things like speedpaints, imo. I'm doing mostly outlined work which has a standardized look, so it's got a standardized price as well. But this is good feedback, I'll keep it in mind.
I'm no good at estimating time either. :)
And yeah the way you do it was always convenient, imo. :D I just don't always have an up to date price sheet, ahah.
I do think posting the price in a submission is a good idea, you could do a hybrid, listing the base price plus the charges for any added extras
Type: Lined, Colorshaded Reference Sheet
Price: Base(front/back) 80usd + side15usd, 4 details25usd...
or
Price: fullybody pose 30usd x 3, detail shot 7usd x 4, wing Diagram 14usd x 1...
BUT I do think differentiating between exact and base is a good idea. I'll think on what to do for it exactly.
PS: